Blog Idea: Slippers

On a fine Saturday, the day I stay in bed till 1 pm, I grumpily woke up at 8 am to drink a bottle of water and headed right back to sleep. A few minutes in, I suddenly opened my eyes, picked up my phone from my bedside table, typed something as a text to myself, and went back to sleep. When I woke up at 1 pm, had my Saturday Morning bagel, eggs and coffee and was all set to lie down and become comfy on the couch again, I opened my messages and saw the last text I sent to myself. All it said was: “Blog idea - Slippers” I shrugged, closed the messages app, opened Instagram and lazily scrolled and shared and liked and saved reels for the next few hours. I mean, I kinda did know what I was referring to and what I wanted to write about but come on, Saturdays are for being lazy.

Three weeks later, which is today, Thursday before a long weekend, I came home and for the first time in what feels like months, there was no one at home. Tum Hi Ho Bandhu was playing in my air pods as I was taking off my shoes to slip into my crocs. Thats when I noticed - a few months back, only two out of the three racks of our shoe rack used to be filled. The bottom one my roommate’s, the middle one mine. The top one used to be empty. Today, the top one had two pairs of slippers on it. I smiled, dropped my backpack on the couch, and spotted two more pairs of slippers, neatly kept outside the bedroom door, unused for a while. Slippers. Ahhhh, slippers! The thing I texted myself three weeks ago. THIS is what I was referring to. 

You see, over the past two months, we’ve had many guests over for extended periods of time - by we I mean me and my roommate; by many guests I mean family and friends we love. When you welcome family to your own apartment, and you want them to feel “at home,” there’s a few things you ensure - share the wifi password so their devices connect to the network as soon as they step into the house every time, share the apartment access code with them, hand them a spare set of keys, make room for their stuff so they don’t have to live out of a suitcase, stock up on all the food and snacks they eat in their daily routine, stock up on food and snacks they LOVE but don’t eat on a daily routine, make space for their toothbrush in the toothbrush stand, AND make space for their shoes and “at home” slippers on the shoe rack. We did just that. 

The first few days, it felt odd to see so many extra things around the house. The next few, we got used to it. And by the end of week one, it felt like this is how everything was supposed to be in the first place! Has it ever been different? Couldn’t tell ya. 

The thing is, you get so used to it that nothing feels like a “new addition” to the house anymore. You try their favorite snacks with them - some you like, some you don’t, but a few you end up loving so much that they become a staple in your house too (Lay’s jalapeño kettle chips!!) When you’re watching movies on the weekend sitting on a fully occupied couch, with a bowl of steaming hot daal chawal and a side of crisp diet coke, the room fills up with laughter and chatter and a whole lot of warmth. You don’t notice the gloomy weather, you don’t stress about work, you’re just in the moment. What used to be nights spent alone are now nights spent scrolling through reels and gossiping together till you physically can’t anymore and end up falling asleep mid sentence. Sometimes, you sleep right there but other times, you get up, open that very couch and make a bed out of it, then sleep in it.

What happens when the vacation/trip/visit ends? When they leave? Well, the access codes are forgotten, keys returned and in a drawer out of sight, snacks end up being eaten in a week, all your stuff ends up filling up the space you create for them, toothbrushes discarded. The first couple days, dinner time feels weird because you’re back to discussing weather and the gloomy clouds become noticeable. Work stress becomes the central topic of conversation again, couch stays partially empty on movie nights, never gets used as a bed, and nighttime routine goes back to scrolling Tik Tok alone while your code compiles. Just like it used to be, the normal routine. Mundane. 

The only noticeable things left are the slippers. There’s something very strange and tender about seeing these pairs of slippers on the shoe-rack everyday.  Sometimes you wear and walk in them event though they don’t fit you right but it fells funny and nice - at least you get to write a sentimental blog about it . Most times, even when you see them, you don’t “notice them” because, of course, you’re in a hurry. But that one time you DO notice them, you end up writing a whole blog about it (nope?  just me?). Kidding. The one time you DO notice them, you get a sudden flashback of all the days your house was full of people and fun. And this flashback is followed by a bittersweet smile on your face. 

Bitter, because everyone went home and resumed living the normal life. Sweet because they walked around this house in those very slippers and made it home. Sweet also because still having these slippers on the rack just means they’ll (hopefully) visit again. Soon. And these slippers will be put right back to work - work that involves baking snacks, pouring drinks, and settling on the couch gossiping. Good times. Fun, fun times.

That text I sent to myself three weeks ago? That Saturday morning was one of these “fun filled” mornings. I was very content and was sleeping very well. I wrote “Blog idea - Slippers” but in my sleep induced brain, the thought was this - The slippers people leave behind when they visit and how they are a quiet reminder of every moment they spent in your home — moments filled with love and laughter. I was already getting nostalgic, IN the present, about the present that would eventually become the past but still isn’t in the past. Yep, that is one of my special traits. 

Anyways, I’m finishing this blog on yet another Saturday morning. A different one since I woke up at 8 am, “Monica cleaned” the entire kitchen, had a cup of warm water, and filled the white board on our refrigerator with “Things to Look forward to.” There’s quite a few things on this list. Needed too, else the weekdays won’t be bearable! Point being, life goes on. But the slippers stay. Quiet reminders of the chaos, love, and laughter that filled this house — and a promise that someday soon, they’ll walk back through that door. (it’s wayyyy too dramatic I know but wth, no one’s reading it till the end anyway)

Until next time!