Air time

Did I ever mention that I am big on writing to-do lists? I have, haven't I? There are plenty of gadgets that I surround myself with...and then some. While I am not a gadget freak per se, I do believe I own enough to last me a lifetime. But in all that, if I had to name one thing that is absolutely precious to me- it would have to be the unassuming kitchen clock cum radio cum CD player, purchased at Walmart for almost the price of peanuts.

See, I have always wanted a kitchen radio. There were many a Hollywood movie I have watched, growing up, where the family gathered around the breakfast nook or the dinner table with the news on air or some chart-buster pop song cooing in the background. There in started the foundations of owning one such.

Now it sits in one corner of my counter, with a pile of CDs stacked in an unkempt manner over it. It gets its usual quota of dusting every week...that would be every Saturday morning. My favorite time of the week. Its a sort of in-between. Its not exactly the start of the weekend, but its nowhere near the end of one. A comfortable time when you can live in the illusion of a weekend stretching into eternity.

Its my time to clean the kitchen, clear the refrigerator of leftovers from the past week, organize the pantry, load laundry, make a list of what needs to be picked up on my weekly trip to do groceries- Indian, American and everything else in between.

In all this, 10 am arrives sooner than later. Time for car talk on NPR! I am neither a car aficionado, nor do I ever care to be one. But car talk's funny. I love the calls people make about their car woes, the funny sounds they make to demonstrate the problems they are having, the car talk puzzler which always makes me want the next weekend to come right away so I get to know of the answer instantly! Leaves me wanting for more....but soon enough its 11am.

Time for 'Wait wait don't tell me'. This might be advertised as the weekly news quiz, being that I am not big on following current events- a riotously funny way to keep abreast of what's going on. For a long time, it has been my wish to be at one of these recordings live in Chicago. I can never tell if this will indeed come true, but for now I am glad I get to listen to it every weekend between 11-noon. Noon comes and its time to step out of the house to round up the chores. What a brilliant way to get going though, with a smile on one's lips having passed the previous 2 hrs in laughter- orchestrated with snorts and giggles and chortles and snickers.

Sunday mornings are reserved for Weekend edition with puzzle master Will Shortz and with that ends my weekend date with NPR. Time to switch to CD player mode and get on with cooking for the week.

This little gadget provides so much entertainment, its unbelievable. There are so many substitutes..from podcasts to rss subscriptions to the telly to online reading and what-not. But nothing beats the luxury of being able to turn the analog dial on this antiquated gadget to the NPR station with a consistency that is hard to come about in these times of instant gratification and action-packed schedules.

What prompted this spiel, you ask? A simple youtube clip that a friend forwarded last weekend. See for yourself..