Indian children dread the spring clean

When one thinks spring, images of green grass, gorgeous weather and blooming flowers are often conjured up. But for an Indian kid, that’s the last thing one thinks about when spring comes around.

When you grow up Indian, the only thing that matters at this time of year is spring cleaning. Yes, every Indian kid knows that the arrival of spring also means the start of a thorough cleaning of the house, and every Indian mother will tell you that you can’t celebrate the beauty that spring brings when your house is a mess.

That means walls, windows and ceilings need to be washed while curtains and bedding also need to be changed. Even under the beds doesn’t escape the rigorous cleansing ritual. This can be especially problematic for the children who dumped sweet wrappers and litter under their beds during the year, assuming no one would find it.

Spring cleaning can be extremely stressful for an Indian kid for two main reasons: on the one hand, you’re dreading what your mother will find while cleaning your room. On the other hand, you also know that once you get home from school, there’s no time to rest and catch up on TV.

Your mother will immediately rope you into washing those areas she couldn’t reach or moving that piece of furniture that was too heavy for her to do alone. You’re also faced with a difficult choice this time of year – what to keep and what to throw away. Indian mums always leave that decision to you and still check the dirt pile afterwards to make sure you didn’t throw away anything valuable. They also check the pile of stuff you plan to keep to make sure there’s nothing in there that hasn’t been used in years.

Spring cleaning is particularly worse during school holidays or on weekends. Forget about sleeping in late because just after eight, your mother will take off the curtains, remove your bedding and start sweeping your room. She’ll also shoot deadly looks at you until you get up and help out.

Yes, spring isn’t all sunshine and roses for an Indian child, but sometimes there are perks. There’s always the chance that you find an item which you once thought lost, hidden in a place you’d least expect. You also get to rearrange your room again, making it feel as if you’ve moved into a new space.

There are definitely more cons than pros for an Indian kid, especially when you realise that December cleaning is not that far away either. The last thing you want before Christmas is for your mum to find something that should have been in the spring cleaning trash.

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