Sunday, 20 February 2011

Excess Baggage

I am moving to Tokyo for six months, and the law firm arranged for some of my belongings to be shipped in a big metal trunk. The trunk was shipped yesterday while I leave two weeks later.

Packing the trunk was an interesting exercise – I had to sort my stuff into Things I Need in the Next Two Weeks, and Things I Don’t Need in the Next Two Weeks.

So what went in the trunk?

  • Books
  • Things I’ll need only in Japan (like a plug adapter)
  • Things I use infrequently, but which are important nonetheless (like my sleeping bag)
  • Things for seasonal use (like my sandals – not my footwear of choice in London in February)
  • Some things which (I realised) I don’t really need at all.
I was pleased to see that there wasn’t too much of that last category. This is not because I am exceptionally austere; I just don’t like superfluity.

I did not have a lot of luggage when I moved from Calcutta to London, and in the six months I have spent here, my worldly possessions have not increased by much – I’ve bought a t-shirt, a casserole, a pair of walking boots, an overcoat, a backpack and several books. And a plant, which I am leaving behind.

The trunk they sent was huge. I had guessed it would be, when HR very apologetically told us that it will hold ‘only about 82 kilos’ (everything I own taken together weighs about half that). But when it arrived, it surpassed all my expectations. I could ship myself in that trunk, if I wanted. I would even have room for a book to read on the way.

8 comments:

Karthy said...

So I am reading this post and my brain is filtering it thus:

"Need to move your Small Wonder across the seas and worried about shipping? Not anymore! Small Wonder is now available with his very own packaging! A stainless steel metal box which weighs just 82 kilos! No fuss! No Stress! AI at its best!"

I miss Anuj suddenly...this would be the perfect moment to break into the 'small wonder' song! :D

Shrabasti Banerjee said...

Ki cool eta :D

What book are you posing with?

Shrabasti Banerjee said...

Say, when did you remove your 3D tag machine? I liked it!

Sroyon said...

@Karthy: The box doesn't weigh 82 kilos. It *holds* 82 kilos. It would weigh much less with me and a book in it.

@Shrabasti: Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter. Gift from Pratiti.

And I have no idea what happened to the 3D tag machine! I may have deleted it at some point (though I have no recollection of this), or it may have been mysteriously replaced by the normal tags. I quite liked it myself! And I'm amazed you remember it!

Shrabasti Banerjee said...

How could I not remember it?! It was about the only fancy app your blog had, other than the random post generator, which is also a lot of fun. I will go generate some random posts now, onekdin korini. :D

Anindita said...

A trunk to ship your belongings (and perhaps yourself) sounds so romantic.... It has all the trappings of a Victorian saga...

pangolin said...
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samar said...
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