Dust Matters

Dust is everywhere, literally. In our homes, on the roads, in the market places, the offices, the parks and the parking lots: you name it and you will find it. Nothing is free from dust. Everything is laden with it - the computer, the kitchen ware and home appliances, the furniture and the wall hangings, the decorative pieces and the book shelves. Dust is not a monopoly of the East; it has its niche in the West too, though not as rampant and obvious. Indeed, dust is not limited to our home planet, but is prevalent in our planetary neighbors, comets, meteorites, stellar cousins from outer space and in inter-galactic spaces too as cosmic dust - the starry equivalent of our earthy material. After air, it is the most ubiquitous composite matter on earth, sometimes hardly distinguishable from it.

Dust in residential areas is constantly whipped up by wind and human activity. It rises and settles all the time and while air-borne travels from house to house. It is made up of skin flakes, fabric fibers, flour and food dust from mixers and grinders. It comes from cleaning, sweeping, cooking and, of course, dusting. All this is home-made; there is also dust coming in from the outside such as dust from the street raised by flowing traffic, the blowing winds carrying industrial pollutants, the things purchased from the shops and of course people walking in. Once inside the house, it finds several things to settle on: carpets, furniture, shelves, window sills and the walls and ceilings. Fluffs of dust gather into dust bunnies in little-used corners, under the beds, embedded in seat cushions and pillows, on top of shelves and cupboards and certainly in the attic space.

Coping with dust is not a simple task since we are chasing a moving target. Dusting whips it up and spreads it, exposing ourselves and other things around the place for it to settle down again. Vacuuming is a limited, effort-driven, energy-sapping activity that leaves us drained, even while leaving the unreachable places as dust repositories. Closing the doors and windows and shutting yourself in is not an option either, since it cuts off air flow and the dust that is already in is sure to get to you sooner than you think. One cannot leave them open either, since with the air flow more dust comes in and the bunnies start to appear more frequently and in copious quantities. Floor mopping, carpet cleaning, wiping furniture and keeping kitchen waste from flying are some of the measures we take, in addition to the afore-mentioned activities, but dusting remains a losing battle. Most of our energy is spent in keeping the house dust-free, which is of course an ideal state. It is a myth to expect a place to be completely free from dust, since dust gathers faster than you can clean it, always. And professional dust busting sucks you dry; it cuts your purse strings and leaves you to cope with it again after it is done. With dust, nothing is over.

Nothing is more shocking to watch than sunlight shimmering through a crack in the door or a window pane: it is a revelation to know that the tiny insect-like particles dancing in its path are the dust that we are breathing right now. You blow at them and watch them with fascination as they scatter and re-group again to continue their dreadful dance. Obviously, they are all over the place. What are these particles? Is there anything in the world that is more vulnerable and tenacious at the same time than these little things that have made our life miserable? We have gained control over nature, mastered the laws of science, invented ways to probe the depths of oceans and outer space, invaded the far corners of the earth and extended our scale of study from the very minute to the mammoth objects in the universe; yet, we have failed to contain this menace from these tiny particles that have a tyrannical hold over us. There is no conquering them; there is no getting rid of them; there is indeed no living without them, no matter what havoc they unleash on us.

Dust particles are waste matter. As we chuck our fluid waste into the sea, so we let loose our solid waste matter into the air. Nothing ever goes away for good; no matter where we throw it, it comes back to us. Ash, burnt tire rubber, dandruff, kitchen waste, decaying matter (leaves and flowers), soiled shoes, broken cobwebs, abrasions from skin (human and animal), rock (erosion) and metals (rust), industrial waste as air-borne pollutants, human and animal hair, textile and paper fibers, minerals from the soil and a host of other materials that are typical to a particular surroundings. So we see that dust is composed of organic matter as much as chemicals and other natural stuff that has been thrown away as waste.

This floating waste dump is a mobile breeding ground for germs and a hanger for harmful chemicals which pose a perpetual health risk to us. Not only the industrial environs, but even household dust contains hazardous chemicals, as reported by some pollution and health study groups around the world. No wonder, then, illnesses like asthma, allergic reactions, hay fever and endemic flues dog our lives in no small measure. Dust, the all-pervading ever-present dust, is not only teeming with life, but also with life-threatening stuff.

There are two ways to deal with this fluffy material universe we live in:

• Go at it with a missionary zeal, eradicate it from your life by preparing a strategy to minimize, if not eliminate, it from your life and follow it up scrupulously.

• Take it easy. Consider it chic to have dust around. Stop dusting your bookshelves. Let it accumulate on your possessions - it adds a protective coat of gray matter that shields the surface underneath from scratches. As a newspaper columnist put it rather flippantly - "No more need to take up the broom, brush, duster or vacuum cleaner to fight a losing battle. Just welcome it as your boon companion and relax!"