--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: On weekdays, as soon as she picked Bela…" description: "\"“On weekdays, as soon as she picked Bela from the bus stop and brought her home, she went straight into the kitchen, washing up the morning dishes she'..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf7/jhumpa-lahiri-1596_depleted_on-weekdays-as-soon-as-she-picked-bela-f_2079639.png" --- # On weekdays, as soon as she picked Bela from the bus stop… ![“On weekdays, as soon as she picked Bela from the bus stop and brought her home, she went straight into the kitchen, washing up the morning dishes she'd ignored, then getting dinner started. She measured out the nightly cup of rice, letting it soak in a pan on the counter. She peeled onions and…” quote by Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf7/jhumpa-lahiri-1596_depleted_on-weekdays-as-soon-as-she-picked-bela-f_2079639.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf7/jhumpa-lahiri-1596_depleted_on-weekdays-as-soon-as-she-picked-bela-f_2079639.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf7/jhumpa-lahiri-1596_depleted_on-weekdays-as-soon-as-she-picked-bela-f_2079639.png) > ““On weekdays, as soon as she picked Bela from the bus stop and brought her home, she went straight into the kitchen, washing up the morning dishes she'd ignored, then getting dinner started. She measured out the nightly cup of rice, letting it soak in a pan on the counter. She peeled onions and potatoes and picked through lentils and prepared another night's dinner, then fed Bela. She was never able to understand why this relatively unchallenging set of chores felt so relentless. When she was finished, she did not understand why they had depleted her”” [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A mother feels exhausted by endless domestic chores, questioning why they feel so draining. **In simple terms:** She wonders why routine chores feel endless. Key Takeaway Recognize and address hidden fatigue. Themes exhaustion routine gender roles mental load Mood tired contemplative Type reflective empathetic When to use this quote - parenting - household management - caregiver support - mental health Key Concepts psychological burden domestic labor self-care Questions to Reflect On - What tasks feel most draining for you? - How can you reclaim energy from routine? A Different Perspective The narrative may overlook external stressors. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Depleted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depleted/) [Homemaking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/homemaking/) [Motherhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motherhood/) ## Related quotes > [At home, I was very traditional, studied, made sure I brought home those A's and B's, made sure I went to Bible study. 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Schumpeter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-a-schumpeter/) > [One day, I brought home Eddie Murphy's 'Raw', and Dad and I would watch that together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/romesh-ranganathan/one-day-i-brought-home-eddie-murphy-s-raw-and-dad-and-i-would-watch/) [Romesh Ranganathan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/romesh-ranganathan/) > [Happy Father's Day to someone who knew long before me that all the boys I brought home were jerks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/happy-father-s-day-to-someone-who-knew-long-before-me-that-all-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The child who ran weeping to you with a cut finger is now brought home, smiling gamely, with a broken collar bone and incredible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pam-brown/the-child-who-ran-weeping-to-you-with-a-cut-finger-is-now-brought-2/) [Pam Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pam-brown/) > [No, no, no. This ain’t right. I finally find a woman who’ll actually let me into her place and you bring her home for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/no-no-no-this-ain-t-right-i-finally-find-a-woman-who-ll-actually-let/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [“I don’t care to be forgiven I want to be forgotten. Now I receive a call from my family and what they started to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fun/i-don-t-care-to-be-forgiven-i-want-to-be-forgotten-now-i-receive-a/) fun > [Whoever brought me here will have to take me home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/whoever-brought-me-here-will-have-to-take-me-home/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [“When Wade brought you home, I thought, Now here's a girl with a little fire in her. 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Being an Afropolitan, I am here to stay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/binyavanga-wainaina/i-m-an-african-i-was-brought-up-here-my-home-is-here-being-an/) [Binyavanga Wainaina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/binyavanga-wainaina/) > [I should have known something was wrong with my first wife. When I brought her home to meet my parents, they approved of her.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-allen/i-should-have-known-something-was-wrong-with-my-first-wife-when-i/) [Woody Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-allen/) > [“Yeah, keep telling yourself that. Mom and Dad will be so proud that she brought home an alien.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-l-armentrout/yeah-keep-telling-yourself-that-mom-and-dad-will-be-so-proud-that-she/) [Jennifer L. Armentrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-l-armentrout/) ## More by Jhumpa Lahiri > [“Assured by his grades and his apparent indifference to girls, his parents don't suspect Gogol of being, in his own fumbling way, an American…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/assured-by-his-grades-and-his-apparent-indifference-to-girls-his/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [...that in spite of living in a mansion an American is not above wearing a pair of secondhand pants, bought for fifty cents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/that-in-spite-of-living-in-a-mansion-an-american-is-not-above-wearing/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [He owned an expensive camera that required thought before you pressed the shutter, and I quickly became his favorite subject, round-faced, missing teeth, my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/he-owned-an-expensive-camera-that-required-thought-before-you-pressed/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [If I stop to think about fans, or best-selling, or not best-selling, or good reviews, or not-good reviews, it just becomes too much. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/if-i-stop-to-think-about-fans-or-best-selling-or-not-best-selling-or/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [“This tradition doesn't exist for Bengalis, naming a son after father or grandfather, a daughter after mother or grandmother. This sign of respect in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/this-tradition-doesn-t-exist-for-bengalis-naming-a-son-after-father/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [I wanted to pull away from the things that marked my parents as being different.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/i-wanted-to-pull-away-from-the-things-that-marked-my-parents-as-being/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [“Ashoke suspects that Mrs. Jones (the secretary at his new job as a professor) ...is about his own mother's age. 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But the water was the most unforgiving thing, nearly black at times, cold enough, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/the-sky-was-different-without-color-taut-and-unforgiving-but-the/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [“In those six weeks I regarded her arrival as I would the arrival of a coming month, or season - something inevitable, but meaningless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/in-those-six-weeks-i-regarded-her-arrival-as-i-would-the-arrival-of-a/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [There were times Ruma felt closer to her mother in death than she had in life, an intimacy born simply of thinking of her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/there-were-times-ruma-felt-closer-to-her-mother-in-death-than-she-had/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [“Writing down call numbers with short pencils, searching up and down aisles that would turn dark when the timers on the lights expired. She…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/writing-down-call-numbers-with-short-pencils-searching-up-and-down/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [Winning the Pulitzer is wonderful and it's an honor and I feel so humbled and so grateful, but I think that I'll think of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/winning-the-pulitzer-is-wonderful-and-it-s-an-honor-and-i-feel-so/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [He tries to peel the image from the sticky yellow backing, to show her the next time he sees her, but it clings stubbornly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/he-tries-to-peel-the-image-from-the-sticky-yellow-backing-to-show-her/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [“If I stop to think about fans, or bestselling, or not bestselling, or good reviews, or not-good reviews, it just becomes too much. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/if-i-stop-to-think-about-fans-or-bestselling-or-not-bestselling-or/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) [Explore all 215 Jhumpa Lahiri quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) ## More Depleted quotes > [I feel so strongly that I use a different word in going around that our forces are depleted - they're depleted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/i-feel-so-strongly-that-i-use-a-different-word-in-going-around-that/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [“When we are depleted our giving is empty. Today I take a moment to recharge, fill up with love for my life and all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-wimberger/when-we-are-depleted-our-giving-is-empty-today-i-take-a-moment-to/) Lisa Wimberger > [We have the greatest people on Earth, but they're depleted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/we-have-the-greatest-people-on-earth-but-they-re-depleted/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [“To be enriched in the giving, I must at the self-same time be completely depleted by it. For if I am not depleted, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/to-be-enriched-in-the-giving-i-must-at-the-self-same-time-be/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [Puppets seem like vampires sometimes. They live, and you're depleted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-selick/puppets-seem-like-vampires-sometimes-they-live-and-you-re-depleted/) [Henry Selick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-selick/) > [We have great people, we have a depleted military.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/we-have-great-people-we-have-a-depleted-military/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [Being in a relationship, I only appreciate when I come home from work how much I've given of myself at work or how depleted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-c-hall/being-in-a-relationship-i-only-appreciate-when-i-come-home-from-work/) [Michael C. Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-c-hall/) > [“Time and health are two assets that we don't appreciate until they have been depleted.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sravani-saha-nakhro/time-and-health-are-two-assets-that-we-don-t-appreciate-until-they/) [Sravani Saha Nakhro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sravani-saha-nakhro/) > [I depleted myself to the point where I had nothing left.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-day-lewis/i-depleted-myself-to-the-point-where-i-had-nothing-left/) [Daniel Day-Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-day-lewis/) > [“Where was he? Somewhere in there he lost the first phase of youth, like the first phase of a rocket; it had fallen, depleted,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/where-was-he-somewhere-in-there-he-lost-the-first-phase-of-youth-like/) [Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) > [May I take your vein for a moment? I find myself... curiously depleted" Okay, right. Talk about your Johnny-on-the-spots: He locked them in and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-ward/may-i-take-your-vein-for-a-moment-i-find-myself-curiously-depleted/) [J.R. Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-ward/) > [Water is being depleted many, many times faster than nature can replenish it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maude-barlow/water-is-being-depleted-many-many-times-faster-than-nature-can/) [Maude Barlow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maude-barlow/) > [In America, we have a depleted military. It has to be helped, has to be fixed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/in-america-we-have-a-depleted-military-it-has-to-be-helped-has-to-be/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [Time And well being are two valuable belongings that we do not acknowledge and respect till they've been depleted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-waitley/time-and-well-being-are-two-valuable-belongings-that-we-do-not/) [Denis Waitley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-waitley/) > [When we don't get any treats, we feel depleted, resentful, and angry, and we feel justified in self-indulgence. We start to crave comfort -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-rubin/when-we-don-t-get-any-treats-we-feel-depleted-resentful-and-angry-and/) [Gretchen Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-rubin/) [Browse all 39 Depleted quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depleted/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“On weekdays, as soon as she picked Bela from the bus stop and brought her home, she went straight into the kitchen, washing up the morning dishes she'd ignored, then getting dinner started. She measured out the nightly cup of rice, letting it soak in a pan on the counter. She peeled onions and potatoes and picked through lentils and prepared another night's dinner, then fed Bela. She was never able to understand why this relatively unchallenging set of chores felt so relentless. 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