Home Alone - DAY ONE

It has been six years since I have been out of home, wandering as a vagabond so that I get the perfect curriculum and a perfect job somewhere. I've stayed in hostels and PGs and had a comfy time, as most of the household chores were managed by some other responsible person. One can just continue living callously, enjoy the studies, movies, chats and whatever they are upto. This week I was left stranded at home and missed the opportunity to go out on a family trip just because of this stupid date of joining the company and myriad formalities to be completed. This one week was quite insightful and definitely an eye-opener in various fields, which were an untouched territory for me.

My endeavours for one whole week will surprise some of the people who really know me well.

The very first night being home alone gave me a sense of excitement, "I have the whole house to myself." I can sleep anywhere and anytime I want. I can eat whatever I like and it doesn't have to be cereals. I can also have the Idiot box playing on my command and a relief from The Saas Bahu Serials and the Emotional Crisis which my mom feels connected to. The acme of my excitement wiped away my drowsiness and I ended up being awake the whole night to loud Trance music and to some of the finest shots played by Federer in the US Open 2010. The invariant timing of the newspaper delivery report gave me a sense of realization that it was already six o' clock in the morning and I should sleep. With peace of mind I fall asleep hoping to dream about something romantic and about the person who keeps me off the hook these days.

The panoramic thoughts were shattered in an hour when my neighbour rung the door bell as she needed a menial stool. "Didn't my mom tell you that I sleep during this hour and she won't be available for one week", I could hear this so loud as if my brain had a substitute mouth. I surrendered to the social standings and handed over the stool with a wide grin.

Bang ! My door closed. It didn't take me long to be in hibernation mode as one can imagine the intensity of inactiveness after the first hour of one's sleep. Before I could even reach the dreamy mode in my schedule of sleep the bell was valiantly instrumentalizing, "Tujhe dekha toh yeh jaana sanam." If it was not for the frame of lord in between the speaker and me, I would have busted it. The bell had its luck that day. I creaked open the door, my ears filled with the rustling and the banging noise of the dustbins held by the neighbouring flat owners and gossip lover aunties. The Sweeper shrieked, "Bhaiyaji, Kuda." Oh god!

I looked at the clock and noticed that I didnt even sleep for two good hours. Dissapointed at my luck, I dozed off again. For the next four hours I was lost as if I had been drugged or deprived of sleep for more than a week. Hours later on a a regular turn to adjust my sleeping posture, with a loose sub-conscious I could hear some lound Thumpings on the door. When you are deprived of sleep, everything happening around seems to be actuating in dreams. My apprehensions of being in a dream were thrashed when I woke up startled to another thump. Rushed to the door to find out that my housekeeper had been waiting outside for half an hour. She also claimed to have rung the bell over 200 times. I couldn't think of anything else but acknowledged her and let her in. "You should not disturb me for any reason until emergency. Close the door in automatic mode, when you leave the place ", I bossed over her.

Next I know it was 4 in the evening. My cell phone blinked with 47 Text messages and 22 Missed calls, amongst which 12 were from parents which gave me a relief. The rest were from friends calling me up casually. 47 text messages, all nothing but forwards exploiting the use of FREE SMS Vouchers by the Telecom Industry. Why is the Telecom business thriving so much to reduce the SMS rates to such a grade?

Mom was a bit angry when I rang her back and informed her about my sleep timings and me missing lunch. Albeit the call ended on a happy note when I promised her that Maggi would suffice my stomach for the evening and I will manage the dinner from some local food vendor.

During holidays, I often skipped shower but now I couldn't as I had to offer the prayer services and serve the lord in mom's absence. Another Sigh! Now when I was done with the minor chores which mom made sure I would do, I checked the refrigerator to find nothing good other than fruits to save me the pain of cooking. After eating a couple of apples I gave up and had Maggi which brought some relief to my stomach, suffering one of the major famines.

The rest of the evening whiled away blithely and the first day came to an end without anything else going wrong for me.

This was just day one where I did not even get time to think and to act. But to save myself from such further miseries I went to bed early that night.
Someone rightly mentioned " EARLY TO BED, EARLY TO RISE. MAKES A MAN HEALTHY, Wealthy and WISE !!!!! "

Contd. later.....