Home, Sweet Home!!

The weekend did not go exactly as I had planned it go, but nevertheless, I accomplished whatever I wanted to in the two days.

Initially I had planned to shift into the new flat by Saturday afternoon. In the evening I had plans to visit Sasi Chittapan (My mom’s sister’s husband), he’s working with Indian Bank and had been recently transferred to Chennai. Soon after reaching Chennai, he developed throat allergies and fever. So I had to meet him in the weekends to find out how he was doing. On Sunday, I had plans to go out with my friends.

On Saturday, I had arranged for a boy to clean the house. Since the house was occupied till the previous Saturday, I thought that the cleaning process would not take much time. Unfortunately, the boy did not turn up on that day. I waited for a few hours, then thought of doing the cleaning the flat myself, but there was lot of dust, and since I was allergic to dust, I did not want to take the risk. So I arranged for another maid to come over on Sunday morning at 8.

Sasi Chittapan was put near his office, which was near the Chennai harbor. The place is around 16 km from my place. I left Vadapalani around 5:15pm and reached his place by 6 pm. I was to be greeted by a surprise.

In Kerala, it used to be customary for husbands to grow a beard when their wives are pregnant. Sasi Chittapan did not have a beard when he married (I was 4 years onld then). The next time I met him was after he had a child, and after he had a child, he preferred to keep the beard. So for the past 20 years I have always seen him with a beard. After coming to Chennai, may be due to the heat, Chittapan had shaved his beard. Now when I was waiting for him at a place decided by us, I could not recognize him at the first go, even though he was waving his hands and trying to get my attention. I recognized him only after I looked closely into his eyes.

I was with Chittapan the whole evening. He had improved drastically from the fever and weakness. I watched ‘Kunjikoonan’ from the place where he was put up; the movie was being screened in Asianet. I returned home at 11:30, after dinner. The return journey was delayed due to rain. My onward journey had taken me 45 minutes, while the return journey took me just 20 minutes.

On Sunday morning, I had to be there in the flat at 8 am, but I was late by 10 minutes. When I enquired with the neighbors she told me that the maid had left and would be coming back only by 10am. So I left and returned at 9, with the newspaper, so that I could wait for the maid. The maid never turned up, but the boy who had promised to come on Saturday turned up. I got his help in cleaning the flat, and the cleaning work was over by 12 noon.

I shifted my luggage by evening, and by 7:30 pm, I moved into the new flat.

The flat is spacious, breezy and in a good locality. The only problem is that I have to put up alone, and sometimes it’s bugging. I hope APRKR gets his posting in Chennai, so that I can have company.

I slept with the AC on, it was wonderful to sleep when the room was cold. First time I was sleeping in such a condition in Chennai. It should be seen as to how long I continue doing this. Sleeping in AC everyday means that I use up more electricity. Nevertheless, I have decided to use AC till I get the first month’s bill. After taking a look at the bill, I will decide whether to use the AC or not.