HOME SWEET HOME

After spending two long days journeying in an unreserved compartment of Indian mail train, I still was bubbling like champagne. My father, unnerved by this extravagant display of energy by his daughter, asked me with a lil’ bit of concern , honey , aren’t u tired? I said, tired?! What tired dad? Im just so happy to be back home.

Well, of course, my home is not that big mansion up there, but whatever it is I really have learnt to appreciate this one room apartment we have.

It just so happens that I went to my native place to visit my grandparents. It is important to mention that their place is a totally unhealthy hybrid offspring of urban and typical rural. Like an urban house it has a modular kitchen, posh sofa and geyser in the bathroom. But like a rural hutch it does not have a TV . I was already moanin ‘bout da fact dat im gonna miss my sweet lil’ pc. But hey no tv? Excuse me? Its not even like they have doordarshan but no cable channels. Honestly , I’m modest enough to put up with that. But nope! Absolutely no piece of an idiot box in their room.

And yes I spent two days with the most underprivileged people in India during my journey home. I saw how their life worked. It rang a bell in my head I shouldn’t be complainin’ so much after all. There I was trapped in a corner of the upper birth. Its not even a birth in reality, its a luggage rack made of wood and no foam to comfort your gluteus maximus ( which I have not been blessed with much abundance you see). And when I had to pee I had to tiptoe my way to the loo ( which would of course be stinking like rotten corpse) by carefully placing them on top of the seats cuz people were there on the floor sleepin and if I even accidently happen to disturb them surely I would have had a cannon ball of abuses thrown at me. Then all night I had to sleep with a stranger’s cracked foot right in front of my face and all the time I kept worryin if by any chance it would collide with my nose. I felt like I was bein given corporal punishment. But what I was bein given was a valuable lesson in my life .

Suddenly, my cramped little room is appearing too big for me.