An Indian Household in Allahabad…..
Today was a mundane morning for me. As usual, I woke up 7 am IST, not by any alarm, but by the shirking sound of the ladder which my father was using to clean the windows of the house. This is not a mundane task that my father loves to do. It is an yearly exercise as Deepawali is approaching. One must be surprised, why so early in the morning? This is so because he is Mr. PAPA( pro-active in taking pro-actions). When I woke up and got freshen up, till then he cleaned the room where I do my daily Yuuka Sagawa activity. One must be surprised to hear a japanese-name activity in an Indian household and that too in Allahabad. Try to guess!! It is very mundane activity improvised with naming.
Before cleaning, he had already chopped the vegetables, which is not his yearly, monthly or weekly task. It is his daily ritual and he performs it with great devotion and diligence. All the vegetables are chopped in same size (without any measuring ruler). It is a skill which he acquired without any grit and patience but with daily hope that he gets his meal on time before leaving for office. One must be wondering what other members of the family do in this household. One will come to know slowly. For the time being just know we do not exploit our father and none of his rights are violated.
I daily feel great sense of accomplishment after I complete my daily dosage of YS activity. Though it is my daily ritual, it gives me a confidence that everything is right in my life. Now it would be easier for you all to guess….After that I eat an apple, which I ate today too, but not with a thought that you must have also listened- An apple a day keeps the doctor away. I just eat it because its not my habit to eat cooked food at that time.
While I was eating an apple, the door bell rang and there was a voice saying “Bhabhi Namaste”. “Namaste” is an indianized way of saying, “hello”. We understood our newspaper has arrived. I collected the newspaper without taking a look at it and went straight to my room. Then it was the time to appear for my daily one-hour battle. It is not any sort of hatred, revenge or assertion of authority as in the case of Russia-Ukraine or Israel-Hamas. I strongly condemn both of them as whatever may be the reason, only humanity suffers because of some humans and victims are those who have nothing to do with it. It is also not any sort of online gaming or e-sport. Its not any mundane activity that every person does. It is somewhat a ritual for an unemployed youth who wants a decent public sector job in India. I hope this much clue would help one to guess….
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After this one-hour battle, when I went out of my room, my father had left for office. He had the so-called balanced meal on time. Curious to know our balanced meal?? You will know shortly. Then I took the duster and did dusting of the house. Yes, I also do some household chores. While doing dusting, I turned on the beloved member of our family, our Philips radio. It gets so much dearly treatment in our home that sometimes I often feel that he is my elder sibling, although I am the eldest in children.
The radio time overs at 1pm sharp. Till then I had my balanced lunch and assembled all the dishes in the dishwasher. It is also an activity that gives me pleasure. After a short stroll in our home only, during which I measured almost all the diagonals, perpendiculars of our house, I started revising current affairs of past six months diligently. Though how much I revise, I am never sure how much I marked correctly in the exam.
After the revision regime was over, it was the time for another three-hours battle. It is also a conquest which one can understand who is unemployed. One can search it on Google. After all this battle, it is almost 6:30 pm. This time I do not feel to look at books or to read anything, therefore I do not look at the newspaper even this time. It is now time for my father to return from the office. When the door bell rang, I knew that it would be my father with a polybag in his hand. When the door opened, I was right. It was my father with a polybag in his hand. I happily took the bag from his hand and excitedly opened it. But all my excitement vanished at once when I looked into it.
Want to know what was inside the bag , who else is in my family, the balanced-meal and many more mysteries of an Indian household in Allahabad. Please let me know…
Till then
Ram Ram!!!!!
