Rat Attack

It all began a week ago, in the middle of a busy working day. I heard the distinct pitter-pattering of tiny feet above my head. Since Chota Chetan and Chathanmar exist only in the movies, I was sure it wasn't anything supernatural. 

I shuddered concluding it's most likely a sly little rat. My doubts were confirmed this morning at 5am by the distinct scrambling of tiny footsteps right next to my bed. I quickly turned on my phone torch and saw a big fat tail sliding back into my air conditioner. 

I screamed so loudly, that another glass window on the sunken Titanic most likely shattered despite the weight of the cold ocean around it. Next, I called home and left multiple voice notes.

I couldn't sleep. The next attack was at 6am. And this time I saw it's face, the tiny predator trying to invade my home. My scream was even louder this time and I switched on all the bedroom lights and played nasty Bollywood songs on the telly, hoping to scare it away with modern  music.

The bold little thing, kept dancing over my head though, almost daring me to catch him or her. Finally, both my parents arrived by 6.30am and told me to grow up. 

Next, my father climbed up the step ladder and stuffed the hole under the a/c with some thick cardboard. I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat, all I could do was get to work by 7.30am with a stick in one hand and my laptop in the other. Every half an hour, I stood up and poked my a/c twice just to check if the tiny nuisance had bolted.

Finally, the a/c technician or in this case my knight in shining armour, troddled in with his big belly and disinterested facial expression. He heard me ramble for a good two minutes with a semi-yawn and proceeded to close the hole with white cement.

The exhaustion of the day finally caught up with me by 3pm and I had a good 40 minute nap. What a day and night! 

In the battle between man v/s nature, nature won today and how! That small being had me petrified for over a week. I'm hoping to not hear any more scrambling feet tonight.

Every noise at home scares me now and my Spidey senses are tingling more than ever. Never take for granted tiny holes all around your house. Unexpected guests can arrive at any minute. Keep your guard up and your throat in good order. I'm convinced my screams did half the job this morning. 

Stranger Things

Half way through the latest season of Stranger Things and it got me teary eyed for all sorts of reasons. To begin with, the kids have all grown up. And they're still trying to save the world in their unique, unintentionally hilarious way. 

Stranger Things was the only series, my late husband and I watched in competition with each other. These are probably the only children in the world, that he ever truly loved after his own son. 

I felt like a proud mother, a grieving widow and like I'd taken a capsule back in time as I binge watched episode after episode. In the midst of all that, I abruptly burst into tears and my 6 year old quickly took 5 steps back. 

"Why are you crying?", he asked, to which I replied, "This series reminds me a lot of your late father." 

"Then stop thinking about him", he replied without blinking an eyelid. Still crying, I wondered where I'd gone wrong as a parent. My Demogorgan mode of screaming and disciplining, he had made peace with. But he couldn't handle tears of love. I stared at the little robot I had created and wondered why he couldn't process grief or anything remotely complex, that was running in my mind. 

And then I realised I had never really cried in front of him until that point. In his mind, he had just moved two cities, moved to two different schools in 4 years and could no longer physically see the nice man who played with him every weekend.

He had no idea what he'd lost and in that moment all I could feel for him was more heartbreak. How could I ever make him understand marriage and love and what a father really is. 

Will could control Demogorgens now and only I witnessed it. Time and story lines keep moving cruelly forward, as if my son and my world never collapsed around us. 

While I definitely don't miss staying up beyond 10pm or eating chicken wings until midnight, I definitely do miss the man who made me do all those questionable things. 

Slave To The Grind

A slave to the grind,

And a slave to my baby's mind,

The hours fly by,

In the blink of an eye,

Take today for example, the promise of a peaceful weekend,

Yet from the crack of dawn, the chores seem to have no end,

Multiple snacks,

Each one fresh and attractive looking, that my brain has to hack,

For my picky eater,

Who talks a mile a meter,

Squeezed in a little workout and some clothes to be washed,

I'm already feeling squashed,

Is it time for my afternoon siesta yet?

This weekend it seems to be under threat,

With my hyperactive mini,

Whose unending requests are making my head giddy.

Closure

Perhaps the questions in my head towards people, life situations and work grew by the million after the abrupt passing away of my young husband. It's true that no one owes you anything. But clarity at times needs to be repeated more than once. It's just a humane way to end things. 

Try and try your very best to not give out mixed signals. Be clear in your intentions and your communication, however direct, brutal and honest. 

An old friend I recently met told me, "You were much more stupid in your 20s, than you are now. So always keep your guard up and continue to take well informed decisions". 

The thing with feeling sad now as an adult is that you can no longer bawl your guts out and eat all the icecream in the world. Instead, you bandage up and keep moving forward, pretending everything is peachy. This is right and wrong.

It's right because as an adult you have work, children, family and your own health to take care of. It's wrong because you can always feel the hurt around the corners of your brain and one day it will all blow up on your face.

Accept shitty situations and people as they are. If your questions remain unanswered, that's your answer. 

Move on and keep the faith that everything will turn out A-OK in the end because, "picture abhi baaki hai mere dost", as quoted by Om Prakash Makhija in Om Shanti Om.

Of course, I had to end with a soppy hindi movie dialogue because life is soppy and messy. Let's accept that too! 

Pancakes

Made awesome pancakes last night,

And devoured every bite,

If it's Gaajar Halwa season,

Why is it that the weighing scale goes up for no reason,

It's cruel that's it's winter,

Chennai's pleasant winter,

And we still don't get to eat,

A mountain of sweet treats,

Minus the fear of piling on the pounds,

Yet those delightful thoughts, 

Never seem to end,

Sugary delights always make my heart and mind bend,

Sugar, the white drug of this generation,

It certainly has me in a fixation,

Made awesome pancakes last night,

Perhaps I may make them every alternate night. 

Flat Abs

Flat abs are a beautiful thing to have,

But it's no fun to eat a double chocolate chip cookie in half,

Have you tried two bowls of spicy Sri Krishna Sweets chips,

And you don't need dips,

Because that flavour bomb really hits you,

As your brain tries to construe,

What Srikant Tiwari is going to do next,

In the Family Man, that will have you feeling hexed,

So perhaps I'll never lose the last 3 kilos,

Or is it 5 kilos,

I've lost track,

And the last few kilos, I just haven't been able to hack,

I accept defeat,

In the face of deep fried goodies and sugary treats,

I'll always be just a little round,

Because bowlfuls of comfort food, I'll always hound. 

Online Homework

Online homework, the biggest man-made catastrophe,

My 6 year old and I failed disastrously,

Trying to complete one that came in last afternoon,

The words on screen made him swoon,

A shaky lip,

And a twist to his baby hips,

Yet, the homework remained undone,

Repeating each letter and word 100 times together, was far from fun,

Who knew a language could perplex my boy this much,

The laptop he attempted to clutch,

Letters and words pronounced all wrong,

We kept at it for very, very long,

The first homework in his life,

That caused him so much strife,

Conquer we will, this language,

We will surely unpack this baggage,

Online homework, the biggest man-made catastrophe,

My 6 year old and I will try our best to not fail so disastrously.

My Not So Little Bean

A cross between a grandfather and a baby,

My little bean grew up in the midst of all things crazy,

Life and death,

He's seen them all in one breath,

His humour is dark,

His chatter is always on mark,

A hug can solve anything,

Is his motto for everything,

He cuddles and squishes heads with his bare hands,

His love and his anger, all grand,

There's no balance to his actions,

Once he's made up his mind, he doens't give in to distractions,

Stubborn and playful,

His emotions are as wide as his toys, that you can find in trayfuls,

A cross between a grandfather and a baby,

My little bean grew up in the midst of all things crazy.