I was woken up by a jolt from my sleep and everything would have been back to normal had this been a scene in a movie. Alas, this was life and voice shouting out my name belonged to my friend who had decided that he should have some water. Bad timing - I felt like jumping out and shutting his mouth but as fate would have it my mother moved towards the balcony. After casual questioning my mother got the required confirmation and seeing her face turn red my friend sought of got wind of the situation and ran back to the play ground.
30 minutes passed and I was in a corner of my room going through the various designs on my legs - yes they were due to the sound thrashing I received - when my mother came across with my lunch. I knew she was sad for what she did, but then when I told her that it was fine and I deserved it for lying to her she gave me a smile and then we had lunch together.
After that it was back to routine and I was back to the world of Mughal empire and in the back of my mind I decided never to lie to my parents. As I think now, all these years I have paid the electricity bill many times but the only one fresh in my memory is this one - why??
The Electricity Bill - Part II
As with any other human being I was at a cross-road in my life with 1 path leading me to a higher percentage in Board exam and the other to some moments of pleasure. As I stood for a moment looking at the 2 roads my brain was working much quicker than any computer, in setting up scenarios and their solutions when I return back after a game of cricket. The delay factor could be attributed to a long line at the electricity office, the sweat could be attributed to standing in sun etc.
Everything looked perfect, the decision was made and I turned towards the ground. My friends were both surprised and happy to see me. I told them that I had got permission to play for sometime and therefore I would be playing only 1 match and would head back as soon as the match is over. Was not able to concentrate much on the cricket as my mind was full of thoughts - what would happen if my mom comes to know about this, is anybody from our building walking in the area, will I be able to successfully sell my points to mom. The game was over with our team being victorious. Now to the last and most important part of my plan - getting back home.
My friends were tired after the game and with my house being near they decided to have water from my house. This scenario was never in my mind and now I was in trouble. Luckily one of guys suggested that they should not waste time and start of with the next game, complete it and then get back home. The others agreed and I was once again on my cycle pedalling back home. I was thinking how lucky I am and now I was sure with this incident going my way the whole plan should come out well. I kept on rehearsing the dialogues to be told to mom as I was riding back.
I parked my cycle and went to the door and rang the bell. Mom opened the door and she had a frown on her face. My heart sank for a moment but somehow I mustered energy and got in without looking at her face. As I had imagined, she questioned me why I was late and the confident me was ready with the answers. However she did not seem to accept any of them. I tried to impress her by showing my frustration on the long line I saw and the lack of shade at the electricity office but somehow I was getting the feeling that I was speaking more to the wall or myself rather than my mother. Then she asked me a question - "Did you go to play?" That one really caught me off-gaurd but I recovered back to answer in negative. My answer woke up the CBI officer in my mother and the interrogation started. "Why are you sweating so much?", "Why is there so much dust on your shirt", "Why was there a coating of mud on my slippers" etc. My brain was churning out the best answers possible in that situation -"sweating due to heat", "there was a lot of traffic near the office and dust must have settled on my shirt", "slippers have been like this for quite sometime". The more her questions the more my confidence was sinking. Though I was satisfied with the answers I gave my mother was never and she was hell bent that I was playing. I was losing the battle but kept on with version of the story hoping that there should be some light at the end of the tunnel.
My mom then took her favorite wooden lantle and this spelt doom for me. I was now mentally preparing to get a thrashing, but still trying to convince her that I was at the electricity office and not at the playground. At this very moment I heard somebody calling 'Jairaj...Jairaj'......
continued Part III
Everything looked perfect, the decision was made and I turned towards the ground. My friends were both surprised and happy to see me. I told them that I had got permission to play for sometime and therefore I would be playing only 1 match and would head back as soon as the match is over. Was not able to concentrate much on the cricket as my mind was full of thoughts - what would happen if my mom comes to know about this, is anybody from our building walking in the area, will I be able to successfully sell my points to mom. The game was over with our team being victorious. Now to the last and most important part of my plan - getting back home.
My friends were tired after the game and with my house being near they decided to have water from my house. This scenario was never in my mind and now I was in trouble. Luckily one of guys suggested that they should not waste time and start of with the next game, complete it and then get back home. The others agreed and I was once again on my cycle pedalling back home. I was thinking how lucky I am and now I was sure with this incident going my way the whole plan should come out well. I kept on rehearsing the dialogues to be told to mom as I was riding back.
I parked my cycle and went to the door and rang the bell. Mom opened the door and she had a frown on her face. My heart sank for a moment but somehow I mustered energy and got in without looking at her face. As I had imagined, she questioned me why I was late and the confident me was ready with the answers. However she did not seem to accept any of them. I tried to impress her by showing my frustration on the long line I saw and the lack of shade at the electricity office but somehow I was getting the feeling that I was speaking more to the wall or myself rather than my mother. Then she asked me a question - "Did you go to play?" That one really caught me off-gaurd but I recovered back to answer in negative. My answer woke up the CBI officer in my mother and the interrogation started. "Why are you sweating so much?", "Why is there so much dust on your shirt", "Why was there a coating of mud on my slippers" etc. My brain was churning out the best answers possible in that situation -"sweating due to heat", "there was a lot of traffic near the office and dust must have settled on my shirt", "slippers have been like this for quite sometime". The more her questions the more my confidence was sinking. Though I was satisfied with the answers I gave my mother was never and she was hell bent that I was playing. I was losing the battle but kept on with version of the story hoping that there should be some light at the end of the tunnel.
My mom then took her favorite wooden lantle and this spelt doom for me. I was now mentally preparing to get a thrashing, but still trying to convince her that I was at the electricity office and not at the playground. At this very moment I heard somebody calling 'Jairaj...Jairaj'......
continued Part III
The Electricity Bill - Part I
The 10th standard board exams were round the corner and half of the study holiday's were over. I was tired of reading the same subjects all over again but did not have any other choice.
I had fixed timings to study and it was something like this,
Getup in the morning and complete my bath and breakfast by 9:00am
9:00am to 12:00pm - First Study session
12:00pm to 1:30pm - Lunch break
1:30pm to 4:00pm - Second study session
4:00pm to 6:00pm - Snack break
6:00pm to 8:00pm - Third study session
8:00pm to 10:00pm - Dinner and TV break
10:00pm to the time I sleep - Fourth Study session(Usually by 10:10 I would be yawning and giving signals to Mom)
Just 1/3rd of a day for studies should not be much of a pain, looking at it now, but during those days it was a real punishment for me. I was never able to concentrate on anything subject for more than an hour and usually after the initial period my concentration would wander off to the happengings around me like friends playing outside and programs running on TV. My classmates who were well off in studies used to play cricket now and then but I was never able to join them as my parents felt that I should concentrate completley on studies and should not be distracted by sports. Ofcourse I was against it, but then I did not have either the guts to fight back nor the marks to prove that I was good in studies.
It was a tuesday morning and as I was just completing by breakfast the phone rang. My classmates were planning to have a game of cricket at 9:00 at the ground behind my house and were checking if I would be joining them. My answer was a firm no as I knew my mother would never allow me to play with the board exams 20-25 days away. I went into my room and took my History book and as I was reading through the various battles that Babar and Akbar fought my mother called out to me. Any sort of break from studies was welcome and I ran to my mother. My father had forgotten to pay the electricity bill and as it was the last day she asked me if I could go and pay the bill. Had it been any other day she would have ordered me to go, but as I was studying she wanted to check if I would be free. For me too if this had been any other day I would have postponed it or thrown a fit to go out, but to escape from studies I was ready to do anything. Without a frown on my face I collected the bill and money from my mother and set out to pay the bill.
The electricity office was just 5 minutes away via a short-cut path through which I could have walked, but I took out my cycle and used the long route. I was expecting a huge line at the electricity office and was praying to God that the line be big enough so that I need to return back only by lunch. But as fate would have it there was not a single soul in the office and it was as if the electricity office was opened for me to go and pay the bill. Mom had given me the exact change so the whole transaction was over in 2 minutes and there I was standing with the receipt and my dreams shattered.
As I slowly started pedalling back home, I reached a junction with road splitting into 2 directions. The one to left would take me back home, while the one to the right would take me to the ground where my friends were playing.
continued in part II
I had fixed timings to study and it was something like this,
Getup in the morning and complete my bath and breakfast by 9:00am
9:00am to 12:00pm - First Study session
12:00pm to 1:30pm - Lunch break
1:30pm to 4:00pm - Second study session
4:00pm to 6:00pm - Snack break
6:00pm to 8:00pm - Third study session
8:00pm to 10:00pm - Dinner and TV break
10:00pm to the time I sleep - Fourth Study session(Usually by 10:10 I would be yawning and giving signals to Mom)
Just 1/3rd of a day for studies should not be much of a pain, looking at it now, but during those days it was a real punishment for me. I was never able to concentrate on anything subject for more than an hour and usually after the initial period my concentration would wander off to the happengings around me like friends playing outside and programs running on TV. My classmates who were well off in studies used to play cricket now and then but I was never able to join them as my parents felt that I should concentrate completley on studies and should not be distracted by sports. Ofcourse I was against it, but then I did not have either the guts to fight back nor the marks to prove that I was good in studies.
It was a tuesday morning and as I was just completing by breakfast the phone rang. My classmates were planning to have a game of cricket at 9:00 at the ground behind my house and were checking if I would be joining them. My answer was a firm no as I knew my mother would never allow me to play with the board exams 20-25 days away. I went into my room and took my History book and as I was reading through the various battles that Babar and Akbar fought my mother called out to me. Any sort of break from studies was welcome and I ran to my mother. My father had forgotten to pay the electricity bill and as it was the last day she asked me if I could go and pay the bill. Had it been any other day she would have ordered me to go, but as I was studying she wanted to check if I would be free. For me too if this had been any other day I would have postponed it or thrown a fit to go out, but to escape from studies I was ready to do anything. Without a frown on my face I collected the bill and money from my mother and set out to pay the bill.
The electricity office was just 5 minutes away via a short-cut path through which I could have walked, but I took out my cycle and used the long route. I was expecting a huge line at the electricity office and was praying to God that the line be big enough so that I need to return back only by lunch. But as fate would have it there was not a single soul in the office and it was as if the electricity office was opened for me to go and pay the bill. Mom had given me the exact change so the whole transaction was over in 2 minutes and there I was standing with the receipt and my dreams shattered.
As I slowly started pedalling back home, I reached a junction with road splitting into 2 directions. The one to left would take me back home, while the one to the right would take me to the ground where my friends were playing.
continued in part II
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