There were about 12 of us there. It was a small paying guest setup. This old lady, whom we all lovingly called ‘Aachima’ (Meaning Grandma in Tamil I guess) was my classmate’s actual grandma.
She used to be extremely strict about using electricity. So the rules included ‘No late night TV’. And this was the most awful rule amongst the lot. Being a bachelor, late night TV was not requirement, it was a habbit – like playing cards or brushing teeth ocassionally!
As usual, the papers came in the morning, we all fought to be the first to see whatz on TV that night and figured out there was that one movie in Star Movies which we should not miss. So it was ‘Break the rules’ time! The next in agenda was to get ‘Achima’ to sleep early. The only thing that used to delay the sleep used to be dinner. So we unanimously decided to complete dinner by 7:30. No surprise, Achima was surprised!
The movie was to start at 9. That means she should snore my 8:30. We waited patiently and finally that happened.
Pin drop silence. We took every step to ensure that there are no surprises. We closed all doors and windows so that the breeze doesn’t force it to crash hard and make noise. We made sure there are no cats in any of the rooms. We walked around without chappels. We used the small torch light and none of the tube lights was on. Even the breathing was so light that there was hardly any noice.
We switched on the TV, muted it the first thing, reduced the brightness and there it was, the movie was just starting. As the movie progressed, we all tried to control the excitement. About an hour later, the un-expected happened. A small sound in Achima’s room and the tap of chappels. Yeah she had woken up, probably to drink some water. We heard the knob of the door turn and in a snap we all ran.
Whoever got into the room first ensured that the room door was closed and locked. After this 3 seconds activity, Farooque, one amongst us, was the only unlucky guys to have been caught in the living room. He ran around like being chased by a mad dog and knocked on all rooms around pleading and begging to open… and no one opened. Meanwhile, Achima had managed to find the light switch, which she promptly toggled and the bright white light came on. We all in the rooms were quite curiously waiting to hear the conversation:
Achima : What are you doing here in the middle of the night here? Shouldn’t you be sleeping?
Farooque : Yes I was sleeping Achima. I heard some noice here and came to check what it was..
Rest of us :
Amongst us (Whispering) : What is he saying??
Achima : And? What was the sound?
Farooque : Yeah. All the others were sitting and watching TV here. I told them Im gonna call Achima and tell this and instantly they all ran to their rooms and locked the door. Now they are not evening opening the doors
I was about to scream and somebody blocked me from opening my mouth using his hands.
Rest of us :
Achima : Ok. I will teach them a lesson tomorrow! Now you dont hang in around here. Go to sleep!
Farooque : I’ll sleep in this room Achima. No body is opening the door for me. May be they are angry with me for asking them to go and sleep.
Amongst us (Whispering) : What the… This bugger should know what it means to cheat us!
Achima : Ok fine… Sleep then
We decided not to open the door for him. Before Achima taught us a lesson, we had to teach him some. So we left him to sleep in the living room that night.
And the next day morning…
We (taking turns): Oh see that. He looks quite sleepy doesn’t he? Poor thing probably the living room wasn’t cozy enough for him to sleep well. Serves him right! Faroo kya hua??
Farooque : No no… the movie ended pretty late last night
We (Chorus) : WHAT???
Farooque (With a smile, as he got up to go and complete his sleep in the bedroom) : Yeah after Achima went to sleep, I continued on the TV and watched the entire movie. Phew what stuff. I'm bunking college today! Hangover.. Good night guys!
We stood helpless and we watched him crash on to his bed!
She used to be extremely strict about using electricity. So the rules included ‘No late night TV’. And this was the most awful rule amongst the lot. Being a bachelor, late night TV was not requirement, it was a habbit – like playing cards or brushing teeth ocassionally!
As usual, the papers came in the morning, we all fought to be the first to see whatz on TV that night and figured out there was that one movie in Star Movies which we should not miss. So it was ‘Break the rules’ time! The next in agenda was to get ‘Achima’ to sleep early. The only thing that used to delay the sleep used to be dinner. So we unanimously decided to complete dinner by 7:30. No surprise, Achima was surprised!
The movie was to start at 9. That means she should snore my 8:30. We waited patiently and finally that happened.
Pin drop silence. We took every step to ensure that there are no surprises. We closed all doors and windows so that the breeze doesn’t force it to crash hard and make noise. We made sure there are no cats in any of the rooms. We walked around without chappels. We used the small torch light and none of the tube lights was on. Even the breathing was so light that there was hardly any noice.
We switched on the TV, muted it the first thing, reduced the brightness and there it was, the movie was just starting. As the movie progressed, we all tried to control the excitement. About an hour later, the un-expected happened. A small sound in Achima’s room and the tap of chappels. Yeah she had woken up, probably to drink some water. We heard the knob of the door turn and in a snap we all ran.
Whoever got into the room first ensured that the room door was closed and locked. After this 3 seconds activity, Farooque, one amongst us, was the only unlucky guys to have been caught in the living room. He ran around like being chased by a mad dog and knocked on all rooms around pleading and begging to open… and no one opened. Meanwhile, Achima had managed to find the light switch, which she promptly toggled and the bright white light came on. We all in the rooms were quite curiously waiting to hear the conversation:
Achima : What are you doing here in the middle of the night here? Shouldn’t you be sleeping?
Farooque : Yes I was sleeping Achima. I heard some noice here and came to check what it was..
Rest of us :
Amongst us (Whispering) : What is he saying??
Achima : And? What was the sound?
Farooque : Yeah. All the others were sitting and watching TV here. I told them Im gonna call Achima and tell this and instantly they all ran to their rooms and locked the door. Now they are not evening opening the doors
I was about to scream and somebody blocked me from opening my mouth using his hands.
Rest of us :
Achima : Ok. I will teach them a lesson tomorrow! Now you dont hang in around here. Go to sleep!
Farooque : I’ll sleep in this room Achima. No body is opening the door for me. May be they are angry with me for asking them to go and sleep.
Amongst us (Whispering) : What the… This bugger should know what it means to cheat us!
Achima : Ok fine… Sleep then
We decided not to open the door for him. Before Achima taught us a lesson, we had to teach him some. So we left him to sleep in the living room that night.
And the next day morning…
We (taking turns): Oh see that. He looks quite sleepy doesn’t he? Poor thing probably the living room wasn’t cozy enough for him to sleep well. Serves him right! Faroo kya hua??
Farooque : No no… the movie ended pretty late last night
We (Chorus) : WHAT???
Farooque (With a smile, as he got up to go and complete his sleep in the bedroom) : Yeah after Achima went to sleep, I continued on the TV and watched the entire movie. Phew what stuff. I'm bunking college today! Hangover.. Good night guys!
We stood helpless and we watched him crash on to his bed!