This happened a few months back and after reading this, don’t forget to tell me what you would have done if it happened to you and also if I have a case for moving to Timbuktoo.

The L&M, as is usual, had gone to bed early and I was busy for the next couple of hours doing some writing, surfing, Facebooking…. It was pretty late by the time I finished, which again is pretty routine. When I was done, I spent more time reading a book, a must before bed. So by the time sleep graced me and I switched off the lights, it was well past midnight and more than an hour into the next day.

About half an hour later, I was rudely awakened from deep sleep by a hand around my right ankle pulling/shaking me awake and a voice, that of the L&M, calling me urgently. Groggily, I tried to make sense of things. It was dark, even the streetlight outside seemed to be off. What could the matter be? Why was the L&M trying to wake me up so urgently? Somehow or other I managed to open my eyes and asked him with some alarm what the matter was. This is what he said:

“There’s no power and the inverter is not working either!”

I could not believe my ears. Both were things we could do nothing about. Had he just woken me who was sleeping deeply in spite of there being no fan turning overhead to keep at bay the humidity and a mosquito or two singing in my ear, to tell me there was no power? I, who took the greatest care to never disturb anyone who was sleeping (except children who had to go to school)? The one who let people sleep as much as they wanted, woke people up only if absolutely necessary and that too, only in the gentlest manner (except children who did not respond to repeated wake-up calls)? I could have burst into tears just then. Feeling quite sorry for myself I asked him,

“You woke me up when I was fast asleep to tell me this?”

There’s a Mallu saying which talks of waking a sleeping person only to tell him he’d not get any supper. To me, this felt almost the same. Moreover, it would now take forever for me to get back to sleep as I have difficulty doing that once woken up. But you know what? It was the L&M who was offended that I hadn’t appreciated his kind and well-meant effort at keeping me abreast of the latest developments in the ‘power situation’ at home.  😮

Pssst. He did the same again the other day during the unearthly hour of 4-30 a.m. to tell me Luci was waiting to say ‘good morning!’ I probably should move to Timbuktoo to sleep. What say?

©Shail Mohan 2016