Sleeping with the enemy

 


A couple of days back I saw a spider in the bedroom, above the door to the bathroom, looking all innocent and harmless. I believe creatures on the wall have been put there by God for one specific purpose – to jump right when I am below them. I had to sprint and jump to cross into the bathroom every time ensuring I wasn’t in harm’s way for more than a split second!

Then it disappeared. The only thing scarier than a creature in the room, is the sudden disappearance of said creature. After around two days I had almost put myself at ease hoping he had probably found a better home with my kind neighbors, when it came back; in the bathroom this time. I had to shake and whip the towel every time I used it – lest my new roommate be lodged in it. Meanwhile my existing roommate, the man who promised to be with me in sickness and health thought this was “funny” and refused to do anything about it. I told him it was either that spider or me in the house. I swear he looked like he was weighing the choices! 

If you discuss this story with him, I know he will say “Oh it was just a tiny spider.” You tell me – “How small can any creature with eight, hairy legs be?” How can spiders not be scary? There’s a reason they are considered Halloween décor! Even Miss Muffet who was just minding her business, eating her curd and whey, was not spared a jump scare by this little devil.  

Yesterday IncyVincy (yeah we were on first name basis by then), was back in the room, happily balancing himself in the far corner between two walls. I slept fine knowing it was still far from me… or so I thought! Cause today as I was making the bed in the morning, I saw him run on the bed from under my blanket. “Eeeeee..” I shrieked loudly and the man came rushing into the room, saw the spider, laughed and said “See, I told you he wouldn’t do anything.” Did I see the spider grin? I couldn’t believe I had shared the bed with this monster… and a spider! As of this morning, the spider has disappeared again. 

Neighbors, if you see me swinging from the rooftops, you know the spider has done its job! It also means the man of the house has made his choice. 











Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

'Cause mom's food is gag worthy

Image
My annoyance meter had been reaching its upper limit for the last two weeks. First, for the sprouts salad my 13 yr old boy made a face that said ‘yucks’. Next, tamarind poha was labeled ‘disgusting’. Finally when the lauki sabzi was called ‘gag worthy’ I lost it. He was clearly the only one having a problem with the food ‘cause the other members of the family were enjoying it. The problem with the boy is he has a problem with Indian vegetarian food. Give him chicken marinated in gobar (cow dung) and I know he’ll lick the last bits off.  As a house rule, I don’t accept food being called bad. It is ok to not like something but you can’t call it bad. When you say you don’t like it, it’s about you. When you say it is bad, it’s about the food. I reprimanded him; told him he needs to be thankful for the food he gets. “Nah, I don’t like it, so why should I be thankful? I’d rather make my own food,” he replied. “Perfect,” I said. I declared I wouldn’t be cooking for him till he apolagize...
Read more

The Chess Stress..

A year has passed since I wrote this blog -  http://heartuponmysleeve.blogspot.in/2013/01/the-chess-mess.html . (It was a time when chess was a game, not a contest.) After seeing my son's interest in the game, we enrolled him in a chess coaching academy three months back. Before we knew it, he was selected by his coach for a district level tournament. Since this was my first time as a mother of a competing child, I have to admit, I was unprepared. A day at the tournament meant playing back to back matches throughout the day. It meant a tiring day for me and him. Most parents there seemed far more experienced in this. At the end of the day I won’t say I learnt much but I did observe a lot. The hardest part was seeing a child loose; anybody’s. One came out, eyes down, saying he lost. One came out with just a thumb’s down. One came out looking out for her mom or dad with a look that said it all. It caused a pang. A parent consoled a child with an “It’s ok.” When the child ca...
Read more

Men, men, men, men

Valentine’s Day, Mother’s day, Women’s day - men and women are pouring their hearts out on how great being a woman is. Unfortunately for men, there is no such day. Here on Women’s day I pen six reasons why I feel sorry for men. My women friends would agree and say “I know”. My men friends would say “So?” (They wouldn’t really care). 1. No one talks about how great they are, how wonderful they are. No man ever inspired a poet. Even the lyricist of a sitcom who had two and a half men to write about could come up with nothing more than just “Men men men men, manly men men men” .. repeated 5 times. What’s more to write? 2. Men are always under social pressure. They can’t cry their hearts out, they can’t ride a Scooty Pep, they can’t wear baby pink.  3. They can’t be scared of spiders or roller coasters. 4. They can’t eat a bucket of ice cream or shop till they drop and feel better. 5. They can’t be a ‘mom’.  6. They can’t say “It hasn’t turned out like mom’s” and still get anothe...
Read more