Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Feeling at home

I am an unwanted guest. The kind that eats noisily, rummages constantly in the fridge and takes forever in the shower. I leave near empty coffee mugs on the side table stained with the sticky, obstinate residue that will be hard to wash out. I listen to music others may not appreciate, and relish loud tamizh films with lashings of violence and tears. I leave the newspaper mangled and dismembered. The first page in the bedroom, the sports section spread out under my glistening umbrella, Inzamam catching the drops of water that slide off the edge.

The rightful owners stare at me dispassionately from the walls and cosy nooks they have occupied for over a year, unable to voice what they really think of this intrusion. Perhaps I should have given them more notice. Given them the chance to say no and make excuses. Instead I have steamrolled in to their home without even bothering to wipe my feet at the front door.

I would like to tell them to carry on as they were. ‘Don’t mind. I’ll just sit here in the corner and help myself to some of this vanilla tea cake. Sorry – was that the last piece?’ In an effort to redeem myself, I do the dishes. Pick up the dry cleaning. Go for long walks to give them some time away from me. And whisper disapprovingly behind my back.

I get a chance to meet the other house guest. I try to strike up a conversation with the snail on the window ledge. But he refuses to come out and say hello. I try after a few hours. But he just won’t budge. Literally. I stroke his bumpy, patterned shell. ‘No wonder they like you. You’re harmless, sitting in the same spot all day long. Not giving anyone any trouble. Making no demands. Is that why you won’t talk to me? Don’t want to jeopardise the high esteem in which they hold you?’

His stubborn silence enrages me, and with a vicious yank I dislodge him from his spot in the sunshine and toss him in to the garden.

I settle down in the sofa with a mug of coffee. They’ll just have to get used to me being around.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

isn't this just day two girl......chill....the snails and slugs and dustmites need a few more days if not weeks i think. By that time you would be ready to evict them:-))

Saudha said...

Hi

Have been reading your blog often and never commented on anything... i love reading your posts and wish you all the best on this temporary (?) retirement from working (office) life.one thing i really admire is your dedication to blogging... something i have never been able to... my own is lagging and rather higgeldy-piggeldy... its rather surprising to see it exist still, though... cheers.

Anonymous said...

this post reminded me of the people inside the potraits in all the Harry Potter books.

I love the way you write! enjoy your new life. Ah, how i long for some time away from work......

Nee said...

Gasp - viciously flinging other guests around?! No wonder the "rightful owners" are disapproving!
Enjoy the break, life will intrude soon enough, always does...

n said...

"Inzamam catching the drops of water that slide off the edge. "
i love the way this sounds

@ anjali
the moving people portraits are excatly what i thot of too :)

ggop said...

Nice post. Now you have made me feel reluctant to go to work :-(
-gg

The ramblings of a shoe fiend said...

s - day 3 actually! and i kind of miss the snail.

skasster - thanks! I'm enjoying the break so much, I'm considering a permanent solution!

anjali - thank you! time away from work is easy. Pen, paper and the words 'Thanks for everything! adios'


Nee - ok, ok. i didn't viciously fling the snail. I was too scared it might come back inside and wreak revenge

n :) thanks

gg - take the day off :D or even better...

rads said...

some lines were amusing :-) Nice thought process...

The Kid said...

wwwoooow! reallly funny post.

btw, are you a journalist ??

sunshine said...

great read... i often wondered if my apartment misses me when i'm not around..

Inkblot said...

never easy never easy- think of Alice...and throwing your weight around might work, but making friends could too :P

Szerelem said...

i feel like that sometimes when i go back home....not as an unwanted guest ofcourse but as someone who is disrupting the routine of the house what with sleeping till too late, messing up the kitchen while lookin for food and the like...ah but its all ok cos its home =D

The Inquisitive Akka said...

Have they got used to you now??:)

apu said...

phew - flinging the others around - girl, you have been watching too many tamizh movies :)

Anonymous said...

you went to a "beauty parlor", not a salon, I am thinking.

Just being presumptous...