SKETCHES FROM MY LIFE TILL NOW
Well, let me start now- though the name of my diary (yes, I do maintain a diary and have a habit of noting down even the micro details) is ‘sketches’, it isn’t he one accompanied by illustrations. I thought of the name and took for an instant liking. Let me introduce myself, a to-be-sweet-sixteen year old girl who loves skating (my sister thinks I am not sweet at all, anyways!), my mom, the world’s most disastrous chef (she can’t even make a dish completely as she ends up mixing all the spices and condiments), my dad- always vexed up in thinking about something or the other(God, how can someone’s mind be occupied even at the time of shower?), my younger sister- a 5 year old pest, rather an ersatz person who is afraid that something will get her as she fears from all sorts of phobia and has preposterous intuitions of a lizard falling on her head during shower or a ghost getting her at midnight. Mock her, taunt her, scold her- she will be the same. And then there’s my grandmother, who is rather plutocratic and lives with the thought that ‘people of our time were way better’. And then I have a bunch of extended family ranging from silly paternal cousins to grand-uncles, aunts, friends, relatives and others whom I have probably never met.
Think of such a joint family, when got together, the quantity of ruckus and frolic created? An instance is of one winter night, as I recall, when my family and yes, of course, my paternal aunties- uncles, cousins (yes, I have a pair of each), my best friend and my pet cat(Oh, it seems I forgot to mention her- Aztec, my pet kitten who was with me since I was nine. I know she’s old, but still I like calling her kitten), my six pet fishes in the aquarium, all cramped up in a two-and-a-half bedroom-hall-kitchen. Why? Because I had jotted down an idea of going to a nearby hot water spring and then at a resort for a night-stay. I thought it would be a family reunion and at the same time would serve as a refreshment from studying. When I had initially invited them, they all refused citing various reasons. And hence I called my friend who agreed to come straightaway. Little did I know, that my near-and-dear ones would surprise me by this! And then my mom was mad at me for all the nuisance created.
The night was extremely an uncozy one- I, my sister and my friend shoved into the half room( you could say the room was barely more than quarter or 13 tiles), the galore of luggage, my parents, my cat into another room which also housed the aquarium, and my aunties and grandmom in the other. My uncles occupied the couches in the living room and my cousins- each adjusting into the kitchen and verandah respectively. The night was chilling and we all were wrapped up in warm clothes. I was unable to sleep and my adrenaline was rushing. It was unanimously decided that we would leave early at the dawn- for the first time, all agreed. Everything seemed to be quiet except for a sound which knocked me off with excitement. I got up from the bed, rather the cot and looked out throught the door. No sign of anything. When suddenly, my kitten flung on my friend who was deep asleep, right next to me. And she got up in such a state that my poor Aztec was flung on the opposite wall and my sister who got up by such sounds, almost fainted at the sight of my friend.
Oh yes, I had forgot to mention that my friend is a mini-beauty saloon and carries her vanity case with her wherever she goes. She’s so fond of cosmetics and beautifying herself(as if boys are trying to woo her) that I have termed her as ‘makeholic’- a portmanteau of makeup and workaholic. She uses her compact powder, shades, night crème and looks like a witch( I am sorry to say but I have to as I do not speak lies). This was the reason for my sister to react in such a manner. And as for Aztec, poor creature!She cannot sleep without me. Such hullabaloo had aroused my cousins who came running into the room. And here’s something- my entire family snores and goes into deep slumber which even the Prince Charming of Sleeping Beauty cannot awake. And my cousins caused a terrible mess.
One of them slipped on the skateboard lying near the bed, landing with his hefty body directly on me while the other had just released the gas( I am awfully ashamed to pen this down) which further deteriorated my sister’s condition to such an extent that she lay half in trance and went nuts. And to add to these, I saw my uncle walking towards us in a linear motion. He was rather an orthodox person who seemed to like discipline more than his own son. I thought we were gone.
But it seemed that I had forgotten- my uncle had the habit of sleepwalking. Looking at uncle, my friend burst out laughing so violently that it triggered off to my cousins and me, too. It looked like a laughter club. And the other members were unaware of all this. I turned my uncle to his back. He went a couple of steps ahead and then turned around again. I felt I was in a coop of hens! Finally, I gave up and went to sleep.
The next morning in the car, luckily, it was a mini-matador, I thought everyone involved the previous night had forgotten about the incidences. But when my uncle turned to me and said,”you had a jolly time around last night”, he had me there.