I was driving like crazy. The Ford Ikon spun its wheels with every bit of power it had, but I felt that was not enough, as always. The road was not familiar, but good. A thin rain was chatting with the asphalt. I could see the water sprays from the tyres on the rear-view mirror. I was lost for a fraction of a second in that beautiful sight. When I looked ahead again, I saw an S shaped curve, to my horror. I knew I should not hit brakes, but that was what exactly I did. The tires protested, losing traction. I tried to control the careening vehicle, but I knew it was going to be tough. I could see the mighty tree just before my eyes, so close that I could touch it. The car was approaching the tree sideways, but it all somehow appeared in slow motion to me. Maybe last moments are like that, who knows. I pried open the door and jumped out in hope of saving myself. My body made a violent contact with the cold tiled floor. Damn the nightmare.
I sat up on the floor and searched for my phone in darkness. It said time's 4:30 in the morning. My neck was wet from sweat. I threw off the blanket and wondered if it's the dream that made me sweat. I could not hear the whirr of the ceiling fan. Did I turn it off? I don't remember. It took some minutes for me to gather myself. I sat on the bed and flicked the light switch. Nothing happened. Hell, I cursed under my breath, power outage. I know I could not sleep anymore, so I went to the kitchen and made a black tea. Allowing it to cool down a little bit in the mug, I lit a cigarette and took the tea to the hall. Sitting before the laptop, I pressed the power button. The flashing battery indicator told me that the computer is not in accord with me.
I went outside to the balcony, the rather cold air soothed me, but soon a battalion of mosquitoes found me, forcing me to retreat to the hall. It is Saturday, and there is no power. What the hell is wrong with these people? Of all the days they failed it on a Saturday. Back into the heat of the house, I sipped up my tea staring into the darkness outside. Then I went back to bed and tried to resume my sleep. Nothing happened after half an hour of rolling and curling, so I took up the phone wondering if anybody was awake. Soon the phone let out a shrill sound to tell me that it was going to die soon. I was still dizzy, and I had no idea how to make it to 9.
Tired of rolling over on bed, I got up to take a shower and do some shaving. Squinting in the dim light, I lathered up and took the razor. Then I watched in shock as the flow from the tap dwindled to a trickle. Start of a perfect day. With whatever left in the bucket, I brushed and freshened up. I hope power would resume soon. Now what am I going to do for the rest of the day if it doesn’t? To go out, I'll have to iron my dress, but before that I have to take bath. Thank God I don't have an electric vehicle!
9 o'clock crept up at the pace of a snail. I am supposed to visit my friend at his place for a little photo shoot. I prayed that the power cut is only here at my place. I knew the camera was fully charged, but my flashgun wasn't. I thought of calling him up to ask if he could postpone it a little bit. I didn't feel like going there in that shape. But I knew quite well that the whole family would be waiting for me all dressed up and made up. I didn't call.
At sharp 9:40 I knocked at his door. The pleasant aroma of breakfast welcomed me. Remy opened the door and told me that her brother went out for some shopping. I felt a bit alien without him there. I sat there sipping up the fresh lime she'd given me. His mother came and greeted me and asked me if I was hungry. What a question! I told her that I am starving. As Ron was getting late, I thought of skipping through some channels. Is it true that men cannot watch TV without remote? I don't know, I don't watch much TV, but when I do, I prefer to have the remote handy. Well, I couldn't find it anywhere and asked Remy where it was. Now, is it true that girls don't have a brain? She handed me the remote and said there's a power outage from the morning. Cool! Well, there were some magazines and I listlessly flipped pages.
Half an hour ticked off, still no Ron. Fine, let me set up the studio. Taking the batteries I bought on the way, I readied my flash. The greedy flash would drain them in a matter of a dozen clicks, but something's better than nothing, right? I was afraid even to fire a test flash. I fixed the tele lens to the camera and unpacked the tripod, in a matter of 5 minutes, I was ready to go. Luckily, the drawing room was well lit by the morning sun. I called Remy for some test shots and verified the light was good enough. I asked her if she's ready to take some singles, but she was not quite done with her final touch ups. And you know these girls, when we get ready to go somewhere, they'd say just 15 minutes and even after two hours, they'd still be combing or applying eyeliner.
Heat of the day was setting in and there was nothing much I could do. At last Ron came and straight away we went for the grub. The hot meal added to the heat and by the time I finished, sweat has started to sprout up.
The shoot went fairly well, except that it would probably look like the subjects just came back from a jogging session with all the sweat and damp clothes, added work in Photoshop. With the shoot over, we settled on the dining table for lunch. Man, I love his mom, she knows what she’s doing.
On the way back, I was sincerely praying for the power to get back. I felt an urgency to transfer the pictures; I was always excited when I get to shoot a pretty face. And Remy was someone that a photographer would love, the right expressions at the right times, nothing like, oh man, isn’t it over yet? Reaching home, I hopefully checked if power has returned. Guess what, government is so energy conscious that it had decided to save a lot of energy that day.
The disaster has came to it summit past the noon. I could not bear the heat and there was no water in the tap. Frustration could drive you mad, you know that? Well, out in the balcony, looking into the scorching sun, I sat sipping a glass of water. And an idea struck me. I checked out the newspaper to see the list of films playing. Though I don't like to watch regional movies, at least it would give me something to bite to. Well, the movie started and I slept. Right at the interval I got up and bought a tea.
As I was waiting for the tea to cool down a little bit, I saw a familiar face in the crowd, Diya. She was my colleague but I hardly had a causal talk with her ever. Seeing me, her face lit up and she came over and sat beside me. She said she was so glad to meet me, I am not sure if it’s true. She said she thought I didn’t watch regional movies. I explained my plight to her. I thought girls didn’t go for movies alone. Apparently, all her friends went home and she was alone at her room. I wonder why people dread being alone.
After the movie; or after my sleep I offered her a lift. Instead she asked me if I could go with her for a little shopping. I don't fancy going shopping, especially with girls, but it’s hard to decline when a girl asks you such a harmless favor, right? I am being quite frank here. I knew what was coming. If she was going to a textile shop, I’d have to wait until the whole rack is turned upside down and she’d ask, how do you think about this one? Seriously, I think if she finds it fitting, it is, and if not, it’s not, deal closed. What’s the point in asking me like, I don’t think it looks good, what do you say?
After the four hour long shopping spree she bought me dinner. I was never good with girls, being a recluse. But she definitely made me feel good. Chatting about almost everything under sun, she was quite nice to be with. She asked me about my photography and a lot of things I didn’t know she was aware of. Maybe I should mingle with girls a little bit more rather than being business all the time.
I dropped her off and she thanked me for a nice time. Ah, was that a date? Reaching my home, I was more than happy to see power has come. But after the shopping and heavy dinner, I could not think of anything other than my bed.
The events that preceded the day proved to be good for me. You know, getting to know something you never knew before. Well, it is said that everything happens for good. I believe that.
