Tryst with an alarm
For many years no one could moot the idea of parting Ravi from his inevitable allies. His marriage broke the ice. Ravi thought to divest himself of his daily wake-up alarms for the very caring and loving wife would wake him up every morning, all in quite a filmi manner, tickling his toes, caressing his hair, drawing the curtains for the morning sunrays to hit on his eyes, sensuously whispering the wake-up call in his ears and serving him the most aromatic bed tea. The good old favre leuba and the Chinese plastic clock were packed and kept in the store room along with other junk while his sleek handset was retained strictly for the conversation’s sake.
‘Ravi timetable’ had a unique knack of being on time everywhere from bed to bed. When the going got tough he had one predicament– to wake up on time followed by his usual regimen of tightly packed routine life. He started off in his school days with a stainless steel cased favre leuba table clock belonging to his dad. As time elapsed Ravi got so used to this mean machine that sometimes its deafening ring appeared nothing in his deep slumber and his hearing nerves got quite dead set against its daybreak shrills. To keep himself married to his ritualistic punctuality Ravi got himself a cheap and handy Chinese made, plastic covered alarm clock from the chor market. Its sound was new and more discomforting than its predecessor to throw Ravi out of his bed. “This alone would solve the problem” thought Ravi. “But, I have a couple of them and how about using them both?” came an afterthought. The formula worked. The duo did their jobs well for most of his college years. But lo and behold. This doggone sonic blend had to succumb to the proverbial monotony associated with the repetitious habits of us humans.
Hard working student, Ravi indubitably was. Finished his studies got a job, a fat paycheque, an apartment at a posh neighbourhood, a sedan to drive and all additives to his new-fangled lifestyle. Ravi’s new wake-up companion was a glossy and hottest to the core mobile phone. Well well, it too had an alarm clock! Now he had a threesome to ensure he never woke up late, nor for that reason got to his office behind schedule, nor bathe in the bile of his bosses. Their concerted vibrations would prick his senses as their collective raucousness was sufficient to wake the dead. Ravi took great care of his prized possessions and would never trade their places with anything else.
Marriage blues over, it was time for Ravi to get back to his office works. He kissed ladylove goodnight expecting all he fancied to happen the next morning and went for a blithe and carefree sleep. Ravi awoke to find it was already day and the beautiful bride fast asleep besides him cuddled under the mattress and completely unwary of her hubby’s unsolicited quandary. He realised that he was late by hours and what the day had for him in the offing was a catastrophe. With all his shattered dreams in his wide awake eyes, in darted Ravi to the store room to retrieve his old buddies from the refuse with the most earnest act of contrition for the insult he had heaved upon them and with a vow to never let himself distance away from them again, come what may. Next night all three were placed at their usual positions facing their common friend.
|