Bakul was having a difficult day. He had been under a little stress since the time he woke up. He wasn’t feeling the usual splash of positivity with which he started the usual days.
Even the little usual occurrences seemed indication for an unavoidable doom, like the completely flattened tube of toothpaste that he had thought would still produce a few pea-sized portions on the brush before giving up, or Bakul almost hitting his own hand slamming the cupboard door which otherwise refused to close normally and needed repair.
One of the bulbs in the room was no longer brightening on with the series of flipping the switch on and off, a recent habit apparently the bulb had acquired.
Bakul’s parents had decided to spend three months in a small town near hill station as a form of early retirement change. What had seemed like a time of enjoyment in various forms for Bakul, was turning out to be an uncomfortable truth. There were so many things to keep in mind, the bills alone were an issue. Why in the world did Bakul think that by paying for the Wi-Fi and OTT platforms he was contributing in a big manner when the electricity bill of a month alone was much more than that and then there were other household expenditures as well.
Bakul had never been on his own before, his parents had always been there to support him, and thus his ignorance had led him to believe that managing the household would be like buttering a slice of bread, after all two people much older to him could do it. Well reality is concerning for a reason and one has to be prepared for it.
Unlike the movies, in real world, ordering food and heading out to eat frequently isn’t a very financially sound decision especially when the money is spent right out of one pocket and if even that is not the issue, then the body will start showing signs of trouble, like waking up with unease in mind and getting bothered by problems which could be easily avoided or were easily ignored before. Bakul still had two more months of this ahead, while his parents sat on the balcony of their rented apartment sipping tea and eating coconut cookies, smiling at the imagination of what they might come back home to.
Written by Anuran Chatterji
Early Morning Memories 