We keep our washing machine in the balcony, for want of space in the bathroom. It did not start on Saturday morning, exactly when the laundry pile was assuming ominous proportions. I slapped the machine a couple of times, in the time tested manner men have while trying to get anything mechanical to work. The machine didn't budge, but a rat did. It ran from under the machine and into the maze of drainpipes adjoining the balcony.
Called the Godrej folks, who sent over their service engineer the next day. He opened the top of the machine and out popped three more rats who had made the instrument panel their home. The wires were all chewed up, mouse shit all over the place...you get the idea. The guy from Godrej fixed the wires and assured us the rats would be back. So Kichan and I lifted the machine into the living room yesterday night and spread rat poison all over the balcony floor. We think the rats must have feasted on the poison, as the lumps were rather neatly arranged in one corner today morning, with mouse turds all around. Must have been some party. Perhaps they were trying to get over their disappointment in not finding their usual home.
So right now we have the washing machine in the living room, taking up space and hidden from rats. Need to think of a working alternative fast.
Went to Gangarams and bought 5 books, just 400 bucks over the 1000 which I had won as gift coupons. Picked up Mario Vargos Llosa's The Feast of the Goat (thanks to
Bought a Reliance mobile phone, coughing up Rs 23,000 out of which we get Rs 2000 back after two years. If our calculations are correct, this should reduce our monthly phone bills considerably. There are a few gotchas in the scheme, but we thought we'd take the risk. Cancelled the Airtel account which Sindha was using. Time will tell whether we made a good decision.
And oh, received the mother-in-law at the station, went shopping for vegetables, fruits & sundry provisions, cleaned up the house, read a bit and watched Nadodikkattu for the twenty seventh time.
I love that movie. Pretty much watched it as many times when I was younger =)
ReplyDelete...which reminds me, my copy of "Feast of the goat" was feasted on by Hobo. Day one - He ripped off the two covers, day two - he jumped up to the second rack of the bookshelf, took the exact same book and ripped it into 800 pieces. :(
ReplyDeleteI loved 'A Prayer for Owen Meany'.
ReplyDeleteWish I could re-read it. A friend lost my copy and I have no money to get another one.
ReplyDeleteto get anything mechanical to work. The machine didn't budge, but a rat did. It ran
You know whats good about living in a society like in Canada ... ? That I can go sue my landlord, irrespective of my status in Canada. It truly is an "equal opportunity, fair, and free, and equal" world in here. They don't care if I am an international student, worker or visitor, or a Canadian citizen -- fact remains that there's rats in my apartment. And I can claim compensation via the "Regie du Batiment" from my landlord, and possibly, others. Its not like this, apparently, even in america, since they don't [apparently] have Housing boards or whatever that are *obligated* to server the masses etc ... No wonder the UN keeps ranking Canada among the top 5 countries in the world in which to live :) God bless this country ...
Bought a Reliance mobile phone, coughing up Rs
Must be a good deal or something. Almost everyone I know is moving to Reliance. I wonder if their networks can take the loads.
And oh, received the mother-in-law at the
I found this *extremely* strange usage. It took me awhile, but its like the usage of english is so different here. Like people here "move" (apartments) and not "shift apartments" ... they only shift gears in an automobile ... and I guess one would receive parcel packages in the mail, and not MILs. I would have probably chosen "picked up" or so. But its like I'm giving so much thought to all this because its very important for me to get my real thoughts/attitude across and not come off as a brash, rude annoyance to society in a predominantly french-speaking city. I guess the whole culture shock thing is all about.
station, went shopping for vegetables, fruits & sundry provisions, cleaned up the house, read a bit
Its funny how most of us lead such non-different lifestyles. I just realized I could copy/paste that into *my* LJ and that would work with *no changes* at all! I'm sure it would, for most others too, judging by what I see on their LJs. Weird how robotic/predictable our lives have become. ;/
watched Nadodikkattu for the twenty seventh
The IMDB link has no reviews, and if you're watching it 27 times, you probably should write up a review sometime ... Besides your writing style rules.
... and this brings us to the end of <lj luser=ravi>
So long, folks!
Damn! You have seen it one time more than I.
ReplyDelete