Sun was directly on my face, and I tried to bare it to the maximum. When the entire blanket was wet of my sweat, I woke up. Rays were making a play through the leaves, with their shadows. I peeped out through the wooden window to enjoy beauty. It was early morning, and there was a time when I would have cursed any who would have tried to wake me up at the same time then. But this is the new me, in a new world and I have conveniently forgotten the old me.
The roaster was roasting the rise and the birds were too. It seems like they already had the idea " early bird catches the prey". A hectic but jovial day starts for me, where every day is my dream day.
Being close to the forest, the air was always moist and mornings always cool. Just out of my bed, my first strode was to lighten myself off last days' extra body luggage. Much unlike my city counterparts who insist on cleaning teeth germs before getting on to tummy, I prefer to live lazy with them, till the sun takes a position around 60 degree.
I strolled into the garden we had in front of our house. It was hardly a garden as to the sense of the keep up, but I let grew all the stuff. There was nothing called weed there, all were in need for some or the other. I had the water hose in my hand and drained it onto the garden, partly to provide water to the plants and partly to clean up the shitty mess my quadraple of dogs had made around in the garden.
Time for a tea break. My sweet wife was up by the time the sun light had first hit her. Hey, keep low your feministic mentality, I had never insisted, but always wished to have a tea in the morning, but never wanted to make that myself. Understanding comes through of love, and hence tea came through her in the morning.
With tea in my hand n leaning on my wife's legs, I sat there on the stairs to my house watching the hen play in the verandah. It was always inspiring for me to watch free birds and bounding walls were always a ban in our house, for animals as well as men. Amazing how well dogs and hen get together, if they have been bred together. During my childhood, I had a dog, that taught me how to love animals, who would try to eat any bird, whether it be chicken or luks like one. Thought came of the day, when he had unfortunately caught a crow in confusion with a chicken and ended up being tormented by the family members of the same. But that did not relax his spirits. Size would have detered him from attacking human beings, who by natural coincidence walks like hen on two legs, else he would have even had a try on the same. But my dogs were peaceful with the hen or infact the hen also took enough care. Occasionally one or two are lost, but we don't mind as it always ended up as the dogs' diet for the day. On Sundays we too used to have chicken, on which too my wife was an expert.
Breakfast was light, the cuisine depending on the interest of my wife and the availability of vegetables in our fruit garden. We have grown lots of stuff, but in accordance with the climate and geography, only a few yield. But thanks to combinations available in south Indian and north Indian and ofcourse east indian, we were never short of varities of dishes. Today it was more kinda Kolkata food, and since I owe my wife for the evening to come, I silently gulped in the food. But may be due to the natural and homely origin of the vegetables and also due to magic in the hands of my wife, anything and everything tasted delicious. Added a boiled country hen egg and a masala tea, the day was ready to fly off.
Unlike the previous days, where I toiled for the entire month to make food for the next month, I had to fend for the lunch from the time the breakfast is finished. But first there is a chorus to be performed,
I went to the pen. The maid, Shanti Bai, had milked the goats and for the coutesy of the same, it time for me to show them some sun light. But prior to opening the gate, I had to fill in the fodder tub and the water pan. It was like 6pm chennai traffic when I opened the gate, with stampede and absolute chaos. I left the gate open and the goats to fend for themselves. Would have loved to avoid this night cage for them as well, but the goats would attract predators from the forest, which could be disastrous either for us or for the predator. I want to live natural but not so natural as to be eaten by a mountain leopard or a bear!
The sun was climbing as I fed the dogs, and started watering the plaintains. We had an acre of land covered with plantains, but the flow channels created prior to planting them helps to water them, just by opening a few gates and notches. But again, I have to walk around and ensure that everywhere water is reaching. Just then, Shanti Bai's son, Kannan had come in. He helps me with my gardens and plantations and also gets the extra goods sold in the market. Everyday is a welcome intruder into this soft green world of mine.
As he took up watering the plantains, me, my wife and Shanti Bai took off exploring our 20 acre land to identify the day's meal. There was mango, jack fruit, coconut, palms, papaya, guava, cashewnut, and what not! But all have their own seasons and seasonality decides the diet we would have. Today, it was papaya, egg plant and potato. The spices required, where normally there in the kitchen garden, or else would have had it made from the mills around. But my usually upset stomach, has put my wife in a defensive gear in the usage of the same. Adding to that, she ensures an overflow of onion in all, that we end up buying onion from the market at the worst of the seasons.
Sabari has come and I need to guide him to the windmill, as for a few days there was creaking noise from the same. Once he is here, he does service for all the appliances around, the generators, the solar cells, the windmills. I also need to call some one to check the biogas plant as well, there is a blockage.
With Sabari set on work and expecting him to join for lunch, me and Kannan set out to get some fish. The small pond we have inside our estate has proved a vital role in our daily diet. With me more as an onlooker, we had enough to fend for three in an hour's time. Now it is all the expertise of my wife and Shanti bai.
Lunch is almost at an hour after the sun is at its peak. We have a dining room, with a window extending to all the three sides. One need to understand the south indian architecture to understand how well it let flow in the air. Dinner takes a good deal of time, with discussions, cross discussions, discussions on cross discussions.
A nap follows, helped by the gingered buttermilk provided after the meal. Buttermilk from goat tastes good, but since I am more inclined to Cow, for butter milk and curd we get milk from Shanti Bai's house. I liad down for a nap on the "jhulah", ofcourse with my wife alongside. Since the sun in hot and the climate a bit humid and the jhulah in public place, we prevented ourselves from further activities. But even after years it is a pleasure to just lie by my wife's side with my hands around her waist and the fragrance of her black hair enticing me to do more than just lie around. We have our share of romance even on the public "jhulah", but since I dont want myself to be seen in the porn MMS controversy, we restrain from anything to do with nudity!!!
Saturday evening is more than a pleasure, as it would mean a friends night for me and a "bare-my-friends'-wives" night for my wife. But the antics once we get together is so amazing that, the entire set of people around have loads and loads of fun.
Today two of my roommates from Pune were coming down. One is working in Pune, settled there with his family (his wife also a close friend of mine and my wife) and the other was settled in Mumbai with his family. Abhishek reached my place first with his wife, and hell, he has bought a new car. That was a surprise to me, as of the three of us, he was the most kanjoos. His new Skoda looked good in gleaming blue, and he could afford it with him working in the life insurance sector as one of the senior most for the state. Straight away in his usual style, he attacked my kitched eating away the stuffs he could, and finding out more resources from which he could make eatables and eat. His wife is the only fit for him in the world, as she was too could be found in the kitchen only hence forth.
Before coming to sit down with me at the open air table we have, Abhishek have identified, picked and killed enough chicken for the night and asked kannan to get more fish, and put the existing one on to the frying pan. In no time, things started coming onto the table, fish fry, chicken fry, duck fry, mutton deep fry and finally a bottle of whisky, with pepsi and ice to form the pegs.
Now it was the long wait for Anish. That ass, with all the running around he does for his bank, have taken a flight directly from Mumbai to join in for a week end, and would be staying with me for the week end. His wife is new to me as well every one around, as since the time they had married, we have met them only thrice or so. He always have the excuse of not getting leave in his high profile banker life.
Hah, but they have paid him off well, as when he got to my place, he had come in a taxi hired from the airport. Immediately the carnival begins!! Abhishek n Anish, when ever they meet compete for the "TANK" award, and the same happened here as well. Luckily Anish too had bought a bottle of whisky with him, as the costly whisky these guys buy never have the effect till it is some time. I remember the days when we used to wander around in Pune and get onto that Gautami Bar, get boozed out and ride all our way back to our flat in the cold night. Drunk to knees, we never used to sleep straight away, there was always a tea waiting for us at the road side shop!! I wonder how the life has taken sped!
After a few pegs, i bought out the costliest thing I have at my place, a 6 piece music set with all speakers at their best!! Soon the bar gave way to dance floors, then to dance bars, etc etc etc..... The procession ended when our wives turned up with the dinner, and we had a very very loud dinner. The memoirs of the lives which were tangled together were so fresh in our minds that it was always pleasantly regurgitated.
My house could afford three couples staying in with all the activities among them as it was a lavishly built house, in one of the rural parts of India, with a surrounding of around 25 acres which I can call as mine, or infact ours, as half of the portion was my wife's savings (during my short stint as a banker, I made profit for the credit card companies, more than the savings I made for myself). But no one wanted to sleep inside the house.
So under the moon light night over looked by millions of star, I was lying on a mattress in the lawn just in front of my wooden house along side two of my best friends (ofcourse they had themselves equipped with their wives) and with my arms around the beloved of my life, my wife!
Thoughts streamed into my drunken mind, but one thing was sure, if I was offered heaven then, I would have said "Thanks, no need"
