Smoke From Home

1. Smoke from Home Lockdown: for some, work from home, for others staying away from home and for some, spending quality time at home. In my case, people assume that I am simply resting at home. Every friend of mine looks at me as if I won Olympic gold, here the gold is my family. They keep adding and quipping me with remarks such as, “Tu kitna lucky hai yaar” At first, I basked in this glory and comfort but soon, I realized that every coin has two sides. At first, my parents were like every daily soap parents, happy to have me home. Food was abundant, sleep was throughout the day and then the nightmare started. “Kitna soye ga tu?” My dad would quip early in the morning. I would wake up half tired, half sleepy. Groggily would come out of my room as my eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight. My dad was hovering around me and handed me the broom, “Chal jaldi saaf kar.” Saying so he moved away to his favorite spot where his tea and newspaper waited for him. I just assumed my day was bad. I was in for a surprise. I forgot how nosy and well-intentioned some parents can be, unlucky for me my parents were the former. “Bittu!” I hear my mother’s voice pierce through the quiet afternoon. It came from my room. Dragging myself I went to my room to find my mother look at me suspiciously. She extended her hand to reveal a pair of matchsticks. Every alarm bell rang inside me. I hope she did not catch my pack of smokes. I was a fool! I somehow convinced my mother that it was necessary as my PG in Bangalore does not have a generator. Her narrowed eyes said she did not buy it. She came close and snipped me. “Ja brush kar le” and went away taking my matchbox. Since then, it has been a herculean task to convince my mother as she would not let me be. What can a 23-year-old have to do to find 5 minutes of time to smoke in peace? But one fine evening, the gods conspired and I got my window of opportunity. The electricity was cut off. We had a generator but it did not work. The three of us sat worried in the darkness. Then casually I asked my mother, “Arey maa, woh machis dena. Candle jala deta hu.” My dad started asking me one question after the other but I said that

2. this is common in my pg and thus I keep a matchbox with myself. Survival instinct I said, it was for my survival alright. After that, things eased up. At night, I would sneak up to my terrace and smoke in peace and come back satisfied and all it took was one load shedding to make my stay comfy and nice. Source: https://www.smokersforum.in/smokers-digest/detail/sutta-stories/smoke-from-home