Hammering - Literally!!!!!

One day, I met a very standard looking couple in the elevator, the guy introduced himself as the owner of the apartment above ours and then, after that one single sentence, there was nothing normal about them anymore!

Preceding Days’ Story:

Out of the blue, one fine morning there was this earth-shattering sound from above our house, so agonizing that I, along with my son had to spend most of the day out…at the end of that day when I thought it was over, it had actually just begun!

There were hammering sounds allllllllllllll day to an extent that, even my three year old says “amma malli modalupettaru” (they started again)…In an attempt to be a thoughtful, co-operative neighbor having tolerance to the art of carpentry, we all put up with it in silence….until….

One early morning, as early as 3:30AM, the haunting tak-tak was back! At first, we thought our subconscious got so used to the noises that, it had become background score for our dreams…..but then we realized, it was ACTUALLYYYY happening and at 3:30AM! My husband, A, got furious and walked up to see that, there were loads of people busily moving around in colorful pattu sarees….much to their dismay, A didn’t seem like a guest, so they called the carpentry employment creating owner! When ashish complained about the clatter, this guy asked “now? Or the daily work?”. Seriously?? This guy seriously thought we were up at 3:30AM to complain about the daily hubbub??????

Present Day Story:

But yet, the story continued for months after, when this afternoon it just got way beyond the tolerance levels and it seemed like we are living in joinery workshop…I crashed into their house and yelled at the workers asking if they were building him (the owner) a Taj Mahal, that’s when I realized atleast two workers came out of each room (a 3BHK) and that’s way tooo many carpenters, unless ofcourse they are actually building a Taj Mahal.

I look around and I don’t see a single fully completed box!!!! The house is filled with all types of wood material; saw dust, logs, blocks, racks, sheets and pieces of wood!! In this age of modular furniture, I have no idea what this guy is trying to do, apart from ofcourse creating employment and giving life to dying art forms!! The cutting, drilling, hammering, sawing has been going on for soooo many months now that, with all the wages, the carpenters must be building their own new house!

It is indeed very aptly said that, it is easier to love humanity as a whole than to love one's neighbor!!!

Auntzilla!!!

So….a cousin and I were having a silly, no-point discussion and then the third entered and just said few simple words “you both have become such aunties” then, I tried to bully him with no satisfactory results!!!

But it got me thinking, what defines to be an aunty – when you share your everyday menu? Spend considerable amount of your time in the kitchen, cooking, scrubbing, cleaning, and washing? Is it when your age starts to get into mind boggling figures of 30 and above or is it when your waist line is above 34?

After some thinking and putting my teensy-weensy brain cells to work, I comprehended that, it is when:

·         You see these absolutely beautiful, awe striking hugeee houses and the first things you wonder about is –“how do they maintain it?”, “how do they manage when the maid takes an off??” and “how do they afford their EMIs???”……and then slowly comes in the admiration for the architectural intelligence :D

·         Tea is more of a chore than a refreshing hot beverage!

·         You feel sad when your husband works on a day off, but are shattered when your maid takes an off!

·         You hear a new-age concept like a live-in or witness a funky hairdo, your immediate reaction is rocking your head sideways in disappointment and then think “I might take a whole lifetime to recover if my kids get there”

·         You look at teenage kids hanging around jobless and instead of thinking “been there, done that” you end up thinking “when do they do their homework???”

·         You almost do a serious penance every single day, but break each self-made rule by having an opinion about anything that crawls/walks/breathes!!!!

But the commonestttt of all is, that something somewhere breaking inside of you into a million pieces every time you hear someone call you “aunty-aunty-aunty”

Regardless of alllll and more of the above – there are the YO aunties and there are the sad aunties – without any further notes on this – I am the former!!!