It was a race against time… and a race for my life.
Race for my life? How? You may ask! But a race for my life it was…!!
7:45 am my phone rang. I struggled to open my eyes and realized it was my dad calling. But he’d usually call at 8:15!!!
8:15?! Was it 8:15 already?! O shit! Did I miss it????? Again? My eyes wide open by now, I took my dad’s call and swiveled around to see the time at the wall clock! 7:45 it screamed at me…
I still got 10 minutes…com’on you can make it.
“Hey dad… I gotta rush… will call u once am on my way… bye!” and I threw my phone on the bed… and dashed to the washroom. By the time I reached its door, I had almost everything that was on me, out on the bed. The race had begun…!!!
I put the pea size paste on my tooth brush, not coz the instructions on the cardboard box told me to do so, but coz the poor me had barely enough time to squeeze that much out. With it in my mouth (o yes, I am still talking about my tooth brush), and having taken care of my teeth, it was time to relieve my stomach of my last night’s foolishness! Ah! Why did I have to eat so much?! N now I had to waste my utterly precious time on SHIT! O SHIT! I had to finish this business in next 2 minutes…or else my day was set for a lazy wasted start…! Oh no!
Another 2 minutes and I was dressed in the first two things I could lay my hands on! (Am glad I could find more than a pair of undergarments!) When I was a kid, my mom tried hard to get me in the habit of folding my clothes after changing every night. I was glad she dint succeed in it though! Or else, unfolding them would have cost me another precious 15 seconds…and today, every second was important.
Next 5 minutes, and I was done with my shoes, loads of deodorant (to keep people from guessing the obvious… yes! I had skipped my bath…dry cleaning was the mantra for the day!), etc etc… Hair would be taken care of in the lift…
Lift! Oh no! O god… please let it be there, waiting for me right on my floor just this once…PLEASE….!!!
I LIVE ON THE 7TH FLOOR AND EACH TIME I NEED IT UNDER THE MOST URGENT CIRCUMSTANCES, I FIND BOTH THE LIFTS, STILL SLEEPING ON NUMBER ZERO! AND THE TIME THEY TAKE TO REACH ME AND THEN TAKE ME ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE GROUND FLOOR…SEEMS LIKE ETERNITY!
O God! Why cant we have roads on the 7th floor. Would be so much more convenient, no?! The next thing I know, I am running hard towards my stop. I almost know I have missed No.29 already…But I still hope to catch up on the No.32… O wait, it crossed me right when it crossed my mind…!!!
Hell…faster Shuchi, you still can get No.4! God (ok, my dad!) woke me up at barely enough time for me to get ready… he can’t be unfair to me now. He must have planned it this way. No.4 must be there, waiting just for me, to take me to my final destination.( Ok! Not waiting, I agree. But don’t be so rude to me at the moment…not my fault..really!)
I finally made it to the stop. As expected, I found no familiar faces. But just then I spotted her, clad in her usual blue and white attire, bearing the placard that said in bold : ST4!!! There she was. And now I had to woo her and that was what led me to run for my life. That’s why I called it a race for my life in the beginning, if you remember dear readers! I could see a big Logan coming in my direction at some 50mph, but all that mattered at the moment was to win over my beloved.
I jumped right in front of the Logan, the driver brought the car to a screeching halt. I was careful enough not to look back at the driver, or else his burning eyes could have incinerated me right there! But the whole incident did finally help me seek the attention of my beloved. She was visibly impressed by my courageous feat! Yippee!!! She opened her arms and welcomed me in with the usual warmth. Ah, it felt so good to be inside her (my ST4 I mean!!) . So warm and cozy in these chilly winters.
With the achievement of the day, it was now time to plug into my usual radio mirchi and doze off… But before that, I had to call someone who started it all…
Hello! Papa………….