“The electricity tripped again Rahul. Can you please go and turn the fuse up,” called Ria from the kitchen. “ I told you earlier, as soon as I operate the oven and washing machine simultaneously, the main fuse trips and it’s happening so frequently now,” she whined. Rahul forced himself up from his swivel chair where he was busy working on his laptop. He walked to the electric distribution box and cranked up the fuse switch. “There you go Ria, it’s back and running. You know it’s only a push of a button,” he explained and returned back to his workplace. After a few minutes, there was a loud booming sound followed by electricity failure.
Rahul hurriedly rose from his chair and ran to check on Ria. She was still in the kitchen taking out freshly baked cookies from the oven.“Looks like the fuse tripped again when I turned off the oven,” she stated. Rahul headed to the electric distribution box and opened it to examine what had happened. To his shocking surprise, the fuse had smelted and given away. “Ohh Gosh! Can’t turn up the mains now Ria. The switch is all burnt and charred. Will have to call the electrician,” he yelped. “ It’s been days I have been reminding you to fix this Rahul,” smirked Ria as she peeped at the burnt fuse from over his shoulder. “Hmmm… I know, I know! I have been so very casual towards this!! Now stop squabbling me and let me take care of it,” retorted Rahul as he made his way towards his mobile phone. He called the local electrician of the society. Unfortunately, because of the lockdown , he had gone to his village and sadly, his replacement was also not available until tomorrow.
Rahul shared this aweful news with Ria and sat quietly on the sofa saddened and doleful. ” So what if there is no electricity until tomorrow in our house Rahul,” Ria gruffly stated. “ till then mister, you and I are going to spend some quality time together with no work, no laptop, no TV and ….”
“And no phones,” Rahul completed her sentence and kept his phone away on the table.
“ I am going to make some tea to enjoy with the cookies,” she declared and marched towards the kitchen. Meanwhile, Rahul put out the clothes to dry from the washer. Later, they sat in the balcony leisurely sipping tea with the yummy cookies, they played a few rounds of rummy, and then did some yoga stretches together. When the sun had bid goodbye and the moon had risen in the dusky sky, they came inside, lit some candles and while humming their favourite bollywood songs, prepared a light meal together ! The night ended with a charming candlelight dinner and they camped out in their balcony for a restful sleep under the stars.
The morning was a bit stressful as they both got back to loads of pending office work on their laptops, thanks to the hotspot mobile data sharing technology. Ria had fixed a quick brunch and they waited eagerly for the electrician who had promised to come before lunch . Finally that man arrived post lunch and after a short while voila! their house was filled with the warm light of the CFLs and the cool air of the moving ceiling fan. They thanked the guy as he made his way out of their apartment.
“ At last, we are back to civilization my dear Ria,” Rahul exclaimed. “ Trust you will be more mindful from now on. No more tardiness Rahul,” she indicated. “ Yes my dear, I will never put away such things for tomorrow,” he declared.
“So I guess, no more light outs for us, unless now you totally forget to pay the electricity bill !” joked Ria.
“I may, only if ‘you’ want another sleepover under the moonlit sky,” chuckled Rahul. “ But honestly, we did have a fabulous time after so long yesterday,” confessed Rahul as he held her hand and lovingly looked at her, and, with gleaming eyes, they both smiled at each other.
✍️©️Vandana Oke
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One Comment on “Vandana Oke (Category-Short Story) (Don’t put off till tomorrow | Certificate of Excellence)”
Vandana this is the similar situation since we landed in Noida. So frequently from mains to generators same as U wrote two appliances don’t work on generators. But being so open it doesn’t effect if weather somewhat good.