Being alone – Rameshwaram

This happened when I was posted in the Rameshwaram branch of my office for a month

Then one day, I found this unused washing machine in the bathroom. Srikanth, who had stayed before me in that room, had warned me about how “shaky” the machine was. For the first few days it did not catch my attention. Then one day I came back home after my evening stroll and found that I had to wash a week’s worth of clothes. That included every little thing from my handkerchief to my most formal trousers. For a second, I thought about the “Brut” perfume I saw in one of the shops in the main bazaar. Then shook the thought off my head and took up the task. After all I would never get the chance of staying alone and washing my clothes in future (at least till I get married; in that case it wouldn’t be “just” my clothes I would need to wash). So I found this shiny unused washing machine and thought I can experiment with it. But this extra bright thought stuck - What if my clothes get stuck or worse get torn in this not-so-trustworthy washing machine? Wicked! I pulled out the curtain fluttering from the window. Some where from the depths of my mind the righteous Sid asked me if it was okay to experiment with someone else’s property. After all, all is fair and love and who said only war. So, there I was facing my washing machine. I didn’t understand head or tail of the thing I had in front of me. But painfully it was the same model as I found in my own home. If only I had been around when they used this gadget back home! For a moment, I thought of calling home. Then I got reminded of the girl with the sweet voice who would say “You do not have sufficient bal……” (Please take the honours of completing the line) if I try to call anyone from my mobile. I went around the room searching for some sort of manual that could have possibly accompanied the machine. Damn! The room was very clean. Not a litter in any corner. I put the guinea-cloth in the tub and I looked around for an “on” button. There were only two operable buttons. One “auto-on/off” and the other with a symbol of “play/pause” (Excuse me I thought I thought I was dealing with a washing machine. Not a DVD player). I found a pipe running between the water tap and the rear of the washing machine. “So” I thought “I should just put in the clothes and press the (only) two buttons and walk away”. I did what I thought. After what seemed like half an hour (Did I hear a buzzer? Am I supposed to have heard? I didn’t know). I went in to see if everything was okay and found the bathroom flooded. I half expected “moaning myrtle” to pop out of a corner saying “I was expecting you’ll come and see your clothes. He he he!”. But nothing happened. Mission successful. I took out the cloth and put it to dry on a table. Then I put in some of my clothes into the tub and walked back to my room. I had hardly sat on my cot when boom.. there was a power cut. I had other pressing matters in my mind now. I had my half cooked rice in my electric cooker and a whole host of things to buy for the next day (Soap, rice, washing powder). Half an hour later my room lights suddenly were lit and television started singing. In my relief I went out got my things, ate and slept.

The following evening, I suddenly realized that some of my clothes were missing and bang.. I ran to the washing machine. There the lights of the machine were off and there was no movement in it (I didn’t expect that there would be any). I peered into the tub and caught the angry look from my contorted clothes. With a sulky expression, as I looked at my stinking shirts and trousers, I could hear the smirk and laughter from the guinea curtain cloth, now neat, dry and with an unmistakably good stench (at least when compared to my clothes).

This in other words is called “Karma”. Grrrrrrrrrr