Chapter 29

Chapter 29

I tiptoed towards the bed as my toes touched the cold floor, slowly. It was the best feeling in the world.

I finally got to the bed, though I could barely see a thing. The lights were off because, as you know, my mother was asleep.

I fell on the cold bed (again, best feeling in the world!) and made myself comfortable.

Then I did something peculiar. After coming from a very hot area, I was clearly not cold yet, I still felt as if I was in a sauna, I needed more time recover from my friend, the Chennai heat.

Despite this, I decided to throw on the blanket.

I wasn't feeling cold, I didn't want to feel warm, but still I just decided to put on a blanket.

Even today, before I sleep I always put on a blanket, automatically, like a robot.

Why did I do this? Did it make me more comfortable? Was I just a humanoid robot? Or did it make me feel safe?.

This concept is so stupid. For example a killer may just break into the room and look at me with a blanket over my head.

Did I think that he would just assume I'm not there.

Like, "Oh well, I see a big lumpy thing inside that blanket, shaped like a tiny 8 year old, but it's not a tiny 8 year old so, I guess I'll just leave."

So stupid.

So this time I tried taking off the blanket, but things got worse.

This time cold air touching my beautiful feet was slight unpleasant.

Actually it was very unpleasant.

Because of my evening nap (That lasted 3 hours!) I couldn't sleep.

So there I lay on the bed, my glasses off, staring into a blank space.
It was a very eerie atmosphere.

Almost as if at any moment anything could jump onto me saying, "Now that you've took your blanket off there's no one to save you. Muwahahaha! (disney villain-ish laughter)"

I couldn't bear it anymore, my beautiful, astounding, soldier like blanket that had been saving me from these 'things' for all my life had to be back, to protect me.

I briskly pulled the blanket back on. But then, my wonderful brain decided to ask a few questions, to? My wonderful brain of course!

So I, the innocent Aneesha could have a sleepless night, filled with aggression that comes with 'no answers'.

Chapter-28

Chapter 28

"What are you going to do now?" I asked her, assuming she was pretty bored.

"I think I'm going to go to bed now..." she replied, yawning slowly.

"Good night." I said.

"Good night" she echoed back.

I slowly left the room, as soon as I put a foot outside, a rush of hot air greeted my face.

I wasn't used to this at all.

How did it become so hot all of a sudden?

I walked through the heat into the kitchen, which was far more sultry.

"What happened to the weather?" I asked my aunt, who was tidying things up, and soon going to go to bed too.

"The power's gone." she replied, feeling humid.

"What?" I asked confused
"The power's gone.." she replied sadly.

Just then I remembered about the constant power cuts.

The electricity went 4-5 times a day every time we came to India.

It was so inconvenient. 

Luckily, we had an inverter. It was something that stored power before the electricity went and gave it to us when the electricity went.

But even this had a loophole, the air conditioning in the hall and some other rooms didn't work.

Leaving us with the useless fans, that barely gave any air.

"Oh...I guess I'll have to eat my pizza hot then.." I joked.
"Hahaha, Yes and remember if you feel too hot come inside, you can always eat the pizza tomorrow. I'm going to bed, if you need anything I'll be in that room. Good night Aneesha!" she said in one breath.
"Ok, Good night." I said softly.
I guess she was tired, she'd been working all day.

I took my slice of pizza and sat in the sofa, as my friendship with the chennai heat grew stronger.
We were getting to know each other, how I, being an NRI couldn't resist the slightest amount of heat, while it could keep getting worse by the minute, leaving me extremely uncomfortable.

I couldn't go where there was A/C, because the A/C was only in the bedrooms. I had to eat the pizza and I couldn't eat it in the bedroom; that would be a violation of table manners.

Keeping the pizza in mind I battled the Chennai heat with all my might for about three minutes.
But then I realised that I would eventually lose anyway.
I COULDN'T BEAR THE HEAT!
My battle was getting intense now. I had nothing to do, nowhere to go, keeping my dear pizza within my clutch.

There was only one way to escape this heat, I had to eat the pizza as fast as I could, as soon as possible. (Duh, I wasn't going to give up on it for all the heat in the world.)

I opened my mouth as wide as I could and took the biggest bite of pizza in my life.

By doing this I finished the whole slice in about 5 bites! Interestingly I can't do that today.

I ran into the kitchen with supersonic speed, washed the plate as fast as I could and ran, ran into the room like an olympian.

The wave of relief I felt as the cold air touched my feet was the most pleasant feeling in the world.
It felt as if finally, after thousands of days of living in the hot desert, I had returned home, home to my dear Air conditioning.

Chapter-27

Chapter 27


The more I thought about the cheesy goodness of my favorite food, the more I wanted some.
Realising the situation was not that bad anymore, I shyly turned towards my aunt and dabbed her lightly on the shoulder.

"Yes, Aneesha" she said.

"Can I..have some...pizza...you know because everything is fine...and I'm hungry..so.." I spoke unconfidently, hoping I was not being too rude for the situation.

My aunt laughed.
"Sure! Wait a minute, I'll get the box." she said merrily moving into the kitchen.

Just then a question invaded my mind. 
Why was it that a round pizza was kept in a square box?
Its so weird! A pizza is made as a circle, cut into triangles and placed in a square box.
It's a whole geometry set by itself.
No wonder I was so good at math.

I saw the pizza as my aunt brought it in. How couldn't I? As it entered a sweet, delicious and mouth watering aroma spread through the room.

I sat on the table, ready for a slice (or two). 
Just then I felt as if I was forgetting something, someone maybe?

Then I remembered about my poor mother, going through so much pain.
She was in her room, probably trying to sleep on an empty stomach.

How selfish of me, completely forgetting about her. Well, when it comes to pizza I do forget quite a lot of things.
I got off of my chair and walked towards my mothers room.
As I had expected she was laying on the bed, half asleep.
"Amma (mom)?" I asked.
"Yeah Aneesha" she said, slowly trying to get up.
"Did you have your dinner, Amma?" I asked her.
"Yes, Aneesha, when your grandmother and I had gone to the doctor, she suggested buying a meal." she answered.

I didn't quite understand what she said. Suggested a meal? She only suggested a meal, that didn't mean they ate the meal. 

As my aunt had said my mother couldn't eat junk, and I specifically remember my mommy telling me that everything we find outside is junk.

"So you ate outside?" I asked my mother, trying to clarify my queries.

"Yes, but we ate at the hospitals cafeteria."
she said, clarifying my queries.
That made sense.
She could obviously eat at the hospital, it was the healthiest place ever.

Chapter-26

Chapter 26


I immediately selected the baby names option. The results were, links?
I didn't quite understand the concept of links back then. Did they lead you to some sort of website?
I imagine how the next generation will be laughing at us for this. 

"You had to type in the searches? Then take all the pain and effort to move your finger and click on a link?" "Hahaha." 

Just like we laugh today at life before the internet, the good old days when children used to see the trees and play hide and seek. 

"But videogames are better!" is the exact sentence I told my grandmother the other day.
Somebody just decided to invent the internet, so we could sit in front of a screen all day, with no actual human interaction what-so-ever, accomplishing nothing.

I can't lie, I too was a video game addict for a long-long time. I eventually got over it.
I liked the excitement, the adventure, the feeling of self satisfaction when you win a game finally after losing over and over again.


Coming back to now- I clicked on the first of all the 'links', that said, 
'baby names for boys and girls'.
As soon as I clicked on it synchronising with the sound of my mouse, occurred the sound of a doorbell ringing.

As usual I got diverted into thinking about something else and forgot about what was important, the serious thing.
Maybe I did have ADHD.

I rushed towards the door, opening it as my mother and grandmother smiled at me.

"What happened?" I asked.
"Oh nothing serious, your mother was just weak, from all the travelling and packing. The doctor gave a few things to help her regain strength." she said, as I listened on guard.
"From today I don't think she will be doing much, in fact she may not do anything at all, right Aswini?" my grandmother asked my mother, giving her an intimidating look.
"Yes..." my mother nodded softly.

My thinking was very quick. I just surfed through thoughts, one leading to another.

Here's the chain this time0
 Ok so nothing to worry. I wasted so much time on the computer. I'll also eat that pizza as soon as possible before that goes to waste. I wish I hadn't wasted my time too though. Wait what are we going to name the baby?
 
As you can see my chain of thoughts contains the word 'pizza', as always. I keep thinking about pizza. Too bad I can't have any that often.

Chapter-25

Chapter 25

I felt good, as long as she was fine. The only thing we could do until she came back was wait. But after a few minutes my inquisitive mind decided to annoy me again, by asking a few more...questions!

Why aren't they coming back? What if something happened? What if-?

I couldn't take it any more, this time even I couldn't  convince myself. I wish I could just know the answers. I stomped irritated into my room, I just needed answers.


My glasses kept sliding down I didn't like them that way, as I pushed them I remembered someone else who had glasses, Aditya. As I thought of him, I remembered something about him. When he had questions he would use....Google!

I rushed towards the computer, it was big, fat and had a CPU.

The thing was that computers were not advanced then, they were big boxes, complicated (then) but I knew how to use them. My mother used to log into a few websites and showed me how it worked. I was basically an expert on computers, I could type, I could log onto websites, I could play games, I was awesome, or so I thought.

To use it, first we had to switch on the CPU. That was easy, I just had to switch on this black rectangular box, I just had to press a button to do that. I slowly pressed the largest button, slowly because I enjoyed how it 
popped right back, like a spring.

Suddenly the computer turned on. 'Dell' the screen read. All of a sudden the screen turned black. A few options appeared onto the black screen, all written in white, except for one, it was written in black and covered in grey. 'Press enter to start windows normally.' It read, I think (I have windows 8 now).

"Okay..." I thought. I did want windows to start normally, if it goofed up, I would be responsible for its 'abnormality'.
I scanned the keyboard for 'enter', it was right there to the far right of the keyboard. I slowly pressed it (duh I loved buttons). Windows started. Suddenly a new screen appeared, it had various 'icons' and a green grass background, with a bright blue sky.

I searched for internet explorer, we always used it, so good, so efficient (hahaha).
I opened it and went to google.com, I saw my mother use it to find recipes and I was pretty observant, so I caught the hang of it.

Just then I realised something, what was I going to type?
How about trying 'baby'. I slowly (obviously) pushed the letters one by one, as soon as I typed in 'baby' a number of options piled up.
The word 'baby' was written in bold letters in all of them. Baby laugh, baby cute, baby smiling, baby names, were the options. Just then it struck me, what were we going to name the baby?

Chapter-24

Chapter 24

"Mom!" she screamed. "Something is wrong."

As soon as she uttered these words, questions invaded my mind. What could be wrong? What happened? Why did she scream so loud? Is she in pain? Is she okay?

"What's wrong Aswini?" my grandma asked her.

"I'm not sure...but I think we need go, go see a doctor.." she said scared.

"Yes, come, the clinic is pretty close, I'll call the driver." said my grandma also, scared.

This put me into tension. "I'm coming too!" I said as they walked towards the door. 

"You can't." said my mother strictly and firmly, putting me silent. 

This was the first time I got angry out of inquisitivity.

I had so many questions about what was happening and no answers, I was growing impatient, so impatient in fact that I would do anything to find answers.

This is probably why I'm called extremely 

inquisitive, because of this feeling. The feeling that if I don't get answers something would happen to me. Even though I don't usually get angry, questions are the main reason I do.

Any answer is fine, I just need something to calm my brain down, because if I don't get an answer my brain is wired in a way to ask more questions; deeper questions, which I can never find answers to.

But after a few seconds of aggression, came an...answer.

This didn't happen that often, but did happen every time I really thought.

The reason some people don't ask questions is because they don't have any, because they never thought about something so much, so quick that it actually allowed them to have questions about it.

If they do have that thought process, so fast, then eventually, through the stage of aggression they start assuming things, finding;answers.

So this time I did. Here's the thought process-

What happened? She must've felt something was wrong with the baby. But how will she know? Probably because when she had you, she gained experience of what is right and what is wrong. What is wrong? Because she screamed before saying something and also by the way she spoke to you firmly, I assume she was in pain, because when you're in pain you don't like to be annoyed. Why did she have pain? She had a big baby in her belly- of course she would have pain.

A wave of relief spread through my mind, it was a very good feeling, but just then another question popped up-
Will she be okay? What if it's something serious? 
To this I answered myself-
If it was something serious then she would be screaming, considering that she could walk until the door, it seems like it's nothing that serious and if it is, they went to the doctor, he'll take care of it.
Suddenly, there was no tension.

Chapter-23

Chapter 23

I woke up, confused for a second as to why I was not in my room. But after another second, I came back to my senses.

I remembered taking a bath and immediately

falling lazily on the bed. I must've fell asleep without my own knowledge.

But isn't that how everybody falls asleep, without them knowing, drifted in thoughts, that eventually put you to sleep.

One question that always occurs to me is how

I don't fall asleep when I want to. At night when Iay on my bed, ready to fall asleep, I don't. In the middle of a boring conversation, where I have no intention of falling asleep,I do.

Once when I was in my class, my social teacher went on and on about history and politics, I was getting bored and to entertain myself I looked around the class, where I saw some people regrettably going to sleep, on their bench, it's not even comfortable, it's on plain, hard wood.

Just then interrupting my thoughts (as usual), I heard a voice, "Aneesha! Are you up?" yelled my mother.

"Yeah." i said drowsily, letting out a yawn.

"Good, it's dinner time." she said.

Already! How could that be?
Now I had so many questions gathered up about sleeping. 

How do we fall asleep? Why do we fall asleep? Where do we fall asleep? Why don't we know we are sleeping when we're sleeping? Why can't we just wake ourselves up? Who keeps taking away my unicorn when I wake up? How can we sleep for hours without even knowing? If it's a method of relaxation, then why do we sleep when we get bored?

"Coming?" said my mother, cutting into my thoughts again; boy do people like to interrupt my musing.

"Yeah.." I said again.
I got off the bed and felt my feet touch the cold floor, the air conditioning was on throughout the house, so we all didn't become fries and boiled potatoes.

I went into the kitchen still thinking about how we sleep.
"Oh, look who's up.", said my aunt, she was in the kitchen. So she probably didn't hear my mother yelling at me to get up.

"So what's for dinner?" I asked, knowing that it would be something I liked. It was my first day in Chennai and it had been a long time since they had seen me.
"Pizza, the pizza you ate in the afternoon was actually for dinner, there are another two boxes. We thought it would be a surprise." she said.
"Yes!" I screamed.
"But don't get used to it, this is only for today. From tomorrow you're going to eat some good Indian food." she added.

"Okay!" I said enthusiastically. It was surprising that this time I was not jet-lagged, I felt so energetic.
"Call everybody, tell them it's time for dinner. Your mother may not be having more than a slice." she said.
"Why won't she, she loves pizza." I asked confused.
"Because it's not good for the baby, she has to take more nutritious food, we have a separate diet for her." she answered.

Wow, I didn't think it was so serious. Sure my mother had a big belly, couldn't do certain things, took so many tablets and drank more milk than I did, but that didn't mean she couldn't eat what she liked.
I was about to protest when suddenly I heard my mother shout.

Chapter-22

Chapter 22

She must've been excited to have me over after so many days. I could tell by what she said, that we were going to have a lot of fun, and also that she had a lot planned for me here in Chennai.

I was even excited to see what classes my mother had thought for me. I loved doing activities and I knew that whatever she had in mind would be something related to either art or maths, both of which, I loved. 

I was a part of the gifted and talented program back in America, because of how quickly I could do maths. It was not that I was a genius, it   was that my mother used to teach me everything in maths logically. It was the only subject where I didn't have to ask her millions of questions. That's why I enjoyed it.

"I'm thinking of putting her in Art, handwriting, dance and advanced math class, by the time she's out she will know 20 tables and perform calculations more easily." replied my mother.

I knew about the art and maths, but dance and handwriting? I didn't mind having bad handwriting or be unable to cha-cha. It was just unnecessary, or so I thought. 

Just then I caught a fragrance lurking in the air. 

Was it, yes it was, it was pizzzaaaaa!

I had, have and always will have a fancy for pizza. Only god knows why. 

If you had me choose between a million bucks and pizza, I would've eaten the pizza already by then. 

"Pizzzzaaaa!!!!" I shouted, bursting everybody's ears.

I was like a dog, I could sniff my way to the pizza. I went to the table and searched for a box, I spotted one at the corner, I immediately went there and burst it open.

It was the pizza. I ripped off a slice and took a large bite.

It was delicious. The best, but a little different

from what I had in America.

Still pizza, was pizza.

So I went to the kitchen and grabbed a plate, a large one, back then I could eat only two slices, now I've upgraded to three, it was just too good to resist, but somehow I keep my weight balanced, even though I eat so much pizza. 

Probably because I had other problems eating. I just wouldn't get hungry, sometimes for a whole day  I wouldn't eat anything because I wasn't hungry. 

Nobody could understand the way I felt. It was as if I had too much food and I was stuffed. I just couldn't swallow a piece of food, even pizza.

This made me look thin and undernourished. My parents got worried and started giving me vitamin tablets because I had vitamin and dietary deficiency. 

One day my grandma suggested a medicine. It made me get hungry and eat like a normal person, but even today even though I have no 'nutrition' problems, I have trouble having dinner and anything between breakfast and lunch.

"Aneesha!" my mother yelled. "You haven't taken a bath yet." she said.

It was a 26 hour flight, I had to take a bath.

"Okay, but first let me finish these slices." I said taking another bite out of my pizza.

"You better eat fast, we have to do a lot of things today, but it's better to take rest. You must be tired." she said.

She was right, I was pretty tired. I couldn't wait to take a warm bath and go to sleep.

Chapter-21

Chapter-21

The weather was cooler in America. So it was weird for me, getting on a plane cool and getting off, boiling hot.

As I struggled to fan myself, I started to analyse my surroundings. 

I didn't find the airport as great as the one in America, especially because people had to wait outside in the hot sun, I just couldn't wait any longer, if I did, I was pretty sure I would turn into Aneesha-fries. 

Just then I heard a noise behind me, I turned to see a blue, alto car, which in those days was pretty neat.

"Driver, get these bags into the trunk." said my grandmother.

You'd think that if someone had a driver
they'd be very rich. But here in India it is very common for even a mediocre family to have a driver. It's just another normal thing and hence, the salary for these men is very low.

In India everybody also has a maid. I am not kidding, literally, EVERYBODY.

And these ladies also have a very low salary.

After the man put our suitcases inside the trunk, we got in. It was great that the car had A/C, because otherwise instead of Aneesha-fries I would become Aneesha-the boiled potato.

"So, Aswini, what's the plan for this month? Planning to see Chennai?" my grandmother questioned my mother.

"Yeah mom, that and I'm thinking of joining Aneesha in a few classes, to keep her busy." replied my mother. A lot of times adults just assumed I wasn't listening to them because sometimes, I wasn't. I would be dreaming, in my own world, paying no intention to their conversation. That was basically how I spent most of my time fighting boredom.

"We're here! Get down Aneesha, your uncle, aunt and grandpa are waiting for you." as my grandmother spoken these words, I immidiately got down and ran inside the house, I knew which one was my grandmas because every year we would come here, to India for my holidays. It was a light blue coloured, independent house in which the top half was my grandmothers familys and the bottom belonged to someone else.

As I stepped inside, I immidiately heard "Hi Aneesha!".

I turned up to see my Uncle, aunt and grandfather.

"Hi Kishore Mama, Hi thatha, Hi Durga Athaaaaaa!" I immidiately shouted.

"How are you doing?" asked my aunt, whom I called 'Atha', mostly 'Durga Atha' (her name with aunt)

"I'm fine, how are you all doing?" I asked her.
"Oh we are doing fine. We are so excited to have you here, there are so many places to see in Chennai, I'm planning to show you them, just you and me, while amma and ammuma are busy. Hey by the way Aswini, what classes are you planning to join Aneesha in?"

Chapter-20

Chapter 20

I immediately froze. Tears filled my eyes.

The feeling was very unpleasant, it was as if I was going to lose something that I would never get back. I just wanted to cry it all out.

My mother heckled my thoughts as usual and dragged me repeatedly stating that we were late.

I slowly got into the taxi dragging my bag with me.

The airport was pretty near from our house, I was surprised that we didn't take any of the cars.

We had two cars, both Toyota. I felt the necessity to say that because of my interest in cars.

We reached the airport in no time. My mother dragged me around and checked in while I was still thinking about why we didn't take the cars.

After a few minutes of waiting it was finally boarding time, which meant I was going to be dragged again.

We got onto the plane and I made myself comfortable in my seat.

Back then not much was there to do in a flight especially one that lasted 26 hours.

Everything seemed so quick, probably because my thoughts kept me entertained.

I had the most vivid imagination. My father suspected that I had developed ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) because I watched a lot of TV.

In actuality I didn't need TV to entertain me as I would create and imagine my own stories.

Whatever I thought was a good story I would make up the dialogue, screenplay and characters in my head. I did this so often that it became almost a daily or hourly habit.

For most of the flight though I did nothing but sleep, eat and as usual, think.

"Aneesha! Get up Aneesha!" I heard my mothers voice as I drowsily rubbed my eyes.

"Come, we're here. Ammuma is waiting at the gate." she said.

So soon! But it seemed like just yesterday I was in America playing with Amy.

I lazily got up with pain in my head, arms and legs.

I took my bag as my mother rushed me through the airport.

She must have been excited to see her mother.

We quickly collected our baggage and proceeded to the gate where I could see a familiar face.

A lady waited right there with cheerful eyes and a wide smile, waving and greeting us.

Her smile was extremely contagious I smiled back, immediately running towards her and into her arms. "Hello grandma!" I said cheerfully.

"Hello Aneesha, hope you're doing well!" she said back.

"Yeah I am doing well!" I said not completely sure whether I was.

"You must be so excited that you're going to have a baby brother or sister in a few months."

"Yup, I'm pretty excited." I replied.
"Hello Amma!" my mother said to my grandma.
"Hi Aswini, how are you doing, is everything going well?" my grandmother questioned my mother, as I fanned myself with my hand.

It was early May. As we all know India is near the equator, Chennai, even closer to the equator, so naturally the weather was boiling hot.

Chapter-19

Chapter 19

"Yes, but I bet you will have a lot of fun with your grandma there until he or she is born."

he replied.

"Okay." I said.

I felt a little weird, at least it would be something new. A new experience. But as long as we came back here, I had no problem going to India. In fact it would be more like a vacation.

I just hoped that we came back.

"Okay Aneesha, you've had your dinner. Now it's time to sleep. Remember, we have a whole day of packing tomorrow." my mother said.

I guess I was sleepy too. It had been a long day for me. Too many surprises, too much inquisitivity. Too many questions.

"Good night." I said drowsily.

"Good night." both of my parents carolled.

I walked towards my room and finally reached the stairs. I took one step by one and climbed to the top.

I entered my room and fell on the bed.

I don't remember falling asleep, but I do remember getting up the next morning.

It wasn't exactly pleasant.

"Aneesha! Get up! We have to pack! Our flight is at 8AM!" yelled my mother.

"I'm up!" I said excited.

It was going to be a wild day, a 26 hour flight.

But it would probably be worth it.

I went to bathroom, brushed my teeth, combed my hair and took a nice warm shower.

I scurried downstairs and saw my breakfast piping hot and served on the table.

Pancakes with maple syrup, I wondered if they would have pancakes in India, especially because whenever I went to India I had tasty food my grandma made me.

'Dosas' 'Idlis' and 'Upma' were what I usually had.

As soon as I finished my breakfast I heard a voice.
"Aneesha! Come here!" said my mother calling me from the hall.
I washed my plate and put it in the dishes.

As soon as I left the kitchen I was shocked to see that things were, gone!
The carpet was packed up, the sofas were at the corner of the hall.
The hall mostly consisted of my mother, my father and the suitcases we would take.
Thankfully they didn't take down the clock as I was curious as to what time it was.
I looked at the clock and immidiately froze.
The time was 6:03 and our flight was at 8'o clock!
That meant that we were supposed to leave for the airport, well, now!
As soon as I thought that through, interrupting my thoughts I heard a honk at the door.

"Lets go!" shouted my mother as the taxi crawled up outside.

My mother had my cinderella bag all packed and ready to go.

I grabbed it and looked at my father as my mother grabbed me by the arm and rushed me to leave.

"Bye nana, come soon." I yelled as I left him.

"Bye, I'll be there next month, have fun!" he shouted back.

I took a small step outside my house and a little shiver greeted me.