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Hey, Me and Fay! ....

Discussion in 'Snippets of Life (Non-Fiction)' started by Oviya, Sep 3, 2008.

  1. Oviya

    Oviya Silver IL'ite

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    Imagine a day you have invited a few guests to your home for dinner. The day is bound to be extremely hectic for you. You can not hope to have it any other way, if you happen to have a very understanding hubby like mine, whose greatest and singular contribution to the preparations being nothing but constant status checks. You pray to the Gods of all religions that the guests who come in will enliven the evening and thereby make all your hardwork worthwhile.

    It was one such day and the Gods were answering my prayers by keeping the guests in great spirits. At the fag end of the evening, around 10 o' clock, I got a call from a friend of mine informing me that there was going to be a tropical storm named Fay which seemed to have a few differences of opinions with the residents of some of the States in US and was threatening to resort to violence to settle the differences. The schools were to be closed for next 2 days.

    I am the kind of person who tends to avoid any type of difference of opinions. I need to tell you about that specific time I had to standstill for about half a day solely because a neighboring dog did not like me to move a bit. It was expressing its displeasure of my departure from the chosen position at the top of its voice. I agreed with it. So, you see, it is my nature to avoid differences of opinions. More so when your opponent is a tropical storm going to strengthen into a hurricane. Hailing from one of the safest places in India, the only hurricane I could think of till date was, the 'hurricane lantern' which used to be handy during power outages.

    Before even I started dreaming about the size, shape and complexion of the so called hurricane, my friend rushed me to get the necessary items stacked up for 3 days. She did not even allow me to switch on the TV to do a health check on Fay. Because it was already late and the shops were getting closed one by one. We drove about 8 miles to get into a 24X7 to buy bread, bananas, water bottles ( "Get the small ones. If you buy a big can, the whole 'can' can not be used if contamination happens" - Friend), jelly, butter, fruits, muffins, eggs ( "Living as an ex-vegetarian is better than dieing as a vegetarian. Boil 50 eggs before the power goes off. You can truly weather the storm with them" - Friend. She did not listen when I said that I might die thru asphyxiation caused by the smell. She quipped, "Then I will use them!"), lighter, batteries, Candles and a few other things. The Mr at home was frustrated with what I was buying and protested, "It is cheaper to pay a rent and stay in a corner of the store!" But, finally he budged. By the way, Who said men don't listen? Mine always does.

    We came home after heavy shopping. When we were taking things in, our neighbor said, " Geee... I thought the storm was only for 3 days. Is there a change in the forecast?"

    My hubby replied, "I am not sure if there is a change in the forecast. But I guarantee you that there is a change in fortune. I have just left my entire fortune in that 24X7".

    I ignored the snide. After all what good is money anyway if it can not protect you from the powers of nature.

    We switched on the TV. There was an extensive coverage of Fay. A nearby city was getting drowned. An adjacent beach city faced another calamity. Water levels were raising in the streets of that city. The city where I live, was in perpetual danger. The ladies on the TV were
    discussing all things bad about the storm. There were constant doses of weather reports. The eye of the storm is 10 miles wide, it is moving at 65 miles per hour, trees fall, cars get stuck and people are getting wet!

    My hubby was oblivious to all this. When I talked to him he did not lift so much as a little finger from the book he was reading.

    "Look, there is going to be powercut!"

    Without lifting his head from the book he said, "We are from India".

    "Trees are falling"

    "We can clear them and move on"

    "The water level in the streets are raising!"

    This time he looked up. " How much?"

    "6 inches!".

    He did not answer. He bent his head down and immersed again in his Buffett.

    "We can't go anywhere. The cars will stop in water!"

    He said, " Stay home".

    "It is declared a national disaster!"

    "How many died?"

    "Well.... I think.... one or two!"

    "Does Bush know how many die in India when there is flood? We compensate those families with a few thousand rupees and move on. He can learn a few things from us, seriously"

    There was no use talking to him. My friend gave me a call saying that she started boiling the eggs, for my home. I could never understand how anybody would eat an egg, with the shell and everything. Would I be forced to eat it? When I came back to my senses, I realised that I was praying to Lord Murugan.

    Every one called me, one after the other. No body seemed to call my husband. I became very curious. Don't his friends care about him? Or does he not have friends at all? It seemed very odd to me. I asked my friends on the phone. Every one said the same thing. None of their husbands too got any calls. They were either watching TV, or were online or were reading books. Strange, only women care.

    There was a lot of preparation advice from my friends. Top of everything was, save good water. I saved some in the bathtub. Some in the washbasins. Some in the Washer/dryer, some in the sink. Some in the couple of buckets I have and what not. DH stepped in to the bathroom and screamed, "God, is the storm outside or inside?"

    "It is going to be a hurricane. It is no longer a storm", I said.

    I opened the patio door to see what was happening outside. There was clearly a strong wind. It was raining a lot and I saw a man walking his dog in the rain. I suddenly remembered Dhasavatharam. Is this Kamal as Chritian Fletcher? Is there a virus waiting to be drowned in this storm and rain? Is all this Fay business due to a Penguin that jumped in the Antarctic ocean in the 4th century BC? And yes, what about the dog? Is it Kamal too? What great makeup!

    The TV said that there were about 80,000 customers suffering from power outage and that the power company was working hard to give it back to them. Our home was fine. It also said that in some places the water on the steet was as deep as 5-6 feet. There were shown many cars damaged by fallen trees, windshield-deep in water. There was a house on which a massive tree had fallen. There was man who thought his car had supernatual powers to turn into a boat in the water and was paying for his less than normal belief with a long walk back home. More and more pictures of Fay were posted on the web.

    The flood warning remained the next morning and the morning next to it. Schools were closed for one more day. There was rain everywhere, all the time.

    The alert on Fay was raised. Highways were closed. Target, Bestbuy and the shops nearby were operating on single doors and they closed by 6 PM.

    I cooked a lot of rice and had too much of curd prepared (I don't like the yoghurt). Just in case....

    After 3 days, the storm weakened. The rains slowly started to come to a halt. Clouds disappered. The sun broke out. The alert was removed.

    My husband closed his book.

    Finally, all was well. The bread, the muffins and the eggs were never touched.

    I lit the Deepam near the picture of Palani Balasubramanian and let out a long sigh of relief.
     
    Last edited: Sep 3, 2008
  2. Chitvish

    Chitvish Moderator IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Ms Pictureque,
    You write in such a "gripping", call it fascinating style!!
    What I liked best was the difference in the attitudes of you & your spouse! Why is it identical, everywhere??[​IMG]
    I am reminded of the Sunami, which struck us just 3 yrs back! Living near the beach, I rushed, walking, to the Marina! Vish thought , I had gone mad to go in person & see a disaster! But I can never forget the "forlorn" picture, Marina presented me that day - I have been going there for walks daily for the past 30 yrs & it is my most favourite "contemplation spot" ( as if I am a great thinker!!).[​IMG]
    I did just what you did. As soon as I returned home, lighted a deepam in the puja room, first thanked God for the sunami not entering the city and prayed for all those who were affected.:bowdown
    At that time, we had no idea about the intensity of the damage sunami had created.:-(
    The name Sunami was heard by Chennaites for the first time!!
    Your post made me nostalgic & I have promptly blabbered!![​IMG]
    Love,
    Chithu.
     
    Last edited: Sep 3, 2008
  3. Stillagirl

    Stillagirl New IL'ite

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    Hey,

    It is a very fascinating narration. I liked the entire flow and the one that made me chuckle was


    Good!
     
  4. Noorie

    Noorie New IL'ite

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    Hello

    Such tensed incident but u had writen in such a hilarious way God!! Too good.

    keep writing.
     
  5. SupriyaDinesh

    SupriyaDinesh Silver IL'ite

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    Dear Oviya,
    Loved your narration.Interesting to read about your hubby's comments and reaction.BTW what did your friend do with 50 boiled eggs?
     
  6. Lalitha Shivaguru

    Lalitha Shivaguru Platinum IL'ite

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    My dearest Oviyum,

    This was one nice description of Fay. When I started reading about it, I was reminded of Tsunami which I had to face when we were in Port Blair. After the tsunami abated, when we wanted to see the site of the havoc, the suto charged a Rs.50/- for sightseeing (normally it was Rs.10/-). For tourist he was charging Rs.100/- and it become must visit place.

    You have written very beatutifully and the way your husband was sent me laughing because mine was also like that.

    Thanks for reminding me once again dear.
     
  7. Oviya

    Oviya Silver IL'ite

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    Chithumma, My dear Adharsha Mangai,

    Thanks for the first reply...

    I wonder, too, that the man-woman feelings are very identical...He was like enjoying the unexpected off:coffee(I wish I could have some crispy snacks or fried pori)...I dreamt of no-cooking for some days butBig Laugh.....

    So, you are blessed with 'one of a kind' comtemplation spot....Probably, after Tsunami you would have been more into that thoughts....

    It is a whole different story to settle the house after storm....searching bread, banana and curd recipes in your list...one day, morkali for breakfast, kuzambu and raitha for lunch and besan mixed curd as face pack:rotfl....

    Love,
    Your Picturesque...
     
    Last edited: Sep 3, 2008
  8. malspie

    malspie Platinum IL'ite

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    Hi Ovi,

    That was a splendid narration! Keep it coming quite often.
     
  9. Arunarc

    Arunarc Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    Hi Oviya
    That was a nice write up on you and Fay, wonderful narration, enjoyed the talk between you and your DH.
    Don't you think woman panic a lot then man...............
    the way you used all the grocery was superb..............hahahaha
     
  10. Oviya

    Oviya Silver IL'ite

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    Thanks...Your quote reminds me of the moment...shakehead to eggs...
     

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