THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO

As usual I am kick started sharply at 3.25 I.S.T by my arthangini.Today the sleep is not deep enough to rejuvenate my central nervous system and the freshness isn’t there to face the onslaught of the coming Day.Is it Wednesday.I wonder.The names of the days seems to have lost their significance since I semi retired from the arena.The coffee is not hot enough.but I daren’t question her .Those days are over, once I lost my crown and am at her mercy all day in and out.The man in me is resisting a losing battle.The air is thi ck with the scent of marching in of the monsoons predicted accurately by the meteorologists,something might have gone wrong with their calculations,my wife says.The first showers just breath in a sort of gloomy bliss,along with the accompanying soothening laziness.The sun is going to get a beating for nother three months.The gloom is percolating to my core and I wish to idle around twisting and turning in the bed reading an Irwing Wallace or a crime thriller with a steaming cup of chai and a pack of scissors filters,smelling the sweet fragrance of the wet clay and hearing the slow drippings of the rain from the trees,the gushing sounds of water through the parapet drainage.It will take nother 3 or 4 days to hear the pleasing love calls of the frogs and the mosquitoes are yet to appear in the scene.Life is awakening all around and green the mascot of the monsoon is taking over.The usual umbrellas are out and the musky smell of wet clothes tinged with cheap perfumes from the Gulf irritates my nostrils in the consulting room.I curse the patients for coming out from all these distances just for a change of glasses or for that matter the female chronic head ache cases which are a headache for us also except that we charge for it.The monotony is excruciating and by about 6 I.S.T.,I close up my shop and return back to the world which at present means only one person my WIFE,and once again begin the battles for the post retirement change of equations to define new emotional and physical spaces in our home.As one of my friends aptly surmised “Hari! for nother 6 months both dogs will be aggressive and barking until new borders are worked out after which you will enjoy peace and new found freedom as per HER orders.Meanwhile for God sake never ever enter the kitchen unless called for and always keep her busy slandering about her [our] children so that there is a miniscule chance that she may ally with you,though it is futile but yet worth trying”.The night with out stars is scary but the music of the rains keep you company as you work tirelessly on your computer till around 3 am with the mind and body working entirely in the opposite directions in the dusk of your life a la , the present Tendulkarian style, not knowing whether to go on the front foot or back but only to defend it clumsily or miss it completely,making a clown of yourself before the entire world which mercilessly proclaims you NOTHER FARTING OLD GUY .HANGING AROUND !