Home Sweet Home...

The R.K. Narayan novels kept me company yet again. It was past noon when the train reached Vizag. I did not want to repeat the mistake of booking my meals in the train. The previous journey had taught me a lesson the hard way. I detrained and saw what best I could get to eat on that platform. Again, I had dosas. Then, a glass of cold pineapple juice to supplement this. Not surprisingly, when the train reached Vijayawada at night, I went in search of food and again got dosas to eat. After this, I had a cup of coffee and went back to sleep. My hatred towards dosas had grown manifold in this short trip to Bengal and I cursed myself for it. I was longing to reach Chennai and eat something better. The train reached the station at 4:15a.m on Sunday. My dad was waiting there and I relished the stench, characteristic of Madras Central – Home Sweet Home.
It was the most satisfying drive back home in our car and I felt a new surge of energy unleashed into my circulatory system. I came home and ran to the bed and hugged it with utmost intimacy. Sleeping is generally how I burn most of my calories. I felt like I had been separated from home for ages. I slept like I was hibernating and only woke up at noon. There stood my grandmother, beside me, with a plate of the most delicious masala dosa and I instantly remarked, “oh no! not again!!”, much to the surprise of others.