1o'clock, in my house, there is no cat, but there is a mouse…

TOM AND JERRY SHOW .. LIVE

1.00 a.m. – I realise there is something banging underneath my bed. I neglect it. There is so much stuffed under my bed that I can’t even think about it.

2.00 a.m. – Finally I decide to logoff and switch off the laptop. There is nothing left to do so lets get some sleep.

2.15 a.m. – This stage is called the delta sleep. I like it. I feel like I am meditating. Insulated from everything but thinking about just one thing. Incidentally, I am thinking about the TOM & JERRY pics that a friend of mine emailed me to wish Happy Friendship Day. TOM AND JERRY on a friendship day!!! Anyway, who cares?

2.20 a.m. – My toes are touching something soft and fleshy. Let me thing what is it? Pillow … Cell phone … ipod …Laptop … dictionary ... novel ... What is it? I push it. It crawls over my legs and passes by. Ooops.. this was something moving and living.

2.22 a.m. – I decide to switch on the lights and have a look.

2.23 a.m. – There he is. A sweet little mouse happily perched on the chair, underneath my uniform. For a moment, this site gives me a sense of gratification. At least someone found a place, a reason and time to ‘sit’ on my chair. It sees me and jumps. Passes under the bed into the closet. CRACK !!!!

The bottom most part of my closet is full of antique things. A lot of CD’s, cassettes, and books and magazines that I liked when I read them but never touched them later. I have preserved them and I don’t know why. Happy hunting ground for rodents. Now, I have a reason to open it.

I use my grandfather’s walking stick to have better control over the situation. In better times, I use it to practice my hand to eye co-ordination

2.30 a.m. – There is no sign of any movement. Yeah, the lights are on. That creature won’t move until it is dark. But I want to keep an eye on him so can’s switch off the lights. I open the door of the room. I hope that it sees the darker side of the house and rushes towards it. Again a long wait for it to emerge… So I am waiting. I wonder if TOM & JERRY could ever be friends.

2.32 a.m. – No signs of movement. Now, here is a dilemma. Should I let it be in there or should I take pains to get it out of that place. What is the right thing to do at this time of the day? The answer is that I decide to blog.

2.45 a.m. – I use the stick to disturb his comfort level inside my close. I see that Ricky Ponting has developed a moustache. No, it’s actually his tail. Rodent’s not Ricky’s.
It vanishes in the flash. Now this fellow seems to be kissing John Wright. I push the stick hard. He jumps out and again finds a camouflage under my bed. This is a red alert area.

2.46 a.m. – There is a bag in which I have preserved every thing that I once used on a cricket ground. My 1st pair of keeping gloves, a dozens of inners, a few caps and yeah a lot of memories. The memories are safe .. What about the other things? Then there are a few meters of cables. It is such a mess that even my electrician doesn’t bother touching them. He calls it my Laboratory. And now, my new found roomy is in the lab. RAF needed.
1st things 1st. I safely remove the bag which has all near and dear things of mine. I wonder why the cutie hasn’t entered it. The answer is right. Those things have never been cleaned. The sweat still remains. Look Angad.. the medicine still works. No one can enter this bag until he decides to stop breathing.

But my friend is still hidden somewhere. I try to infuriate him but, no reaction. Hurrah .. In the process I find Chandrashekhar Gokhale’s Me Maza…. Thankooooo

2.49 a.m. – No sign of any movement as yet. Well the poor creature must be tired…
I decide to leave him alone .. its too late for him to leave my cozy room and find a place else where.
So finally, I will leave the room and let the mouse be here. I won’t switch of the lights cos he might again disturb himself. I will leave the fan on cos .. common it too hot. May be the noise of the fan will make him feel that I am still around and he doesn’t mess with my belongings.

So I will be going downstairs and sleeping in the guest room so that the guest can have a sound sleep.

As they say अतिथि देव भावः

Hello.. Mr Mouse Uncle .. the window is left open I don’t want to see you here in the after the sunrise.

GOOD NIGHT
SWEET DREAMS …