Sunday mornings are always looked forward to. One, it is after a Saturday. Two, it is the day when you decide to get some catch-up work done, based on the to-do list which is usually drawn up through the week. Shops have to be visited, deep corners of the house have to be cleaned, friends who you have not met in the last few years decide to drop in, and finally, you need a break from the serious lectures that you have been giving in your classes.

No doubt every Sunday brings in its wake some new experiences, although you would wish that these would be pleasant. Like the other day, I finally sat down to read the paper. Nowadays reading the paper is not anymore such an important activity, as someone or the other has the TV going. Someone has read somewhere that TV means Together Viewing and wants to experience the truth of this particular expansion of the acronym. So the TV is always on and the viewers come in go out as per individual need. However, the newspaper reader is caught in all this activity and is prevented from the pleasure of reading the newspaper undisturbed and in peace. That’s one time when you can express your feelings freely without any interruption or counter views, of which you have had plenty in the class.

As soon as you get through the newspaper, there is a rush of items waiting for your attention. This was the day when the tap in the kitchen washbasin decided to leak, and it became a big issue. The water wouldn’t stop and I couldn’t get the plumber soon enough. After some discussion on the telephone, when he finally agreed to grace our house, amidst much grumbling that members of the society should write in

the complaints book and not call the plumber directly, he looked at the tap and gave a gasp. Even his trained and tired eyes could not deal with the generous outflow; it was as if the tap had decided to punish the house owner for the years of use and abuse. I made up my mind that day that I would never close the tap too tight in future, maybe that was the reason the tap was so angry with us. Soon the plumber changed the washer, but not before everyone in the house had had a close shave with a Titanic-like situation.

After this drama which had poured much water over the to-do list for Sunday, I went to get the vegetables. This is a chore which you think you can get done in double quick time, but you could be surprised. As soon as I reached the vendor’s shop, he asked me why I didn’t show up last week, he had kept my favourites – brinjals, spinach and batatas – in a bag, ready for departure, but then had to unpack and sell at a loss. Not only that, he wanted to know all about the incident that had happened in my neighbourhood. I got released after some 45 minutes, but not before he had clearly told me his views on the ongoing struggle in Uri, the hard attitude of the Chinese (he promised that he will never import any veggies from China) and the problems Obama is facing in Charlotte.

And so it went, like any Sunday. You plan to do some things and someone else has other views. Your to-do list could become to-be-done-next-Sunday list. Long live democracy!