17th July, 2016
"Aasma!! Aasma!! Wake up!"
A loud voice pierced through my ears as I woke up, completely baffled.
"I hear you.", I answered in a faint voice.
"Shame that it's your first day of college. Mentally, you don't look a day older than three."
"Mum! I'm awake. You can stop yelling unless you want to wake the entire Khari Baoli up."
My Mom's voice has the power to wake the almighty up. She can kill people with her vocal cords, a quality that I thankfully didn't inherit. It's been years that I, along with my sisters, gave up on convincing her that she should lower that deafening tone of her voice. Add to that her low hearing ability to make matters worse.
Frustrated, I threw the blanket off and ran towards the loo before Anjini came out of nowhere and managed to get in before me.
"You've been awake for 2 hours. Idiot!", I yelled at the top of my voice while thumping hard at the loo door.
"There's a reason they call it Nature's Call. Go relieve yourself in the Public Toilet or you'll be late for the first day of your college.", answered Anjini, from inside the loo.
Of course. It was the first day of the college - first of the many slaps that life would throw at my face. Life was just so comfortable at school. Get up in the morning, bathe yourself maybe twice a week, dress yourself up, pick the lunch box and get inside the bus that will take you right into the school premises, chase the scores and get back home in the same bus. I now consider myself a fool for having taken all those years for granted. But there was no going back now.
Our home has always had just one loo and I feel proud to see it standing tall despite everything it has been put through. It has been used as a restroom, bathroom and a laundry room since its construction and there have been times during my childhood when it has served all the three purposes together at once. As Mom did the laundry, I would often watch my sister pooping while taking a bath myself. Okay, let's do away with the dirty talks!
As I crossed the street and reached the Sulabh Souchalaya, a pale-looking woman who must have been in her 30's stopped me.
"Hello! Payment here."
"Write it in the ledger, please. I don't have money on me.", I responded before disappearing from the scene to lock myself up in the washroom.