'My brain is trying to kill me' - Calvin

A totally strange thing happened this Saturday.

Before that a little background. Last Friday (a week ago) I left home at night, leaving the Geyser on by mistake. It overheated, the thing burst, sprang a leak and water started leaking from it onto the floor below (our Geyser is outside the toilet). When I came back home there was no electricity (shorted and tripped) and there was ankle deep water in the hall (Splosh! Splosh!). I had come home ready to drop into bed but now this! These things are sent to test us, as some stern Inspector said in Agatha Christie's 'Towards Zero'. After a initial few moments of panic, I turned off the Geyser switch and then I rushed to the terrace and turned off the water to the building (water was still leaking from the Geyser). Our landlords were away celebrating the Friday night and the end of their son's final exams. The circuit breakers are all kept under lock and they had the key. So I would have to do whatever I had to do in candle light.

Hmm. What followed was a pain. I couldn't leave all that water on the floor (and let the maid handle it in the morning), though I sleep on a cot, it would irritate me and get on my nerves. So I took a bucket and a plate from the Kitchen and started scooping water from the floor into the bucket. Later I used a moping towel and still later a bedsheet and much later a broom. I had to be careful because some of the rooms in the house were bone dry (Som's room for example where the comp is ) and had I used the broom in the beginning water would flow in there! So I mopped up around 5 bucketfuls of water (that's quite a lot, let me tell you) before the landlords came. In the middle I had started chanting 'Om Namah Shivaya' with every scoop into the bucket - for motivation, for concentration, for timepass and for any incidental Punya . When the lights came on I had the satisfaction of seeing an almost dry floor. The fans would dry up what little was left. These things are sent to test us. They build character as Calvin's dad would say.

Saturday was spent running after an electrician and overseeing the repairs. Phew!

So back to the story I started out with. A strange thing happened this Saturday. As I sat in the office, around 12.30, I suddenly could not remember having turned the Geyser off! Panic! PANIC! I could picture the whole painful routine again! I rushed home. And then, so occupied was my mind was with the Geyser, that as I neared home I got off my bike, like I get off my cycle, before it had come to a halt! The engine was running and I had not put the sidestand on. Luckily my bike is not heavy or I would have fallen with it. I looked around to see if anyone had seen my acrobatics. One of the houswives, buying vegetables, had. Well, no harm done.

Another surprise. My house was locked with our landlord's main key. There was a note from them to call them when I came home. I understood what had happened at once - I had forgotten to lock the door when I left home in the morning. But that later. First I rushed to the window of my room. Peeked inside and sighed with relief to see the Geyser switch at 'OFF'.

I called up our landlords and they told me where they had put the main key in one of their windows. Hmm. Some adventure.

I guess all this 'background processing' that our brain, in its wisdom, performs, can be pretty dangerous. I decided to make a constant effort, from then on, not to be absent minded and to apply consious thought to what I was doing. As I drove to Mallu mess for lunch, I decided to consiously think about which gear I was in. But I found that I kept thinking about this post instead.