Of future neighbours

I'm told it started some months ago, when I was in the US. Workers swing sledgehammers, breaking down the house next door that's been there forever, the house into which I've hit the cricket ball a zillion times and got scolded for it, and had to negotiate the hay and the cows (don't ask me why they kept cows in their backyard) to find the ball. My parents had been living in months of dust and noise when I landed. After living in the relatively rustic and peaceful environs of a small university town, it was hard enough to not wince whenever someone nearby on the road honked the horn, or to avoid the feeling of disorientation with all the bright city lights.

So, I had to endure a few weeks of sledge-hammering in the daytime. This was followed by a particularly irritating phase when they used jackhammers, starting at dawn and going on virtually all day. It felt like somebody was inside our heads knocking holes in our skulls... then finally they relinquished. But oh no, we weren't getting off that easy. They needed to get some heavy trucks in to move all the rubble... and they were only allowed to do it at night. And after a few nights of THAT, they brought in the machinery to dig up the foundation.

If you walk into my house and find we are all tired, sleepy and irate, you know where to place the blame. The funny part about all this is that they are constructing luxury apartments, and a future tenant has already reserved one: Indra Nooyi, Pepsico India. Apparently she is shelling out cash to the tune of 6.5 crores. I know, this is all rumour, but it is fairly reliable. Anyway, it was my cousin who ended up having the last word: "I heard she has two daughters, and they are quite pretty... maybe I should start visiting you more often?"

Is he planning to hit the cricket ball though one of their bedroom windows? Naaaah. He's not that good a batsman :)

Cheers
Prashanth.