open house

Open House

My daughter recently wrote an article in the Times of India about a trusting woman who never locked her house. I was lost in admiration . For years I had been trying to get my parents to lock their independent house in Chennai (at least when they were actually in it). They never did so. We had all kinds of things stolen. Once my parents slept soundly on a hot summer day in the afternoon in their air-conditioned bedroom. They front door was wide open, apparently  for cross ventilation, to cool down the rest of the house. A thief came in took their music system and my daughter’s DVD player. For good measure, he sat at the dining table (which had not been cleared) and helped himself to a good lunch. 

Aghast at the thought of having to explain to my daughter where the DVD player was, they places a vase with flowers in its place, hoping she would not notice the empty table!

Recently a mother –in- law and daughter- in- law came in. They had bruises and injuries.

“What happened?” I asked.

“My son beat us both, “ said the mother sniffling.

I summoned  the  son and unleashed a tirade.

“Why do you hit women? Why do you beat your mother? Have you no shame?”

He was silent. “Do you know why I hit them?”

Apparently, he was at work all day and he carried a light pre-packed lunch. The two women ate “full meals” at home at lunch time. They then stretched out in the hall in front of the television and snored. Attracted by the sound, a thief seized the opportune moment and entered. He ran away with their LED television, set top box, cell phone, grinder, mixie , pressure cooker and silver puja items. He must have made several trips to carry all this out. He had to have passed very close to them as the space was limited.

I was silent. I understand the man losing his temper. After a hard days work he was balked of viewing his favorite serials. The kitchen appliances were important only to the two women.

“This is not the first time,” said the man, “I didn’t hit them last time.”

Apparently it was a repeat performance. A few months ago, the women were in a similar post-prandial comatose state. The thief managed to remove  their gold chains and silver waist chains from their person. Attracted by the diamond earrings in the old lady’s ears, he started to unscrew them. He removed one and then inadvertently pinched her ear as he tried to remove the other one. She groggily woke up, but her reaction time was slow, so he managed to make good his escape with one earring and the chains. The daughter-in law slept through it all.

I have read about heavy carbohydrate meals causing post prandial hypoglycaemia, but for once I agreed with the man, this was the limit!

The writer is a paediatrician with a family practice at Vellore and author of “Staying Healthy in Modern India”.