It was indeed upsetting to leave the comforts of a palatial bungalow in which our “family” had lived for over three generations, paying a paltry sum as rent. The surge of high rise apartments swallowed just one more of the spacious “Old Bangalore” style chalet, without remorse. Our old owner finally succumbed to the incredible pressure that the land sharks mounted on him!!

As we stepped into a rickety two bedroom apartment, which my friend had found for me, I could see my wife quickly cover her nose with the end of a pallu. Suddenly, I spotted a tiny roach, which I squished to a quick exit, before my wife could spot it! Knowing my wife’s dislike for cockroaches, I wished and prayed that it would be the last one that I saw.

We had settled down well, I thought, when I had started to get good sleep the moment I hit the deck. But it turned out that it was not for long. In fact, I started to hear the drum beat like noises from the kitchen! It was my wife who was chasing a rather swift and nimble cockroach which had teased her all the way into the hall. As she held the raised broom in one hand, she had actually cleaned up the cobwebs in the rather low ceiling, during the course of her tirade.

That evening, we were off to get something to get rid of this menace. The cocky salesman, managed to convince my better half that the “Lakshman Rekha” still held its legendary age-old power! She even declined my offer of more effective sprays.

It was only the next morning that I heard her scream. Rushing to her aid, I saw a slender ginger-white kitten sneak out of the kitchen window with as much of leftover lollipops as possible in his mouth!!

I was quick to console my spouse. But it was not later that I saw her checking out the columns of “Accommodation available.”