I woke up early in the morning. Somehow I knew it was early in the morning. But, one thing I didn’t know. Where was I? I glanced at the ceiling. A fan, brown in colour, was running at a normal speed. On the right side was the attic, covered with beautiful wooden doors. The walls of the room were coated in dark pink colour. ‘This room is beautiful’, I thought. Still lying on the bed, I glanced to the other side of the room. The windows were draped in pretty beige coloured curtains. I loved the design on the curtains. But wait, I’ve seen this design before. No wait, I know these curtains, I bought them myself. And now that I was fully awake, realisation dawned. I was in my own room!

Ever had such moments? Surely, there must have been. Such face palm moments occur, when one has returned home after spending a long holiday elsewhere. Only after two such ‘Where am I?’ mornings, does one finally return home. Till then, mind is still in travel mode.

It is a weird feeling every time you return home after a long holiday. Of course, there is a sense of relief that you are finally home. Although the smell of a closed house throws you off a bit. But there’s that familiar door and the familiar lock and key. Once inside, the entire luggage brought in, checked and counted, you sink into the sofa with a sigh of relief. You feel though, that your body is still in motion after the long train journey.

And then you look around and notice – didn’t realise your furniture had this shade of brown colour and hope that the decorative piece you bought fits well in this ensemble. There’s your water bottle which you had bought to take along with you, but you forgot to pick it up at the last minute. The water bottle all filled up, still sitting there on the table, just where you had left it. 

The TV, it seems so small in size. Surely, you got used to the huge TV at your relatives’ home. Nevertheless, you switch it on and grab the remote and press some numbers. But no program shows up. Only then you realise that those numbers worked only on your relatives’ TV. You try to remember the channel numbers on your TV but you can’t. It’s been a while and you are just too tired. So, you select the TV guide and come across some familiar channel numbers. You just needed a glance and you recollected them all. 

But it’s not just the channel numbers of the TV that you’ve got mixed up with. The switches in the house have suddenly become a puzzle. The light switches were always the ones on the extreme right on the switch boards. But after a long stay elsewhere, you keep hitting the one on the extreme left. Obviously, no light would turn on. It’s the same case with the fans and rest of the equipment.

The real challenge is when you enter the kitchen. You hit the switch thinking it’s the light and a strange sound suddenly starts. After an initial jolt, you realise it is the exhaust fan. Shaking your head and realising your blunder, you hit the right switches this time. And voila, in front of you is a plethora of gadgets, stoves – gas, electric, induction and microwave; mixer, blender, grinder, etc., etc. All of which you are an expert in handling with, but you are now so out of touch. Need a good rest before beginning to tackle them. You switch the light off and decide to call it a day.

Of course, before you finally hit the sack, there are lot of other things that you notice. Little ants have been camping in a few nooks and corners on the floor, while on the ceilings the spiders have been displaying their own designs. In the balcony, you find that the pigeons have been making merry while flying in and out of the large iron grills. And finally, you realise that you forgot your favourite sweater at your relative’s place. Too much to handle after a long trip. You take a deep sigh and go to sleep.

You get up early in the morning and wonder, ‘Where am I?’

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