The Sleepwalker
“Oh No!” not again, came the shriek from Meeta as she darted towards the storeroom on the second floor. “How the hell does grandma manage to climb up to the second floor every night?” She was anxious on this new finding. It was today the second week since she had to run towards the stairway at the break of dawn.
Grandma had taken Meeta under her wings when fate had dealt a cruel blow. Her parents had been snatched away by an unfortunate car accident when she was only 4 years old. Meeta had very faint memories of her parents. All the parental love had been bestowed on her by Grandma ever since then. Probably this was the reason that despite touching thirty-five this year, she never felt the urge for any other form of companionship.
Grandma was a stout and smart 70-year-old with the zest to live life to the full. Her lightheartedness had been the reason for Meeta’s attachment to her. However, Grandma’s newly acquired sleepwalking skills were beginning to disturb Meeta. Every night Grandma managed to swap her room to be discovered either in the storeroom or the staircase. “What was going wrong?”
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All had been well till Grandma was diagnosed with Diabetes a month back. Being the kind who had a passion for life, it was a blow to Grandma’s spirit. Meeta remembered the doctor visit vividly. The test reports were lying right in front of her and the reaction was more comical.
“Oh!, Come on Atul beta. Are you going to display all your medical knowledge on me?” “I have grown up on desi ghee and jaggery ladoos. They are the secret of my inner strength. And you are trying to convince me that they are the cause?”
“It’s ridiculous!” she scoffed.
Doctor Atul, the third generation doctor treating our family was more than cordial. Actually, there wasn’t much of a choice.
“Grandma, they may not be the cause, but you have to stop eating them.” he was cautious with the choice of words and still despite all cajoling and convincing, there was no acceptance from the affected party.
Finally, when the doctor began his narration of dos and don'ts, Grandma stood up and walked out waving her hand in the air. Being well acquainted with her ways the Doctor knew, what that meant. She would be unwilling to give up her sweet tooth.
“Meeta ji, I don’t have to explain to you the complications Diabetes can cause. She has to control the sugar intake.” Meeta hastily picked up the reports, dumped them into her bag and glanced sideways towards Doctor Atul, “Wish me luck. I will keep you posted on her progress.”
She knew it was going to be an uphill task yet she marched on unrelenting. Like a true soldier guarding the borders, she was guarding the kitchen and refrigerator, making sure no sweets were in display so as to entice Grandma.
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“Ca….boom…..boom”, the idiot box thundered as Grandma cheered. It was her favourite cartoon. Tom raced after Jerry trying to snatch the big cheese until Jerry slid into a dark, dingy cupboard. And yes Grandma came upon this splendid idea. “Sleepwalk into the store to cash in on the stock of jaggery.” No one would know. The fun of swapping places gave her a rush of adrenaline similar to mountaineers as she scaled the flight of stairs with her dainty stick by her side. Her stout silhouette melted into the darkness of the storeroom. Love has its ways! So what it was for sweets!
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