We had two LPG
gas connections and therefore 4 cylinders.The recent govt., order has made us
lose one connection.
What's the Govt trying to make by releasing only 6 cylinders per house old and that too for one connection ? What would be the condition of families like ours - a joint family? It keeps haunting me quite often and I am trying to convince my cook and keep warming things in microwave oven and using the electric kettle for boiling water.I can't imagine the gas running out even before a month and managing with 6 cylinders throughout a year .
Do we have to go back to earlier days of munching salads and half cooked vegetables?
At least if the Govt rolls back to one a month would suffice.
Hoping against hope with the fingers crossed.
I was procrastinating the
surrender of my connection fearing my lack of management skill to manage the
cooking with mere 2 cylinders. Everything has a limit, so the newspaper came in
my way and I half heartedly went to surrender the two cylinders
tomorrow being the last day .
My preparedness never
made me come back citing an excuse of having forgotten something so far. But
everywhere you have an exception!
Here I went- first the
difficult task of moving the two empty cylinders thro' the lift and then
outside my apartment, looking for an agreeable auto man to ferry me to the Gas agency
which is a km away from home. I could see only one fellow and he wanted Rs. 50
and reluctantly he agreed for Rs. 30, he brought the auto inside the
building and refused to help me to load the two cylinders inside the
auto.
I explained to him that I thought
I needed his helping hands .He pushed them inside and here a sari clad
woman trying to squeeze herself inside and keeping her one foot jutting out !
How strange!
Difficulties always find a
way to cluster together 'to get her ' just
I reached the 'T' junction, I could see the choc-o -block, then I remembered
'oh, today's Thursday' .The gas agency shares the road with the Infant Jesus
Church, and Thursdays one can't venture out on that road at all, the
Church pulls crowd from all over the place and all sects come to pray
here.
Wrong day and wrong
decision.The autos normally are allowed on that route , but not on Thursdays,
moreover with Christmas around the corner, may be the present Govt to
cash on the vote bank suddenly decided to lay the road? So the road had
potholes and boulders, parked two wheelers ,vendors on hand carts,
people scurrying thro' the gaps left out among all .....
It was a difficult task for
me to even walk in that area , leave alone depositing the
cylinders.
The auto fellow stopped in
one corner and even requesting the traffic police to allow the auto to
pass thro' to the nearest area to the agency went futile. I had no option but
to get down from the auto, and dump the two cylinders in a nearby place and pay
that auto man. He refused to help me . I asked the labourers working there to
watch the two cylinders till I fetch some help from the agency.
The ordeal did not stop here,
as I reached the office, I was directed to A,B,C and D and finally D obliged me
to bring the cylinders from the road end, and he asked his fellow people and
out of three one agreed,though they had a cycle , they could not take them out
due to the road being under repair. Both brought the cylinders
and I went inside to surrender them. I showed my gas book, the gentleman
verified , he made me approach another employee to open my blocked account so
that he can do the needful.He verified.
He had one look and expressed
his concern that such a good ,old Tamil name fading away. I told him it's
not that people do not want to go for beautiful names, it's the process of
getting the railway reservation done in a minute, and by the time you
keep typing your 'beautiful name,' your status would come to RAC and next is
getting a passport with a long name sometimes makes the place or house name
becoming you first name or surname, so it's better to go for short and sweet
name whether it coveys meaning, beautiful or can be pronunced.
After 10 minutes, he asked
for the regulator, lo! I looked for it and it was not there in my handbag. Then
I remembered I did not take it at all, I just kept it on the shelf. It did not
even strike when I cross checked the gas book, the receipt given at the time of
getting the connection, the xerox copy of my ID with residence proof, and an ID
card to say that I am so and so... in spite of my photo affixed on the book.
What next? It's already 11:10
.Time is running out as between 12 pm and 2 pm is lunch time ,heavy rush and if
I show slackness , I am doomed, who knows if tomorrow suddenly the Govt decides
on a bandh... everything comes to a stand still. So I decided to walk back
and get it, I opened my pink umbrella it was so hot and I came home drank
tender coconut water, took the regulator, again went back
not bothering the way Sun God trying to keep me in the hot seat for an extended
time as if favouring me?, my only concern was the two cylinders should remain
there in the place where I kept inside the office, the same gentleman should be
there and I should finish the procedure at one go. I left at
11:10 to collect the regulator and I was at the counter by 11:40.
I was second in the queue. I gave the regulator and he read out aloud the
number written on the regulator and checked from the receipt .
Only then it dawned on me
that there is a serial number for the regulator!I never knew, and when I
asked him he said , if the numbers do not match they do not take back and
neither van I surrender.
This is a warning to one and
all who keep giving liberally their extra regulators to others and do not
bother to check while taking back.
Fortunately I got my
deposit money back that too after the cylinders were physically
verified and after foregoing Rs. 45/ as documentation charges- mind
it no receipt for this !The time was exactly 12 pm .
Having come I purchased some
vegetables, books for my grand kids and walked back home. The thought of
posting on my blog blossomed and the caption.
.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,..,.,..,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,
Keep wondering why I
captioned this ' The Pink
Umbrella.'
In spite of all
the problems I encountered, I did not get irritated, lose patience, did not
sulk, rather found a solution , an alternative and not arguing with
anyone, took it as a part of my life and it was my bad luck that I had no one
to help me at home, a wrong day to choose and that too waking up after seeing
in the paper about the deadline !
Do I have any alternative,
when they insisted that the same person has to appear in person to come and
surrender and cancel the connection? Rather I better do it or else
they won't release the refill for the other only connection.
All thro' this my Pink
Umbrella made me remain cool and I could see everything in pink- a cool ,
refreshing color and gave me a sense of achievement!
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