Living by ourselves

I am starting a series of posts (hopefully it would be a series) on my adventures of living alone.

Let me tell you something. Living alone is just not easy. (duh!).

Background : Two of us Me and Sri share an apartment.

After having an extensive signing ceremony the previous evening (one that would give fierce competition to any Indo-Pak peace process signing ceremony) attended by Sri, me, Owner, Owner's wife, three other witnesses and owners kid, we were all set to move in. (Oh I forgot to mention some chai (tea), biscuits and sweets were also part of the ceremony. Yumm!)

The first instruction we got from the owner was that we have valve system arrangement for water flow control inside the house. We heard the owner give instructions but given our background as engineers, we were confident of not only controlling the system but even making changes for the better. (hail the engineering ego!) Let me try explaining a valve system a little.
A warning to the readers that the following few sentences would require extensive visualisation ability and an ability to see marvel and beauty in human ability to complicate simple activities.

There are two mini tanks in the loft of my apartment that can store 1000l of water. One of them is connected to the main pipe (from the overhead tank). The other tank is connected to metro water tap. Metro water comes in daily between 8 and 8.30 am. The two tanks are interconnected. The water control system is quite intricate. There is an inlet valve (V1) for metro water in the kitchen. Valve V2,in the common bathroom(B1) controls inlet of water into the two tank combination. Valve V3 in bathroom B2 controls outlet of the water from the tanks i.e. to the taps. Opening of valve V1 and V2 would let water in only when metro water comes. Opening of valve V2 during any other time would lead to back flow of water and hence loss of water in the tank system. Practically, there is just one entry for water into the tank system, but two exits one through valve V3 and other through valve V2 which is also an inlet.

Day 1:

Now that all of you have understood the system of water control at my place, let me begin my story. There is quarter tank water and we have switched on the washing machine which has utilised almost all of the water available. It is close to 8 am now and we are impatient as the unscheduled use of washing machine has left us without water. Even morning ablutions had been put on hold.It is like those movie scenes where the camera shuttles between a ticking clock and a guy pacing up and down. Suddenly the bell rings. We look at each other puzzled. We did not expect a visitor on day 1 that too at 8 am. We open the door to find the watchman who informs us that he is now going to open the main metro water valve. We rush back to the bathrooms and wait with empty buckets for water to come. (I was praising my contingency planning abilities which made me foresee this situation and buy 3 buckets instead of 2. * Self Applause*) Minutes tick by and no water. We come out of bathrooms and look at each other bewildered. After 2 minutes of hypothesising I arrive at the conclusion that 'water cannot disappear' and it is no 'maya' and that 'the house is not haunted'. We decide to look for rational reasons (go engineering!) and start from the basics. We discover very soon that we have 3 valves in our house and some how figure out that opening of the 3 valves in the right combination would allow water to come in. My mind instantly flashes back to this game show called crystal maze which used to come on TV where the participants would play games to recover the crystal, and one of the games was opening the correct valve combination to let the water in in, at the right time and spot.

My flash back mode was cut short when Sri yelled, 'Macha! I see water'. I rush to the room where the sound had emanated from. I saw water, but something was different. It then dawned on me that water was in the bedroom and not in the bathroom. Again, working from first principles and with help of clues left by culprit (Read soapy water), we discover that the water has leaked from the washing machine outlet pipe which had a hole. It was crisis time and I decided to take charge and make the critical decision. They say that when a man is put to test, his true nature, his courage, grit and intelligence is revealed. I yelled almost ordered Sri, 'Figure out the valve combo and I will clean this up'. That decision I must say was a self sacrificing decision which I am very proud off.

So two MBA graduates fresh out of prestigious B schools in India, were involved in highly complicated exercise that morning. One was convinced that there was a devil in the house for the more he mopped the floor, more water seemed to be flowing. (Only later did he realise that he had not switched off the washing machine which allowed water to leak out even as he was cleaning the floor). While the other performed highly effective and precise movements between bathrooms B1, B2 and kitchen to figure out the right valve combination. ( Sri I am sure, has since done time and motion studies on this to save us precious nanoseconds in morning hours)

Our motto of 'try try try till you succeed' paid rich dividends with both of us had a well earned a luxurious bath. On our way to office we laughed at our morning adventure. We labelled it as 'learning experience'. We had no idea of what was in store for us that evening and in the subsequent days.