By Force of Habit
(By Vyasamoorthy)
Before retiring to bed,
I switch on the Mosquito Liquid dispenser,
without realizing that
the container is empty;
(which only serves the purpose of a faint night lamp
just showing me where the switches are)
By force of habit, I would say.
For 28 years,
I had lived in Shenoy Nagar, near Aminjikarai,
in Madras.
Whenever I set out for shopping
I used to tell my mother or others:
“I will go to Aminjikarai and come”
Now, I have settled
in Secunderabad since 1970 -
some 45 years have rolled by.
Lakshmi nagar and Karkhana
are neighborhood shopping places.
When I set out for local shopping,
I tell my children,
sometimes,
“I will go to
Aminjikarai and come”,
By force of habit, I dare say.
Last week
I was reading some very interesting news
that I wanted to share.
I called out
my wife’s name
instead of my daughter’s name,
though it is five years,
since my wife passed away.
By force of habit, I must say.
Will such things that you do
By force habit
Leave you
When you finally LEAVE?
Will YOU get into somebody else’s psyche
And become his force of habit?
