(Written on 29 April 2007, a day before I left IIT Kanpur)
Unknown to many, I actually shared my room with a female during my hostel stay in IIT Kanpur. The female in this case was a lizard, and I called her Lizy!
It was a hot august night when I heard the creepy sound in my wardrobe. My slumber disturbed, I got out of bed. Hesitantly I opened the door and lo… there she was staring right into me. Certainly her territory had been invaded by an outsider, and certainly she was not pleased by it. But she was quick to withdraw and slithered out of the window before I could move my eyelids.
The following few nights were guarded for both of us as we were conscious of each other’s presence. I would occasionally see Lizy staring with her eyes wide open at me, and the next moment she would disappear.
Things started to change in the following month. Lizy would now take the risk of coming deep into the room to feed on the insects that had gathered around my tubelight. Perhaps she had realized that there’s no gain without a risk or perhaps she had figured it out that I am harmless. Now Lizy wandered in the room for hours... making excursions to the deepest parts of the room which were her territory once upon a time. She was in a way happy to regain the lost control over that space. As for me, I wouldn’t now jump at the odd noise from the wardrobe or from under my study table. And during exam days she would be my silent companion in the night outs.
She used to be exceptionally happy whenever I went out of IIT during holidays, sometimes for weeks. This was the time when Lizy would live her life like her old days - Meandering endlessly on the room walls.
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