Kitchen Fire? No Tension

It was right around 10:00pm last night. I was doing some work on my computer when suddenly, the lights began to flicker in my room. "Great," I thought because this was probably a sign that the power was about to go out. A few seconds later, lo and behold, the lights cut off and the fans stopped running. I was thinking about how it might turn into a long night sleeping without working fans, but then I noticed a bright light still flickering in the kitchen. I got up to check it out when suddenly, someone in the other room yelled "Guys, there's a fire in the kitchen!"

I ran into the kitchen, and sure enough, the two battery generators on the kitchen counter in the corner of the room were in flames. We rushed out of the house and yelled at the principal's house that our kitchen was on fire. The principal's son was the first on the scene, followed by the school's security guard. Water and sand were brought to put out the flames, but by the time they were put out, the house was filled with smoke and battery acid fumes. A couple weeks ago, a propane tank had been moved out of the kitchen which used to sit right underneath the generators. Who knows what would've happened if the tank had still been there during the fire. Standing outside the house, we decided that we needed another place to stay for the night. At about this time, Zach came home, and the principal greeted him by saying, "There was a fire," as calmly as he would talk to us about class schedules. "Is everyone alright??" Zach asked. Principal Mahida responded, "I am fine. Your house is not."

We stayed the night at Vimulbhai's, who graciously offered their living room and spare mats for us to sleep on. We spent a few hours talking, sharing stories, playing funny Indian games, and enjoying some snacks and drinks before going to sleep. He told us about how he was the most mischievous students at Kadod High School back in the day, putting "Donkey for sale" signs on teachers' backs and driving a motorcycle around the school courtyard during classes just to name a couple of his antics. At one point during the night, Vimulbhai told us that life is too short to worry and not enjoy every minute that we're given. His life motto, he said, was to have no tension. We would laugh every time he said that, but it was really reassuring for me to hear that especially after what had happened earlier that night. We're in India, no tension.