It has to be my split AC, which I got in 2020 during the height of the first COVID wave. It still graces my bedroom with its presence.
It was one of the newer models from a sister concern of Flipkart.
I didn’t need to buy an AC before as I either stayed as a paying guest or lived in furnished apartments, this was the first apartment that came unfurnished. I didn’t think I needed an AC till the end of spring season, as COVID surged through the country.
When my workplace announced the shift to WFH, I felt a mix of relief & dread. It meant I would need to create an office space at home, thankfully I had a small table & office chair setup & a bookshelf, but they were meant for my reading pursuits. Now they would have to share space with work!!
I purchased a cooler sometime in April with summer close on its heels. The first few days of using the cooler transported me back to the summers of my childhood. I was strangely positive that the cooler would suffice to keep the temperature and my temper both down! The ending weeks of May strongly challenged my belief. By the first week of June, I needed to double the amount of ice cubes for the cooler to blast cool air for just five minutes.
My birthday was a week away when I decided enough is enough and bought myself an AC, the day I got it was the day before my birthday. It came packaged in big cartons, wrapped safely in layers of styrofoam. The installation took only an hour and I felt the first few minutes of the warmest blast of cold air soon after. It felt so good, realizing I got something so big & expensive for myself.
It felt like a touch of accomplishment—a little luxury I’d dared to own, fully paid with my own money, without an EMI. In that moment, in the middle of all the uncertainty and job insecurity, I felt genuinely proud of myself.
Fingers in symphony 