We all know the Kodak moments, frozen in our consciousness by some slick advertisement campaigns!
But there are some 'Eureka' moments in life...well I am not talking about those 'full monty' moments, when you run out of the bath, as a cockroach comes visiting you!!

There are times when that invisible electric bulb above your head burns bright, when a life changing idea hits you...well whose life gets changed is a question of what the idea is and what you do after the idea 'hit' you...

When this 'life changing' or should I say 'life threatening' idea hit us, I was all of eleven years old! The 'us' were a triumvirate...three class mates, who always inspired Dennis the Menace, with our ideas and action!

At this particular instance, we had a major question about life or lack of it after death!! Well...the simple question wreaking havoc in our mind was "do ghosts exist?"

When we tried asking elders at home, seniors at school and the teachers, we not only didn't get an answer, but we were also scoffed off!!

With the perseverance typical of eleven years old, we decided to find out the answer ourselves!

A grand plan was made. We would wait until the quarterly examinations were over, and set our plans into motion. 

The plan was simple enough....and didn't require any external resources such as equipment of any kind or money! We would slip out of our homes and assemble at a rendezvous and proceed straight to the cemetry behind a chapel in town. All this would happen around midnight, and we would wait at the cemetry for a few hours...or until we sighted a ghost!!

Despite well laid plans, men and mice do get waylaid!!

We lived quite a few blocks apart, and my house was the farthest from the rendezvous, and hence I had to start a little early, as per our plan. Well...we didn't have wrist watches and we could not "synchronize" our clocks for the "operation ghost"! But we had agreed to one plan...I was to leave home at about 11:30 PM and my friends would leave their safe abodes by about 11:45 and we would all meet at the chapel gate at about 11:50! They lived that close to
the place.

Having read enough of "Famous Five" genre, I was careful enough to lay pillows in the right positions and cover them up with a blanket, and slipped out of home! So far so good...

I scaled our 'compound wall'and was well on my way to the rendezvous! It was thrilling, until I sighted a devil of a different kind, "Jimmy" a neighborhood dog, which was always on leash during day time, was roaming free. 

For Jimmy, anyone scaling any wall was 'hostile'! More importantly this dog seemed to have known the adage"barking dogs don't bite" and he didn't bark at all! He was simply snarling at me...and I slowly but steadily quickened my pace. 

But Jimmy being more athletic, he was soon on my hot pursuit....

Well, I do agree, now, that 'the deer that runs for its life could be faster than a hungry lion that's doing the chasing' I not only gave Jimmy a slip, but also had reached the rendezvous by about 11:40 PM!

Having reached the rendezvous, earlier than others, the wait seemed longer...it did look like the whole night!

The hot chase by a 'friendly Jimmy' had probably exhausted me, and I do not know, when I fell asleep.

I woke up with a jolt, when someone was shaking me, out of my deep slumber! It was a scene to watch, I was told by a chuckling neighbor the following day...

Apparently my granny had woken up soon after I had slipped out of home, and had decided to check if I was alright! 

Grannies do have great intuitions! having found a few pillows in my place, instead of me, she decided to raise and alarm, but with a difference!She kept the bed a bit ruffled and then raised an alarm, suggesting that I might have had bout of somnambulism...sleep walking!

A search ensued, and one search party found me sleeping on the stone paved steps of the Chapel!

As to my partners in crime, they had never stirred out of their warm beds that night, leave alone making it to the rendezvous.

Needless to say, I was taken to the family doctor for a consultation, for the 'sleep walking'! Soon enough, granny took over the responsibility of taking me to the doc! Well the doc would never know what really happened, of course, and granny would naturally, not allow the doctor to give me any medicine!!

It was a great Eureka moment for me....what I 'eureka-ed' was...if you want to do anything foolhardy or outright stupid, "Do It yourself. Never expect your accomplices to be there, where you want them to be"..and of course, "Never assume that the friendly neighborhood canine would be friendly, especially when unleashed".... 

Finally, "grannies are your best buddies"!!

Tags: foolhardy, eureka, ghost, adventure