Close The Windows

You protect your house from crime… But do you do the same with your digital data?

- Guru Prasad Makam

The crime rate in the city was skyrocketing and we never felt safe. We stayed in a stand-alone home, and, as the TV time moved to screen downtime, my mother started her ordeal of closing the doors.

She first went to the rear, locked the door, doubled checked the latch, then pulled a door handle to tighten the grip. She again checked the door by pulling it, as if to indicate that the 75-year-old doyen can pull a locked door apart.

She signals with her right hand that it is my job to take care of the front door, which again has two latches, and my son moves towards the two garages to secure them. The garage doors are secured, and we have a terrace door leading to the rooftop, which is at a height. To reach the rooftop doors, either my son or I had to dash up three stairs to latch the terrace door. It had high-security notches and an iron lock too. This routine of securing the doors is repeated with the windows, and most of the windows are shut, except for one odd window which lets in a dash of fresh air.

Once the doors and windows were done, my mother surveyed all the openings, and, fully assured that her dear Labrador would keep watch, she slowly plodded her way to bed. Home is an essence of life, and its safety is of paramount importance. It contains our life, our needs, and luxuries. Every single piece of wood was hard earned and carved with love. The fear of a have-not thief crawling into the home and departing with a mantle always loomed in our minds. A couple of cookies could possibly have our pet wagging its tail, as it had no love for the material world, nor value for it.