One of the first things I was told when I moved to the US was to take care not to set off the smoke alarm. In our then apartment, the smoke alarm was positioned right near the kitchen and care was taken to keep the patio door and windows open when I deep-fried some goodies and as a result I never experienced the ringing alarms for quite a while.

One fine morning, a lighted agarbathi set my table cloth on fire and I did not realize it till the smoke alarms started bring the roof down. It scared the daylights out of me and it was an experience I never wanted to repeat. But unfortunately, it was an event that repeated quite a few times when we were in the apartment. The worst was during dinner parties when the alarms go off and all the guests grabbed their placements and tried to fan away the smoke.

We moved to our new home and our grahapraveesam included ringing smoke alarms. We had disconnected the alarms at the main level but the ones in the upper level did their duties perfectly and rang in louder than the priest’s chants! These days I do not hear much of the alarm mainly because there is no detector in the kitchen and I almost always cook with the patio doors open.

Why did I remember all this? I saw plastic bags taped around the smoke alarms at a friend’s place and it brought back memories of the screeching alarms. Many a times, smoke alarms are such a nuisance but definitely a must-have at every household.