I arrived home at around 01:00 am from the audit of a client and was looking forward to the four hours of sleep before my alarm would remind me that it was time to wake up again. I quickly prepared what I would wear the next morning, took a shower, said my prayers and laid myself in bed. I had just found that comfortable position when I heard a shouting outside my door. At first thought it was a couples fight, but after a short while, I realised that it was a monologue!

“If it is a monologue then it would´nt last long” I thought to myself. Well, I thought wrong. My direct neighboor Mr. Skaja must have had one too many glasses of Vodka. He stood on the stairway and was cursing at the top of his lungs. This went on for about thirty minutes. If he would at least curse in German, I would at least know what he was upset about and I wouldnt be upset that he was robbing me of my precious four hours!

A reply from downstair broke the monologue. The terrible wife of Mr. Djevic, the neighbour on the first floor was apparently the victim and had decided that enough was enough! She also stood in the stairway and cursed back in Russian. I dont understand Russian but from the high tonage and the multiple exclamations, I could tell that it wasnt a friendly talk.

After about an hour, I heard a stumping on the stairway. From his voice, I could tell that it was Mr. Sten whose apartment is on the third floor. He came downstairs and threatened to dump his crying baby at their doorstep if they would not shut up. I smiled at the thought! By this time, I had tried all kinds of noise cancellation equipments in my apartment, but since my bedroom wall was the staircase wall, I couldnt find any sleep. ( l know that only those with light sleep can relate. I need to put Ohropax on my shopping list.)

By around 3:00 am, I was getting frustrated and impatient. The hulalumpus in my head were imagining of all possible ways to silence the neighbours. Just as I had arrived at the ducktape scenario, I heard the police arriving. I guess Mr. sten must have called them because they arrived in three police cars with blue lights, sirene and full gear. (For any non-german reading this, In Germany, police come when you call them on grounds that your neighbour is too loud! FYI, Silence begins at 11:00 pm during the week and 12:00 midnight on the weekend.)

When he saw them, he ran back to his appartment, banged the door behind him and locked it. By this time, I was still very tired but the drama that was unfolding was very exciting. Through the peep hole of my door I could see the police banging on his door asking him to open it. ” Go away” he answered back. “I am asleep”. When I heard his reply, I almost chocked on my own saliva, that was hilarious.

They banged on his door even louder and after a while, he finally gave in and opened. The police asked him for his identification and after a heated discussion, they decided to take him to the police station with him still cursing and screaming.

At first I was furiated at him for stealing the little bit of sleep that I was so looking forward to, but then I felt sorry for him. What kind of bitterness was he carrying in his heart. What made him so angry at Mr. Djevic,s wife that he thought the best time to get back would be at 03:00 am in the morning!

I resigned to bed, but before I could even close my eyes to sleep, the alarm reminded me of my responsibilities. Coffee was the solution for the day!