The perils of being in a reflective mood are many.
First, you feel overly emotional and philosophical about
everything. Second, you most often figure out it was your fault – whatever it
was regarding :( .
And thirdly, probably also the most deadly one, is that you start writing your
blog post! Wink Wink :)
These days, what’s fiction and what’s real – is hard to
tell. Real lives play out like movies. And the old debate of what influences
what comes up again and again. But here’s a bit of fiction straight out of my
laptop. Inspired by all the people I meet and experiences I have daily.
Every evening they met
in the ground floor of their building. The seats on which they sat were made of
cement – partly worn out and broken from one end. But there was enough for the
two of them to sit comfortably.
It was a daily
routine. They had followed it for over 50 years. Ever since they were new
brides in their respective houses. The
only breaks were if either of them had travelled out of the city or if they
fell ill. But otherwise, they met daily.
They weren’t even the best of friends. May be it was force of habit. Or maybe they felt the other needed it more than themselves. Whatever the reason – they were daily evening companions.
These were two
strong-minded yet frail 90 year old ladies! Both were typical south Indians –
TamBrahms.
Earlier, for bulk of
their years, they spoke about what they cooked, what they washed, what they
ate, what their in-laws said, what their children did and what was going to be
their next pickle. They would share food
items once in a while or exchange ever-silver dabbas with each other with
murrukkus and mixtures (South Indian savory items).
But off late, their
conversations were mostly about whether they could pee the requisite amount and
number of times through the night and day; whether they were able to digest the
slightly heavy meal of rasam, curd, rice and veggie; whether they were able to
read the headlines clearly or had to wear their spectacles.
They kept each other engaged. Apart from the
daily meals, a few latrine related issues and medicine replenishments, their
point of incongruence was that neither could hear each other!! Yeah – they both
couldn’t hear well. Came with age! But
that didn’t stop them from meeting daily and talking to their heart’s content.
It was their thing to do daily. They looked forward to it. It was something
that kept them going.
So, every evening,
they met at their scheduled time on the broken seats and spoke endlessly.
Old aunty1 (Oa1): What
did you eat today?
Old aunty2 (Oa2): Did
you eat today?
Oa1: We had rasam,
rice and potato curry.
Oa2: Yes, it’s a hot
day!
Oa1: It is so hot
today. How do you manage without AC in your hall.
Oa2: I had curd rice
only today – stomach is a bit upset. What medicine did you take last time – you
said it helped you.
Oa1: Today no motion.
It’s stuck.
Oa2: Ohhh! Gelusil-aa.
That never works for me.
Oa1: Did you hear
about that Kumuda mami in our next building – she is going to USA this year.
How did they give an 80 year old a visa, beats me. Puriyave illai (Just don’t
understand it).
Oa2: Did you take
digene tablet or Gelusil syrup?
Oa1: Yes! She’s
travelling with her grandson. Wonder how he is going to travel with her. Ha ha!
Oa2: Don’t laugh at my
predicament, ma! Loosaave varadu (Totally loose motions).
Oa1: Ha ha. That’s
cruel. Hopefully she won’t suffer loose motions in her long flight.
Oa2: Did you hear
about Kumuda Mami? She is going to the USA.
Oa1: Apparently,
Onions have become Rs. 70/- per kilo. Luckily we don’t use too much onion in
our food.
Oa2: No, not Rs. 20,
Onions have become Rs. 70/-.
Oa1: What! Why did you
buy 20 kgs?
Oa2: Thank god we
don’t eat onions at all.
Oa1: I don’t
understand what is the need for so much – you any way don’t eat onions!
Oa2: Let’s go – it’s
becoming dark.
Oa1: Let’s go – it’s
becoming dark.
Oa2: See you tomorrow
ma. Hopefully my stomach will become better. I will tell you about Kumuda Mami
in detail tomorrow.
Oa1: See you tomorrow.
I am glad you had no loose motions today! Take care ok.
And they’d go back to
their homes slowly, with measured steps and hawk type concentration on the
floor watching their each step :)
They were always happy
at the end of their meetings. They continued to do this till one day when both
left the earth together. May be even God couldn’t obstruct their evening
meetings :)
As the next day dawned
and the evening came by, the seats wondered with a tear who’d talk to them
daily. That deliberation didn’t last too long. Two recently married, young
girls in the building sat on the seat on their ways back from their jobs to
catch a few breaths before getting busy with home duties.
Young lady1 (Yl1):
Hey! Which floor?
Young lady2 (Yl2): 4th,
You?
Yl1: I’m on the 9th!
Do you come daily at this time?
Yl2: Yes – the same
local train daily gets me here at this time.
Yl1: Wow! Me too!
Good! See you tomorrow too at this time :)
Yl2: Yes! Looking
forward already!! :)
And the seats smiled
again.
