We used to live in an apartment till 4 years back ,on the 4th floor, were there for 4 years ( wow,that's a lot of 4's).My daughter wasn't born then. A typical morning meant getting up at 6 am, preparing breakfast for my son and then sitting down for 15 minutes to have a mug of Bournvita and quickly flipping through the newspaper before it was time to wake him up and ready him for school. Every morning I used to pull up the curtains of the windows in the dining room which gave me a clear view of the apartments which were a few meters away from ours. One day while sipping from the mug I noticed a woman running in the balcony , of the 4th floor of that apartment building ,quickly trying to hang machine washed clothes on the hangers ( I knew they were machine washed because even the machine was in the balcony and I could see her pulling out clothes from it).
Next moment she was in her kitchen making rotis ( the balcony of her apartment was attached to the kitchen ,the steel "bartan" stand that adorns every middle class household was visible and it looked much bigger than mine, so I knew it had to be a family bigger than mine).It was 7 am by the time I finished my "sipping and reading" ritual and it was time for me to go.
Next morning I hit the alarm like I always did ( wish I could only strangle it) and was back in the kitchen doing the same old things , the ones which I did every morning and finally sat with the newspaper and my mug of hot milk ,read the headlines and just looked across the window to check what that woman was doing.....there she was trying to hang the clothes on the hangers and then she went to the kitchen and the next thing I saw was rotis being made.It was 7 am again and I went back to the room to wake my son up and ready him for school.
Another morning ,but today I had something on my mind , I thought of "racing" ,yes ,racing ,"lets see who does it first, she reaching out to put the clothes on the hangers or me grabbing my mug and newspaper". I was quicker in preparing the breakfast that day and much quicker in deciding what should be packed and later packing the tiffin box. And yes I was there, first, I beat her, she was still pulling the clothes out of the washing machine. Next was roti and I knew I had to go the room to wake my son up.
Don't know how and when, but she became my distant , mute companion in the mornings. We were together 5 days a week doing same chores , all well timed. Saturdays and Sundays, I don't know what she did because it used to be an off for my little one.
One morning I finished my kitchen work and was at the table with the mug and the newspaper but I didn't see "her". No clothes on the hangers. I thought may be she took an off. I could have not spent more time on guessing, had to get back to the room , to ready my son .I was just not OK that day even my husband could make that out, he asked me as to why I was not my usual self and I gave him some silly explanation ( I thought he would find it sillier if I told him that I was a anxious because I didn't see "her" today).
Three consecutive mornings , and no sign of her , but I saw some "strangers" ( well she was known to me wasn't she? ) doing what she would do at that hour,hanging clothes but no rotis ( may they made them later , I could only presume). I don't know whether she ever noticed me from her balcony ( she always looked busier than me and I only remember her running from one corner to the other corner of the balcony ) but in the past few days she had almost become , a friend , who was there with me giving me company though from a distance and without her own knowledge. I never knew her absence would make me anxious and worried. I was missing her! Imagine missing someone whom you never met, never spoke a word, I can't even recall how she looked because of the distance from where I saw her .
Unable to live with the suspense I called someone I knew who lived in the same apartment building and asked her if she knew the lady who lived on the 4th floor( I made up story, said ,wanted to know whether her children were going to the same school as my son's ,if yes we could arrange for a play date . That was one of the most absurd reasons that I could have ever thought of ,but anything to find out about her). She said that she didn't know her well but they had common house help and she would ask her to find out and will then get back to me . Some relief , it did lower down my anxiety levels.
My friend , called in the evening and conveyed what the maid had to say," Bhabhiji maike gayi hain." ( she was not in town , had been visiting her parents)
Thank God!
Few more mornings passed , waiting for her.
And finally that morning, the morning which I had been desperately waiting for ,she was there pulling out clothes from the washing machine ( a lot of clothes, I guess because of her recent trip) , me, sipping from the mug while reading the newspaper headlines.
I never felt the need to talk to her,meet her. She was doing just what I needed, making my otherwise dull morning chores , interesting, by giving me company from a distance.
Next moment she was in her kitchen making rotis ( the balcony of her apartment was attached to the kitchen ,the steel "bartan" stand that adorns every middle class household was visible and it looked much bigger than mine, so I knew it had to be a family bigger than mine).It was 7 am by the time I finished my "sipping and reading" ritual and it was time for me to go.
Next morning I hit the alarm like I always did ( wish I could only strangle it) and was back in the kitchen doing the same old things , the ones which I did every morning and finally sat with the newspaper and my mug of hot milk ,read the headlines and just looked across the window to check what that woman was doing.....there she was trying to hang the clothes on the hangers and then she went to the kitchen and the next thing I saw was rotis being made.It was 7 am again and I went back to the room to wake my son up and ready him for school.
Another morning ,but today I had something on my mind , I thought of "racing" ,yes ,racing ,"lets see who does it first, she reaching out to put the clothes on the hangers or me grabbing my mug and newspaper". I was quicker in preparing the breakfast that day and much quicker in deciding what should be packed and later packing the tiffin box. And yes I was there, first, I beat her, she was still pulling the clothes out of the washing machine. Next was roti and I knew I had to go the room to wake my son up.
Don't know how and when, but she became my distant , mute companion in the mornings. We were together 5 days a week doing same chores , all well timed. Saturdays and Sundays, I don't know what she did because it used to be an off for my little one.
One morning I finished my kitchen work and was at the table with the mug and the newspaper but I didn't see "her". No clothes on the hangers. I thought may be she took an off. I could have not spent more time on guessing, had to get back to the room , to ready my son .I was just not OK that day even my husband could make that out, he asked me as to why I was not my usual self and I gave him some silly explanation ( I thought he would find it sillier if I told him that I was a anxious because I didn't see "her" today).
Three consecutive mornings , and no sign of her , but I saw some "strangers" ( well she was known to me wasn't she? ) doing what she would do at that hour,hanging clothes but no rotis ( may they made them later , I could only presume). I don't know whether she ever noticed me from her balcony ( she always looked busier than me and I only remember her running from one corner to the other corner of the balcony ) but in the past few days she had almost become , a friend , who was there with me giving me company though from a distance and without her own knowledge. I never knew her absence would make me anxious and worried. I was missing her! Imagine missing someone whom you never met, never spoke a word, I can't even recall how she looked because of the distance from where I saw her .
Unable to live with the suspense I called someone I knew who lived in the same apartment building and asked her if she knew the lady who lived on the 4th floor( I made up story, said ,wanted to know whether her children were going to the same school as my son's ,if yes we could arrange for a play date . That was one of the most absurd reasons that I could have ever thought of ,but anything to find out about her). She said that she didn't know her well but they had common house help and she would ask her to find out and will then get back to me . Some relief , it did lower down my anxiety levels.
My friend , called in the evening and conveyed what the maid had to say," Bhabhiji maike gayi hain." ( she was not in town , had been visiting her parents)
Thank God!
Few more mornings passed , waiting for her.
And finally that morning, the morning which I had been desperately waiting for ,she was there pulling out clothes from the washing machine ( a lot of clothes, I guess because of her recent trip) , me, sipping from the mug while reading the newspaper headlines.
I never felt the need to talk to her,meet her. She was doing just what I needed, making my otherwise dull morning chores , interesting, by giving me company from a distance.
Wow...another good one....keep writing sweetheart!!
ReplyDeleteWow...another good one....keep writing sweetheart!!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Sonal for your kind words, appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting story !!
ReplyDelete