A few days ago,
one morning, Deepa’s next door neighbor, an old lady in her seventies, knocked
at her door. She wanted to borrow the large watering can to water her plants.
Deepa readily went to fetch that and gave it to her, but was not surprised to
see her husband’s reaction to that. He offered his help to the old lady as it
would be heavy for her to lift it. Poor aunty was genuinely touched but insisted
that she could manage. After she had left, Ravi had argued, “Why did you have
to lend her the watering can? You could have made some excuse”. Deepa had known
it was coming, so she had replied, “Relax, dear. It is just a watering can”. Ravi
had argued further, “What if she does not return it?” Deepa, had looked at the
ceiling and had left the room then. But, Ravi had gone on blabbering, “you
people do not understand anything what I say. You should take care of your
belongings”.
Last weekend,
Deepa’s brother, Anup, who stays couple of blocks away, had taken Ravi’s tool
box to fix something at his house. Ravi had kept calling her brother almost
every hour, asking if he needed any help operating the tool box, and if he was
able to finish his fixes. When Anup did not return the tools by Monday evening,
Ravi could not take it any longer. He called Anup and told him that his boss
had asked Ravi for the tool box as he needed to fix something at his place and
Ravi had committed to his boss that he would bring the tool box to office the
next day. Anup returned the tool box before Ravi left for office Tuesday morning
and it seems, that wicked tool box is lying at Ravi’s desk locker since that
day.
Ravi is usually
a supportive, cooperative and charitable person who is always eager to help
others but it is an irony that when it comes to lending some of the things he
owns, he becomes helpless. More apt word would be Paranoid. You can borrow
money from him, he is not stingy either, but he will fret over whether you will
return his money or not. Last month, Mrs. Sharma, who stays on the top floor
had asked if she could borrow our step ladder. It seems she had noticed that
lying in our balcony. I must say, she has such hawk like eyes and such a keen
observation. To that, Ravi had replied that the ladder has some fault, its
hinges were coming out and it has become useless. “SERIOUSLY”, my (owl-like) eyes had wanted to pop out from their eye holes.
Their son Akul’s
summer vacation has started and Ravi’s mother has come this time to stay with
them for this month. Ravi’s younger sister, Priya and her husband, Akhilesh,
are going to visit them this weekend. They stay 3 hours away from their city,
so they have planned to come by driving. Ravi has asked their neighbor, Gupta
Ji, to lend his parking slot for the weekend as his slot is empty for now. This
evening, some visitors have come and they have parked their vehicle in that
empty slot. They were Radha aunty’s guests, and Ravi somehow managed to gather
the information that the guests would be leaving by 7PM. Ravi was working late
today evening, but exactly at 7:05 PM, Deepa’s mobile rang. Ravi asks, “Do you
know if Radha aunty’s guests left?”
Deepa: “How would I know that, Ravi?”
Ravi: “Ask Akul to go down and check”. She says, “Ok”, and keeps down the phone. Ten
minutes later, her phone rings again.
Ravi: “What happened?”
Deepa: “No, they have not left.”
Ravi: “WHY?”
Deepa: “Why, means what, Ravi?
We cannot go and ask Radha aunty why they have not left yet. When they will
leave, they will. Radha aunty told us that her guests are not staying the night.
And, Priya will reach past midnight. So, please relax.” Ravi mumbles a disgruntled
OK and keeps down the phone. Same moment her six year old comes in running and
smiling all ears, tells her that Radha Aunty’s guests have left. Deepa says a
silent prayer that her son doesn’t go insane like his father, but nevertheless,
calls her husband to inform. Ravi sighs in relief and hearing that she sighs in
exasperation.
It was past ten but Ravi had
not yet come from office. Akul and her mother in-law have finished their dinner
and were getting ready for sleep. She dials his number but he does not pick up
the call. She goes to stand in their balcony and starts looking outside. It was
a clear sky tonight. Half an hour passes but there was no sign of Ravi. She was
about to try his number again when she looked down. She saw a familiar figure
walking down the street. She realized it was her husband walking with his
laptop bag. What happened to the car? She waits for him to come up. She opens
the door when the doorbell rings.
D: “What took you so long
today? Where is the car? I saw you walking.”
R: “It was not starting, so
had to call up the service guys. They took half an hour to pick it up and then
I didn’t get a cab. So, took a bus instead which dropped me till the main road.
From there I walked.”
D: “Oh. So, when are they
returning the car?”
R: “They are closed tomorrow
for Eid and Sunday is anyway a holiday for them. They will check it on Monday
and call me by Monday evening to let me know, what needs to be repaired and by
when they can return it.”
Ravi was looking damn tired
but still Deepa could not control it. She bursts out laughing, “In that case,
Priya can park her car in our slot itself.”
