[My rented
house: An year ago]
Another New house… new air… so much stuff to arrange… Shifting is like a yearly vacation plan in our life now. Anyhow, hope this new place turns out good. Until now, no hustle and buzzle when it rains. I know what you are thinking. Yes, the former one was a ‘house of horrors’. I moved away from its “Ooooo”s and whooshes :S.. Every evening it rained there. K. The sky turned grey and pale and squirt it all around. I rushed around and slammed my windows and doors hastily before the fog gushed in. So based on these facts, I think I have a reason to move out. Anyways, why brood over the past.
This is a small cozy house. J. It needed some good scrubbing though. Seems like it is going to flood in here if I don’t use the floor wiper. I could then see the peach, the blue, the yellow and the hue of the sky from up here. May be that is what heaven looks like from a distance. The panoramic view registered in my grey matter, but I wanted to save the scene to brag about my choice of stay. :D. I always love to swap in the special stuff in my handy cam and swept it all in.
Another New house… new air… so much stuff to arrange… Shifting is like a yearly vacation plan in our life now. Anyhow, hope this new place turns out good. Until now, no hustle and buzzle when it rains. I know what you are thinking. Yes, the former one was a ‘house of horrors’. I moved away from its “Ooooo”s and whooshes :S.. Every evening it rained there. K. The sky turned grey and pale and squirt it all around. I rushed around and slammed my windows and doors hastily before the fog gushed in. So based on these facts, I think I have a reason to move out. Anyways, why brood over the past.
This is a small cozy house. J. It needed some good scrubbing though. Seems like it is going to flood in here if I don’t use the floor wiper. I could then see the peach, the blue, the yellow and the hue of the sky from up here. May be that is what heaven looks like from a distance. The panoramic view registered in my grey matter, but I wanted to save the scene to brag about my choice of stay. :D. I always love to swap in the special stuff in my handy cam and swept it all in.
Huh?!? Oh
great!!! There goes!!! I see a hand waving at me. I have a beautiful neighbour.
What can go worse… [biting my finger nails].
Now I have to envy her and nag my
sweetie about her so that he gets scared by the idea of even mentioning her. Oh
My God! Why Why Why ?!?!!!! “Hey…” [I
waved back]. I smiled and sneaked back in.
Her:“Hi.. I live in the adjacent apartment. I am so happy to see you here. It has been a while since somebody moved into this one… So how’s the place and the facility? Do you like it? If you really need something, just let me know… Really nice to meet you! Ok Bubye!”
The next day, she showed-up by noon, enquiring about how to get the train timings to the capital city. I still got a very few mumbled words to contribute to that conversation though. This continued…
Whys and
wherefores:
Anyhow,
she never meant any harm, apart from the routine situations when my work never
completes on time and my ears would lock horns with my cellular phone to escape
my harsh verbal disciplined superior. I somehow had to be nice to her and still
let her know that I have a job that needs attention too. ;-(
My darling lend a hand in giving words to my thoughts and it sounded polite when I rehearsed. I decided to talk to her about the Red alert crisis. I prepared some jaggery rice pudding that evening and put on the ideal neighbour costume and headed to her apartment. [ting tong ting tong..Her door bell rang]. I checked my hair do and set my sleeves right. (Waiting…Waiting…Waiting) Huh! [ting tong ting tong again]. Hhmm.. They are away. Guess we have to finish the pudding ourselves. :P. (My sweetie loves my pudding a lot. hehe).
The very next day [Ting ti ding ting di ding – door bell rang as always]. I did a couple of deep breaths and planned my opening line as I answered the door.
It was an elderly couple (smiling) at my door. [My Mental picture..]: “Who are these people? Never seen them around”. “Hello” (They said). I replied with a smile and the hello gesture.
The man: (standing at the door). “We would love to but we are on our toes to set things up for the Party. We will come over for a visit another time.” [My Mental picture]: “Thank you lord”…
The lady: “Very few people are invited for the Party and (Big smile) you are our only neighbour, we would really love to see you on Sunday. Ok. Be there ! J”
Me: “Ok Bye” Smiled and dashed in to deal with my unfinished business.
You know,
that moment when you feel insecure, dejected, deprived of confidence and mostly
jealous. It was that moment for me. I always look good when I step out of my
house, so that I could turn some heads on to me. But at home, honestly I look
like one of those toiled house maids. That’s exactly the point. Should I start
splashing out more on the cosmetics to make me look prettier or will coffee
just do the trick. Ahem. Sorry that’s just my insecurity speaking. But I really
need to do something.
I somehow
forgot about her in my rush to prepare lunch and break my head on my office
chores. Oh yes, I always manage to find terrific bosses. I take my work from
home. This guy has his Ph.D in yelling and sarcasm. [Ting
ti ding ting ti ding… My door bell rang..]
I did my hair check and opened the door. Yikes!!!! It was her again. Her:“Hi.. I live in the adjacent apartment. I am so happy to see you here. It has been a while since somebody moved into this one… So how’s the place and the facility? Do you like it? If you really need something, just let me know… Really nice to meet you! Ok Bubye!”
K I couldn’t utter a word in reply
to the ‘tweet beep cheep beep chitter
chatter’ and more. What was that? My ears rang for the next 5 minutes. I
slowly locked up after her. That’s when I decided to give up on all electronic
media (Except sweepea : My laptop). You might be wondering why! So that no
noise goes out and so that it looks like nobody is home. The TV, Radio, my song
storage on Loui [my phone] too. Okay Okay!! I am not proud of what I did. But I
had my own reasons.
She has
big round eyes and long eye lashes, shapely eyebrows separated with a maroon
bindi(is a dot worn on the forehead), wide smile that spread joy. I had to be
vigilant here. She reminded me of an Ad model. L. My gloom inundated my arteries
and veins and jam-packed the large grooves of my brain. The next day, she showed-up by noon, enquiring about how to get the train timings to the capital city. I still got a very few mumbled words to contribute to that conversation though. This continued…
o
A
good textile shop in the city : “My
husband wants to go shopping for new stuff and I really need some help”.
o
Good
beauty salon: “I had been doing my
eyebrows at a place but they shutdown. Do you know any good ones? Where do you
go?”
o
Water
?!? : No water here. How about you? What
should I do now? I have no idea. I have so much cooking left”.
o
So
on and on and on….
I then
realized that she never wanted to help but she is the one who wanted help.
Hhmm…
From then every evening our ‘what happened today?’ sittings absolutely included her daily-outcry for help. J. How much ever I try and hide, she
would catch my tiniest movement and dash in. “Haha..Interesting.. I have never seen this person around..” [That
is my sweetheart speaking]. (My gush of emotions) Grrrr…. Oh no!! Did he just give me a hint that he finds her more
interesting than me.. I jotted those words in my personal Key notes. K. That’s why they say ‘Guys are explorers’.
My darling lend a hand in giving words to my thoughts and it sounded polite when I rehearsed. I decided to talk to her about the Red alert crisis. I prepared some jaggery rice pudding that evening and put on the ideal neighbour costume and headed to her apartment. [ting tong ting tong..Her door bell rang]. I checked my hair do and set my sleeves right. (Waiting…Waiting…Waiting) Huh! [ting tong ting tong again]. Hhmm.. They are away. Guess we have to finish the pudding ourselves. :P. (My sweetie loves my pudding a lot. hehe).
The very next day [Ting ti ding ting di ding – door bell rang as always]. I did a couple of deep breaths and planned my opening line as I answered the door.
It was an elderly couple (smiling) at my door. [My Mental picture..]: “Who are these people? Never seen them around”. “Hello” (They said). I replied with a smile and the hello gesture.
The lady: “J. We stay in 805. We have come to invite you over for a small party this
weekend. Hope you would be able to make it. “
Me [My
Mental picture..]: “Am I flooded with neighbours around me.” [Speaking] : “Oh J. Our pleasure. Please come in. J” [My Mental picture..]: “Please leave soon”…The man: (standing at the door). “We would love to but we are on our toes to set things up for the Party. We will come over for a visit another time.” [My Mental picture]: “Thank you lord”…
The lady: “Very few people are invited for the Party and (Big smile) you are our only neighbour, we would really love to see you on Sunday. Ok. Be there ! J”
Me: “Ok Bye” Smiled and dashed in to deal with my unfinished business.
My Mental make-up:
More neighbours!! That’s amazing. (Deep breath) I am a positive person,
you know.
Truth: I had developed a habit of seeing
positives in every greasy situation we get into. Yea. It really helped me from
getting crabby over stuff like :
(1). Incident: Car broke down in the middle
of the road. Positive: Garage was
near and nobody got hurt.
(2).
Incident: I fell on my butt and got
it neatly bruised. Positive: The
flat screen TV in my hand didn’t fall off and smash down to bits.
To
keep myself air and blood circulated, I try and walk around the building. It
was one of those non-lazy days. I take strolls at the car parking area where I
get to see those teeny weeny baby toes getting to apply their vigour. J
There was a
mucky pinboard with celebration pictures. It looked spattered. I was amazed to
know that the apartment authorities took interest in celebrating those special
days or whatever. I darted to the security officers at the rear access.
They gave
me the story of the celebration in the pictures and how a young lady flew down
to the walkway and how it all ended then and there. They pointed to the balcony
adjacent to our apartment.
Dumbstruck!!!
I stood shell-shocked. I picked up my shattered senses, fled back, fell in and
locked up the door behind my back and crawled onto my ground couch. I felt
lost. Kept scratching my head on what was happening all these days.
[Ting ti ding ting ti ding – the door bell rang again]. Oh no. I am not falling for that anymore. My heart pounded and my body crouched more on to myself. I would never open that door again. [Ting ti ding ting ti ding – again and again and again]. I could hear every movement in my body. I did not move. [Meow Meow – My phone rang]. I picked up. “Open the door gugu”. It was my sweetie. Now he uses the spare keys when he is back from work.
PS: I still hear the door bell everyday. I never have opened the door myself ever after. J.
[Ting ti ding ting ti ding – the door bell rang again]. Oh no. I am not falling for that anymore. My heart pounded and my body crouched more on to myself. I would never open that door again. [Ting ti ding ting ti ding – again and again and again]. I could hear every movement in my body. I did not move. [Meow Meow – My phone rang]. I picked up. “Open the door gugu”. It was my sweetie. Now he uses the spare keys when he is back from work.
PS: I still hear the door bell everyday. I never have opened the door myself ever after. J.
