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| Affee's Dada Kaka and Havovi Fui |
Minutes tick by. Slow, agonizingly slow. He goes into
the kitchen and puts on a kettle to boil some water. He warms the milk, brings
out the cups and keeps the packet of tea bags ready. With each passing minute,
the agony of waiting increases. He promises himself, this time he would tell
her off. He sits worried, wondering and waiting for her to return.
She hadn't even called to say she would be late. Its past five in
the evening, he wants his tea and she is out, gallivanting somewhere,
probably at the library, picking up novels and having tea with Bipinbhai and
Damjibhai or at Royal Stores getting some office papers photo copied.
He walks to the window and cranes his neck to see if
he can see her walk into the building. The door bells rings. His neighbours, a
lovely mother-daughter duo, Mary and Affee, who live on the same floor, have
come over to meet him. They check in on the couple regularly and drop in for a
chat. They come over quite often for a pot-luck dinner just so that the
gentleman and his wife don’t feel too lonely.
Seeing her neighbour in an agitated state Mary asks,
“What’s wrong? Shall I make you a cup of tea?” He politely declines, and then
angrily mumbles, “God knows when she will realize that it’s time to retire. We
should be spending our days in Pune with our daughter and son-in-law and yet,
here we are in Mumbai because she won’t quit her job.
She doesn't realize that her body is taking a beating with her
working day in and day out at this age. She just doesn't listen to
reason.”
Mary understandingly nods her head. She tactfully
refrains from commenting. She admires the wife who is brave, wanting to lead an
active life even at sixty-six. But she also empathizes with the man worrying
for his wife’s health, his wife of forty-seven years! She sticks to just
nodding in an understanding way, while the man resumes pacing the floor, all
the while muttering in his mother tongue, ‘aaje avse toh hu ene haath ghali ne
levas ke tabiyat no khayal rakhtij nathi’ (Translation: When she walks in, I
wont spare her today in regard to the callousness towards her health). All the
while Mary and Affee continue nodding their heads sympathetically as if to say,
‘you are right, she should take care of her health at this age.’
The door bell chimes and Affee rushes to open the
door, hugs her aunt, the wife, and whispers, “Hi Fuiji, we've been
waiting for you.” In a giggling tone she continues, “Kaka, too is waiting
for you. He’s been worried and very angry. He’s been a muttering mess the past
hour.” The wife hugs Affee, winks at her and walks in with a smile.
She smiles at Mary, says ‘Hi!’ and walks up to her
husband. He’s at the stove, re-heating the kettle for their evening tea. He
turns around, sees her and his face lights up like a thousand watt bulb. They
gently kiss each other on the lips. It’s their way of saying ‘hi and bye’ to
each other when either of them walks in or out of the
house. They've been greeting each other this way for forty-seven
years hence Mary, Affee or the world being around just doesn’t matter to them.
He looks down at her face with immense love in his eyes and in a gentle voice
says to her, “I’ve been waiting to have tea, where were you held up
sweetheart?” She begins to tell him why she got delayed. He pours out tea for
all of them and for himself. He brings out the box of Batasa and Shrewsbury
biscuits that his daughter has sent for them, from Pune. He peacefully sits
down, listening to her talk about her day. Now that she is back home safe, he
has forgotten all his anger and worry. All the angry, worried mutterings have
melted away.
After tea Mary and Affee head back home. On the way
Affee, with a grin on her face tells her mother, “Kaka’s anger just melted away
at the sight of Fuiji. He was so furious when she hadn’t returned on time, and
yet when she got home he didn't say a word to her in anger. All that
mattered was that she was back home safe. I guess that’s the love, care
and respect that have kept them together for forty-seven years and counting
(Amen!). It’s hard to find such love these days and when I get married I hope
my husband cares for me, just as much as Dara Kaka cares for Havovi Fui.” She
smiles, a far away dreamy look in her eyes, wondering who would walk into her
life and sweep her off her feet… for a lifetime.
~ Bawi ~
For Mom and Dad: The most precious gems of my universe <3
~ Bawi ~
For Mom and Dad: The most precious gems of my universe <3
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