So, there was a freaked out landlord, 2 girls banging the utensils and a house that was furnished enough to help me stay. I also had a few assignments to finish and I needed a study table for it. I went to this famous furniture market of Jareeb Chauki and was successful in finding a table for myself, which was delivered 3 days after the order, that too after calling the guy repeatedly. One fine evening I decided to drive a little to explore some eating outlets in the city. I was on my bike and as usual, my mobile was on silent. Imagine, who would be calling me and what would have been the reaction when I didn’t pick it. It was Oldie Goldie using his phone to call me all the way through without waiting or understanding that the guy must be busy. I got down and called back and here came the blast.
“In no way would I bear such nonsense. I can’t take people like you who don’t take my calls even after calling them so many times. I can’t take you as my tenant anymore.”
I hadn’t heard such a loud voice ever before. Was I answerable to the oldie and was I supposed to take all his calls with due diligence? I was wondering and I answered him, “I was on bike and I saw your calls and called back. What is the trouble? What makes it so urgent?”
“I have to park my car behind yours and yours isn’t here yet. You should have parked yours inside so that I would have parked mine on time. I have to go somewhere in the morning. I have been waiting for you and you aren’t even picking my call,” shouted Oldie.
I rushed back to the place, parked my car inside and waited for the oldie to come. Oldie came shouting a lot more this time “Why don’t you take my calls, I can’t bear this. That day I called you so many times and you were sleeping. Today I called you and you are nowhere to be found. This won’t work for us.”
“Don’t give me the problem, offer me a solution uncle,” I answered. “The way you shouted didn’t serve any purpose. I keep my phone on silent and I call people back. I never answer people there and then. Also, that day I was sleeping, so the best I can do from now is to be awake at night and see if you need me. Also, the problem is with this car so it would anyway go back to Delhi in a few days and you would be relieved. I will park the car inside as and when I come back from the office. So that should be ok, ” I continued.
Oldie was speechless as he was either expecting me to stay mum and listen or fight with him. I did neither. I had one thing to ask and this is what it was, “What did you mean when you said, you don’t want a tenant like me? Do you want me to get out this night or should I wait until tomorrow?”
He folded his hands in anger and skepticism and shouted “I never said that. All I wanted to say was this won’t work. Why would I ask you to leave!”
I went to my room but I was still boiling inside. I called my wife and abused oldie for the way he spoke to me on phone. This was a new city, I was alone, my first rented accommodation in life, I have stayed like a teacher and respected always and I get to listen to this man shouting at the top of his voice. My wife helped me get relieved by abusing him more than I was. After a while, I felt a little comfortable.
God added music to my rage with a crazy woman banging utensils and washing them to the last bit so she could see her face in them. Out of anger I punched at the connecting door (the door between their verandah and my house) really hard and the noise from the utensils came down. The lady for sure didn’t realize it was me but she might have thought that the god doesn’t want her to clean her utensils so much. They were hardly educated and there were certain stories about them that revealed that they were dumb. The landlady, Oldie part 2 told me that she gave them a fridge to use and they washed the poor machine with water, washing it in and out and especially the compressor which they thought works the hardest the whole day and needs to freshen up. The only favor they did on Oldie 1 & 2 was to plug it out of the electricity point or else the oldies would be celebrating their valentines in the Jail this year.
I had to put a few thermocol sheets on the window to reduce the noise from the other portion but even these thermocol sheets were useless. The best that I enjoyed because of these sheets was that I could switch off my lights, move a sheet a bit and see what was going on. Just to inform you, these girls never took bath there so don’t think I would put a chair, have a cigarette in one hand and a glass of whiskey in another and be the villain of their life. All I got to see at times was these not-so-sexy girls, in their lowers and t-shirts washing their hair, washing utensils, sitting and chirping and once trying to peep inside my bedroom while I was about to start peeping into their verandah. huhh!
To Be Continued…