Friday 8 November 2013

Ssshhhh... It's Her !



Initially when I arrived in Bangalore to start a career, I stayed at a hostel in J. P. Nagar 6th phase. Life was pretty hard for me that time. The food was so much expensive and I had to plan a bit in order to have managed my breakfast, lunch and dinner. That time I just wished if I could have stayed at an independent house, so that we could have cooked our own food. But, "Uff Ye Bangalore!" One need to pay 10 months rent in advance in the name of security deposit to rent a house. After a couple of months, few more of my close friends decided to come to Bangalore. Well, the market was slowly recovering from the recession phase that time. 

Mukha already arrived and stayed with me for a couple of days at the hostel. Dhiru and Lami were about to come within next few days. Mukha had some friends in Bangalore and somehow he had information about a house and the landlord was ready for merely 2 months advance as security deposit. Without wasting anytime we both went to have a look at the house and immediately booked it by paying some token amount. But there was a minor problem though. The landlord seemed to be very strict and he clearly said to us that maximum 3 guys could have stayed in his house. Well, we were 4 of us and I believed that to be a very minor issue, as the landlord used to stay quite far from there and I thought to sort it out later. It was a one BHK house at a place named R. T. Nagar, in northern part of Bangalore. It’s a fascinating place and the ill effects of IT were not pretty much visible out there those days. Prices of most of the things were much reasonable and particularly chicken, as compared to other main parts of Bangalore. I still remember how we used to have chicken on a regular basis, as the cost of vegetables seemed to almost the same or in fact, could have been a little more.

Life was much better after we shifted to that house and also our tummies/tongue were kind of  satisfied. We had such a great opportunity of reunion of old buddies and really enjoyed some good time. On few occasions our landlord thrilled us with his surprise visits and on every such occasion, Lami used to hide himself inside the washroom. Actually Lami never existed for the landlord and the remaining guys had to submit our Photo IDs to him. I remember one incident when Lami had to remain locked in the washroom for almost an hour. On that particular day, the landlord seemed to be under some kind of serious Fevicol(Well known adhesive brand) effect, as he remain attached to that chair for so long. We simply wondered "What if he would have wanted to use the washroom?" Time passed by and after about a month we made some good friends nearby. They were also "Bekaar" jobless engineers like us and looked for opportunities. They also used to stay in a group and Particularly, Kamal and Debo became quite close to us. Sometimes we used to enjoy lunch/dinner together and not to mention about our love and respect for the Old Monk.

Their house was at a market kind of place, just beside the busy street. One afternoon after lunch, we visited them and were enjoying a cool and relaxing gossip session. Everyone was on the bed and seated close by. The room was alive with those careless talks and laughter. All of a sudden there was a BANG on the main door. What the hell was that? It almost felt that as if someone wanted to break the door. There was complete silence inside the room, as if someone pressed the mute button. One rough and tough looking, and quite daring kind of middle aged lady entered the house. She didn’t talk to anyone and came inside the house. We started to stare at each other’s faces out of confusion and after sometime I heard the sound of washroom flush. The lady closed the washroom door with another BANG. No one in the house dared to talk to her and she left the house through the main door like a storm, with yet another BANG. 

I was kind of shocked and asked "Who the hell was she?"

Kamal replied "Ssshhhh... wait. Did she left?"

After a while the room came alive yet again with their laughter and they revealed the mystery. Actually the lady and her husband had a chips stall just below their house on the main street. They used to come in the afternoon and used to prepare/sell chips till 9 PM. About 6 months ago, the chips couple came to them and asked for a small help. It seemed the lady had some form of sugar problem and asked them if she could have used their washroom sometimes? It started that time and somehow became a part and parcel of their daily life. My poor friends didn't even used to lock the main door from inside, as the lady was pretty much unpredictable and could have BANGED the door any moment. They got habituated with those abrupt blasts at their door, daily on an average 4-5 times. On every such occasion, their mute button worked perfectly fine inside the house and someone would usually whisper "Ssshhhh... It's Her !"

37 comments:

  1. Hahaha..So that worked as a Sulabh Sauchalaya for the Lady well at free of Cost.. :-P
    And as for ur Land Lord,we did the same thing with our land lord..He allowed just 4 guys but we were 5 guys staying and one of them was invisible for him..And it continued for like 8-9 months.. :D

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    1. Haha.. Harsha! nice to know that even U guys also had similar experience with the landlord :) Yes, it was kind of Sulabh Sauchalaya !!

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  2. He he - that was a fun read:-) From the non-existing Lami to the persistent lady in need..:-) Enjoyed it:-)

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    1. Hehe.. Thanks Eli :) so glad U enjoyed the post :)

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  3. you take out humor from small incidents which may go unnoticed otherwise,clever and intelligent writing.

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    1. Thank U so much dear, that a big compliment. Glad U enjoyed the post !!

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  4. Nice true story! We need more public wash-rooms! :)

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    1. Thanks Anita :) Glad U enjoyed the post. Yes, we need more public washrooms !!

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  5. hahaha...Sulabh Sauchalaye :v

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    1. Hehe.. Namrota :) There's need of more public washrooms !!

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  6. haha.. actually after seeing the title and your landlord story... i was expecting its all about the landlady's story.. well narrated btw.. :P

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    1. Hehe.. Meera :) So U could enjoye the twist :) Glad U liked the narration !!

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  7. Haha... At first I thought the lady might be the landlord's wife, spying on you guys!

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    1. Here.. Sreesha :) So there was a twist. Hope U enjoyed the post !!

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  8. Thanks Mukhtiar Bhai :) Glad U enjoyed the post !!

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  9. Refreshing read with touch of humour.....
    Charu
    www.womenlines.com

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    1. Thanks Charu :) Glad U enjoyed the post. Thanks a lot for dropping by !!

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  10. Nostalgia... ! We all miss those careless moments. Good to read urs.

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    1. Yes Shabab, we miss those careless moments. Glad U enjoyed the post !!

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  11. You cud have had chips in return for the emergency services granted. ha ha ha

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    1. Haha.. Neo :) even i asked the same question to my friends. It seemed they tried initially and used to buy chips from their shop on few occasions. But without any kind of discount, they discontinued it :)

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  12. Hot chips! My favorite kind in Bangalore :) I miss them ( and corner house cake fudge) so much ! Thanks for a trip down memory lane jahid and well written.

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    1. Nice to know U lived in Bangalore earlier. So glad U enjoyed the post and could refresh Ur good old memories. Thanks for dropping by Pallavi !!

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    2. Yep, I am a bangalorean :) grew up and lived there before I moved to Singapore. I do miss the old bangalore though.. Way before the software boom . It was quiet and laid back .

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    3. Hmmm.. before the boom Bangalore must had been quite calm and cool, but can't help it. Hope one day it would turn out like Singapore :)

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  13. I also thought it was the landlord's wife coming to check up on you. If she had a sugar problem, perhaps she was diabetic? I enjoyed reading your story of bachelor life and I'm glad that you have so many happy memories with your friends. Maybe you could write a book about it one day?

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    1. Yeah, she might had been a diabetic. So glad to know that U like my stories and yes, we really had good time with friends. Well never thought of writing a book :) but lets see, U never know. Thanks a lot for visiting out here Carlyn !!

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  14. For an IT guy, these kind of Nostalgic posts are like a booster for regular routine...
    Nice narration, and I could relate it....as we used to live in the same way ( 4 were allowed in a 2 BHK, but we were 5) ..and at every visit of landlord one person has to go missing :)

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    1. Thanks Pritesh :) Glad U enjoy my posts and could refresh Ur good old memories. Haha.. most of the guys usually do that, more number of guys usually stay and someone had to always hide from the landlord. So, U guys also had similar experience :) Thanks a lot for visiting out here Pritesh !!

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  15. Good Fun! Remembered my college days. I was bit skeptical but now I look forward since I am shifting in Bangalore this Feb

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    1. Glad to know that U'r shifting to Bangalore. Bangalore is a cool city, undoubtedly the best city in India :) Glad U enjoyed the post and could refresh Ur good old memories. Thanks a lot for visiting out here Itvara !!

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  16. Ha Ha Ha.... I enjoy u r all post but I laugh a lot after reading this post.. Keep wring this type of post so we all readers refresh our mind... Thanks :) http://beingmommee.blogspot.in/

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    1. Haha.. Shilpa ji :) So glad U enjoy my posts. Thanks a lot for reading them and yes, would try to keep writing !!

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  17. Thanks Freya. So glad U enjoyed reading the post. Yes, it's really fun to look back to good old memories!

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  18. lo... I re-lived my initial days in Delhi with this post. Too good Jahid, am a follower now ;)

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    1. Glad you enjoyed the post, Nupur :) and could refresh your good old Delhi days. Thanks a lot for visiting out here !!

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  19. what bro,,it's as if I share many experiences with you..I too lived in Bangalore for 3 months(the affordable Kundanhalli area)......however,being nicely employed with good salary,I was not as fortunate to live those golden moments of life....'Khasta halat with smoke rising in a creaking room....the beautiful memorable experiences of life'.....circumstances which teaches lessons of a life-time....I couldn't live that experience directly but surely indirectly through your words..Best wishes.

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