Yesterday
afternoon I was at the playschool to get some painting work done. I realised I
was early and did not have the keys to the room where the paint tins were kept.
I dug my hand into my handbag to take out my phone to call and ask the teacher to
come with the keys. It was then I spotted a movement from one corner of the
park around our small playschool. Nandu Ben, a big fat woman who works in the
park was dashing towards me from there. An immediate alarm overtook me as I
gripped my phone tightly. Nandu Ben had a 9 to 5 job. She worked in the park
tending the trees, plants and the grass there. It was also her job to empty the
dust bins in the park. The previous day she refused to empty the bin kept next
to the school as it was getting filled to the brim by afternoon every day. So I
had complained about her to her employers and was sure she got an admonishment
from them. Was she coming to push me down to have her revenge? I felt slightly jittery.
There was no one else around so I quietly stood on the steps resigned to my
fate.
She
stopped two metres short of me, panting. Then she caught her breath and let out
an excited outburst in Gujarati. She spoke only Gujarati and no Hindi. I
strained, tried to concentrate, to catch a few words similar to Hindi here and
there. All I could make out were two words; ladka and bottle. I was relieved
that she was not angry.
I just
nodded, gave her one of my best smiles and said “Ok ok”, as if I understood
every word she uttered. She smiled back and moved closer climbing onto the
steps.
By now I
understood Gujarati had lot of ‘yee’ and ‘shee’ sounds. So I decided to try my
luck in the language with the help of my Hindi. “Kahayee rahatheshee?” I asked
her. “Baharee” she said. “Voila! I got it!” I complimented myself and asked about
her ‘bacche’ cautiously adding ‘yees’ and ‘shees’ to every word. The easiest
way to strike a conversation with a simple middle aged woman is by asking about
her kids.
I did
not have to ask too much because she started pouring out in Gujarati. I
struggled hard to keep pace with what she said. From what I could make out in
the five minutes that she was talking to me was, she had two kids, a boy and a
girl. She lost a fifteen year old son when the kite he was flying was caught in
an electric wire. She stayed outside the camp. Her husband had a fall from some
height; I didn’t understand where, and broke his leg. He cannot work anymore. So
she is the bread winner now.
She
stopped and fell silent for a minute which gave me time to recollect why I was
there in the first place. I remembered Nandu Ben had a spare key. I was cheeky enough
to try my new found way of speaking Gujarati again. “Room kholyeshee” I asked
her in my sweetest voice. She readily took out the bunch of keys tucked
somewhere in her waist and opened the room for me. She merrily pointed to the
corner of the room and said “bottleyee”. I looked and saw two bottles of K oil
which I had asked for to be mixed with the paint. It was then I understood what
she was trying to tell me in the beginning. A ladka had come with those bottles.
She had taken it from him and kept them inside the room. ‘ladka’ ‘bottle’. I
beamed and said a big ‘Thankyou’ to her.
I couldn’t
help looking at the over flowing dustbin outside the door. She caught my glance
and nodded her head saying, “Mein jalaichuu”.
When
hearts are pure, you needn’t understand the language spoken. Thank you Nandu
Ben.
