Nandu Ben

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.