‘Ishaaron ko agar samjho
Raaz ko raaz rahane do…’
goes the song in
the Hindi film ‘Dharma’.
It means (by a
free translation) “if you understand the signs, you will leave things be.”
The problem is, my mischievous creative mind won't let it be!
In the South
East Asian Countries, the floor on the ground in an apartment building is
called ‘First Floor’ and the floor above the ‘Second Floor’ and so on. In
India, the same would be referred to as ‘Ground Floor’ and ‘First Floor’ and so
on respectively.
I rarely saw the
‘Sun rising’ in my life!
GOD is same to
all!
Wife and
daughter went out!
In India and
perhaps in other countries, people offer flowers to their gods while praying.
I stay a few
miles away from my mother's place.
Mrs. RS
scheduled the first two business hours for an important meeting.
My aging mother was lamenting that someone
is plucking all her flowers from the plants and bushes in our parental home, in
the early hours, every morning even if she is waking up early to find out the
‘thief’
Mrs. RK and Mrs.
RR are growing plants on the ground behind their apartments as they have a
patch of land prepared for the purpose.
I had been a
‘late bird’ most of my life.
Attending the
meeting organised by Mrs. RS is very important for me if I respect my bread and
butter.
Mrs. RK and Mrs.
RR stay in the ‘Ground Floor’ apartments in my complex.
My mom, in her
home, is still struggling to identify the ‘flower thief’ and wishes to give a
piece of her mind to him or her and find peace in that.
If I have to
attend the meeting without being late, I have to break my routine of waking up
late in the morning.
The hibiscus plant
of Mrs. RK has burst with blossoms and some very attractive flower plants being
nurtured by Mrs. RR competed with the hibiscus.
Finally I had
put the alarm ringing to rest and woke up from my night's rest!
Now I see a
person wearing a ‘Lungi’ (the Myanmar’s ‘Long Yi’ became the Lungi in India)
emerges from one of the apartments behind our block.
I put the milk
on the stove for my coffee.
The flowers are
such a beauty!
Mr. K and Mr. R
also help sometimes in nurturing their backyard gardens
Today, don’t see
Mrs. RK or Mrs. RR anywhere around, yet.
Though stay in the same complex, never met
the guy though had occasional glimpses of him.
All blame to be on
Mrs. RS for arranging a meeting in the morning. J
Saw the guy from
the apartment behind us wearing a shroud. Shrewd idea he must have thought but
then it helped him in no way!
Started brushing
my teeth.
I am in the
first floor and above the apartment of Mrs. RK.
The guy looked
this aside and that aside and started the operation.
Made the coffee and took
the mug into the balcony.
I could see the guy
intent on his 'business'
I was awestruck.
Operation in ‘our’
garden completed.
Almost all flowers from
all the plants found their way onto his plate.
Mother still
unable to find the ‘guy’ doing this in her home.
Not even one
single flower left for the ‘GODs’ of Mrs. RK and Mrs. RR.
Remembered Mrs.
RK chiding my daughter (when she was a kid – well ‘she’ here is my daughter)
and explaining the virtue of leaving the flowers be on the plants and not to
pluck them.
If only Mrs. RS did not schedule the meeting!
A smile spread
on my face but hid well in my overgrowing and un-tended beard.
My father was
lifting the barbed wire of the fence of our neighbour’s house.
Some very exotic
flowers beckoning us.
I squeeze in.
some 55 years ago.
My father’s
‘GODs’ were decorated well, well almost every day.
Ah confessions
and confessions! Never afraid
of them. :-)
Thank you Mrs.
RS, for those ‘naughty’ fond memories.
The guy is returning home with the bounty
of flowers, on his large plate. Touches fondly, his almost never used but just
displayed ‘Toyota Altis’ or is it ‘Hyundai Verna’ whatever, before vanishing into his apartment.
His ‘Gods’
should be happy today, like every day.
My mom is still
trying to locate the ‘thief’ L
Karma returns! J
If only the
‘routine did not break’!
Yeah? Well, folks, what say you? Do let me
know, please!
Till then,
Krutagjnatalu (Telugu), Nanri (Tamil),
Dhanyavaadagalu (Kannada), Nanni (Malayalam), Dhanyavaad (Hindi), Dhanyosmi
(Sanskrit), Thanks (English), Dhonyavaad (Bangla), Dhanyabad (Oriya and
Nepalese), Gracias (Spanish), Grazie (Italian), Danke Schon (Deutsche), Merci
(French), Obrigado (Portuguese), Shukraan (Arabic and Sudanese), Shukriya
(Urdu), Sthoothiy (Sinhalese) Aw-koon (Khmer), Kawp Jai Lhai Lhai (Laotian),
Kob Kun Krab (Thai), Asante (Kiswahili), Maraming Salamat sa Lahat
(Pinoy-Tagalog-Filipino), Tack (Swedish), Fa'afetai
(Samoan), Terima Kasih (Bahasa Indonesian) and Tenkyu (Tok Pisin of Papua New
Guinea), Malo (Tongan), Vinaka Vaka Levu (Fijian),
Hemantha Kumar Pamarthy
Chennai, India
