Then…
The door was ajar…
Someone called from outside. “Amma… Amma…”
My mother-in-law went outside. “Please come in.”
“Amma… We had gone to the areca nut market to deliver areca nuts. It got late by the time we were returning. We are from Horanadu. Mr. Shanbhogue knows us. We cannot cross the swollen stream in the dark. So we came here.”
“All right… Mr. Shanbhogue is not here. Never mind. You must not have had your dinner yet. Come, wash your hands and feet. I’ll serve you,” she said.
They were fed and looked after.
Calling me, she said, “Make arrangements for them to sleep in the outer hall. Give them a blanket; it’s raining too. Keep a small chimney lamp burning. Leave a vessel of water… Poor things. They might need it during the night…”
Then, turning towards them, she said, “If you need anything, just call. Either I or my daughter-in-law will come…”
I nodded as if to say, “All right.”
Today…
The door was closed… The doorbell rang.
My daughter-in-law opened the door even as she asked, “Who is it?”
“Who are you? Whom do you want?”
“We are friends of Mr. Shanbhogue. We have come from Bengaluru. We missed our bus. We couldn’t get a room in any of the hotels either. So we came here, Madam.”
“Look, Mr. Shanbhogue is not here. We don’t know you, do we? I’ll call and ask.”
She called her husband and asked him. After hearing the details, he must have agreed to let them stay.
“All right… Come inside.”
She made arrangements for them to sleep in the hall.
Calling me aside, she said, “Look, who knows who these people are… I’ve let them in because my husband said so. Put the latch against the door and sleep. Keep the torch and mobile phone right beside you. Ammu shouldn’t sleep alone in her room tonight. Father-in-law isn’t in town either. Let her sleep with you. Who knows who these people are? How can we trust them…? Yes… keep a stick and a knife beside you too. If anyone calls out, just pretend to be asleep. Don’t open the door…” she whispered to me in private.
She wished them “Good night.”
I nodded as if to say, “All right.”
Veena Shanbhogue
Translation and Preservation by Sumanth Shanbhogue for Shanbhogue Publications
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