Friday, December 16, 2005

Mumbai Landlord Encounter

Generally I write about abstract things, mostly from a spurt of a feeling. But today is a different day, I momentarily lost faith on human kind and recovered it in the next instant. The incident date dates back to yesterday. Me and my hubby went upto to our old house (21st floor-breezy thing) to meet the landlord and the lady with their lad, in the bleak hope that he will give our deposit of 1.25 lacs back after we stayed in the house (according to him and her we misused it)for a year, paying a neat rent of 14 thousand rupees per month. We got accused left, right and centre of our audacity to abuse the place, use their water, use the breeze from the window leave those few scratches on the wall. It was a bizzare meeting. I was knocked out for a while with the attack, failing to realise what the bombardment of words meant. Then I felt my blood boiling, with much effort I hid my claws and fangs. It was like the ancient prehistoric caveman drama. I started collecting the herd around me, calling the people in the building, the sceretaries, treasurer while the lord and the lady with garrulous demeanour jumped around the place. You could see their hairy bodies under those clothes, the claws reaching out to grab you. They were decided not to return what rightfully belong to us. It was not money anymore, it was food, the catch of the day, raw blood and flesh. Funny part of it all was what they kept on uttering the whole time, it was like the early cave man somehow learnt the languages of the present but did not know how to use them. They had smirks on their faces and trash pouring out of their crooked mouth. I had lost my faith that moment, no belief was left in the civilisation of my own kind, my human kind. Human feelings hit the fathomless depth of lowness. How deep would I need to plunge to snatch those notes from their hands.

Here enters my neighbour, Ashwini. She called on phone from her room to the reception desk. Surprisingly she knew my name and yesterday was the first time I came to know hers. The name and the person that instilled in me faith, belief and sense of relief. She just assured that I dont need to pay for the water as it is part of the maintainance paid by the landlord. I thanked her immensely for the supporting words. I thanked her from within silently that she came out of her comfort zone to say few words of assuarance.

The fight ended eventually, we settled for an amount although the hurtling of words never stopped. There was not a single moment when they did not abuse us. It was like that was their only language to communicate. The language of filthy abuses continued as the faces changed from the smirks to the frowns and sometimes into careless smiles.

We dined and wined and whined after the cavemen troop left. Bacardi and coke, fried rice and chicken garlic sauce drowned the angst and leftovers of the evening which left us stunned.