HAIL FELLOW WELL MET

Our guest room was mostly empty as we had very few guests coming to our place or even this town. The room would be swept only once a week and I would check its facilities once in a while. The ceiling fan regulator had to be changed and I got it done. The room’s AC was in order. The bathroom fittings were all in good working condition. My wife said “Why are you so bothered about that room? We’ve no guests.” Of course she knew my habit of keeping every facility in the house in good working condition.

I would go for a walk in the early morning leading my dog Duke on a leash though he was docile and really didn’t need one. On my way back I would invariably stop at a wayside coffee shop named Primus, which had a large patronage due to the high quality of the coffee served at a fair rate. That morning I halted at Primus and ordered coffee. Duke was generally known to be harmless and people would normally pat it as it went near them. That day, Duke went near a young man wanting coffee, and he appeared scared.

I said “Young man don’t worry. Duke is harmless. He only wants to be friendly with people.”

The youth said “I also like dogs. I was worried as exams are approaching and I should’ve no mishap.” He gently patted Duke who sniffed at him.

As we drank coffee, the youth said “Sir, I’m a student of the CR engineering college here. I was residing in a room on the next road.”

I said “Were you a tenant of ROSEMOUNT which collapsed recently?”

“You’re right Sir. I was lucky to escape as my room was in the outhouse. The building has been closed for occupation. I was forced to move in with a friend but it’s really inconveniencing the family. Sir, would you know if I could find a room for myself for about 2 months in this locality?  Actually I had paid rental for the next two months also but was told there would be no return of amounts paid. Another factor is people don’t want a tenant who would stay for only a couple of months.” I nodded.

After finishing coffee I said “Go with me. I live in the other corner of this road.”

Soon we were at my place, and showing him my guest room I said “If this suits you, you could occupy this for 2 months.”

He looked around and then said “I’m sorry sir I can’t afford this room. Besides I’ve lost the money I’ve paid for 2 more months. Thank you sir.”

He turned to leave when I said “Stay! This guest room is part of a government quarter allotted to me as I’m in service. I can’t accept any rent for it. In fact if you like to stay here there’ll be no other charges like electricity etc. You can move in whenever you want and stay two months.”

Amit now moved in thereafter.

Meanwhile my wife berated me for bringing in a perfect stranger to stay in our premises.

I said “It’s only for a short period. The fellow impressed me.”

“We would’ve to give him the key to the house for him to have access any time. Is it safe?”

I said “As I said that fellow has impressed me. And remember trust begets trust.”

“You’re always easily impressed. Remember when we were in the holy city and the mendicant came to you with his knowledge of Hindu philosophy. You were impressed. “

I said “That fellow wasn’t  a mendicant. Remember he would lecture to me about the holy Hindu texts. I also helped him to regain some property which his relatives usurped. He came all the way to attend Pal’s wedding, besides giving him a decent present. I appreciated his gesture.” Pal was our son.

She said “Nonetheless you’re gullible. You could be taken for a ride. I still remember your helping the drunkard Ritwik when he said he wanted money for treating his wife who was sick. He never gave it back.”

I said “That was a small amount and the man was in real need. I didn’t exactly loan him the money. I knew it wasn’t in his means to refund it and had been prepared to write it off.”

She said “I can’t forget him. You had the stye in the eye and he brought a lactating woman with a new-born baby to heal you with fresh breast milk directly on the spot. I still marvel at his gumption in assuming that I would permit it.”

I laughed and said “It was a spontaneous gesture. He was a rustic who had wanted me to heal  within the means he could command and the village treatment he knew.  And you were then so furious! By and large I haven’t been cheated by people whom I trusted.”

Amit moved in and stayed only 40 days.  After his departure I said “He was very responsible and treated us with great respect.”

“That’s because we were elders.”

“He used the room’s resources very carefully. Nothing was soiled or broken during the time he spent here. He was watchful about safety of our premises. He was friendly and respectful.”

“That was only because he had no alternative. Anyway forget about it.”

All that had happened a decade and a half ago. Since then I had retired and we had returned to settle in our provenance – a city. I had inherited property there and had in mind a project  to develop it. My son was working elsewhere and couldn’t spare the time to help me achieve what I had planned. So in my old age I went about it by myself to put up a multi-storeyed building. Though I had worked in government, I hadn’t expected the amount of trouble I would go through in promoting my project.

I found it difficult to get lower order functionaries to approve submitted proformas. That day as I was coming out of the building I saw a man enter. From the way he was treated by the factotums I guessed he was in command here. The man seeing me stopped and asked “Remember me? I’m Amit.”

I immediately shook his hand. He said “Please come with me sir. Obviously you have work here.”

I went with him and he seated me respectfully and then joined me. He made enquiries of me and my family and even of Duke which had passed on. He asked me what brought me to this office. I told him when he immediately said “I’ll get my senior most functionary to attend to your needs.”

He arranged for tea and when his staff appeared he introduced me to him. He said to him “I want you to attend to this gentleman personally. Get everything he wants done as fast as you can. You and your staff should go to his place for any of his needs instead of getting him here. I must be told about the progress on a day to day basis.” His junior nodded.

Thanks to Amit’s help, my project was completed well before estimated time and my contact with him was renewed.

I told my wife “See how a stranger Amit became a friend.” To tease her I added “Similarly if I had a stye again Ritwik will still...”

“I’ll myself club him to death if he even suggested that treatment.”

END