Gulab by Annie Zaidi

Author:Annie Zaidi
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FICTION
Publisher: Harper
Published: 2014-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

‘I really liked this thing about her, Nikunj bhai,’ he said. ‘She was simple and sensible. Every day I would see her, early in the morning, as soon as I opened my shop. My first customer of the day. Like the morning itself, she would come, ahead of the dust and noise, stepping lightly between all the rubbish of the mohalla, a dupatta delicately pressed to her nose as she walked past the trash, the sweepers doing their work. She was like an angel stepping out of the mist. A very human angel – frail, gentle, warm. Can you imagine an angel on earth?’

‘I’m sure Gul—, I mean, bhabhi-ji must have been just like an angel.’

‘Sometimes, I would wonder if she was a real angel. She was above human weakness. Above the dust and the trash and the high tempers and frayed nerves. She was so light, when she walked, it seemed like her feet hardly touched the ground. When she smiled, it seemed as if the world did not touch her at all. Who was looking at what, who said what, she didn’t care. You know the thing I liked most about her? She was not shifty-eyed. I don’t like people who cannot meet your eyes. She was a quiet, decent woman, but she wasn’t afraid. She looked right in the eyes. And if you nodded at her, said salaam, she would return your greeting. Like a grown-up woman should. I liked that. Confidence is a sign that the lady has character.’

‘Confidence is good,’ I agreed. ‘Very good.’

‘She had been coming to my shop for nearly a month. Then I finally found the courage to ask her where she lived. Then I panicked. Maybe I had crossed a line, said something inappropriate? So I quickly told her that I was only asking because she took so much trouble to come all the way here, and if she wanted, I could have the meat delivered to her house. I would bring it myself if she told me what she wanted. Do you know what she said? She smiled sadly and said, “Nowhere. I don’t have a real home.” I was taken aback. I must have been staring. She asked if I wanted to see where she lived. Before I could say yes or no, she turned away and began to walk.

‘I followed, walking a few steps behind. She took me to an old basti, a maze of lanes, a broken-down house. It was completely broken, not just dilapidated. I guess it had broken down during the earthquake and nobody had the money to repair it. I asked, “How can you live like this?” She just looked at me quietly. I immediately felt bad for asking the question. I asked if somebody in her household had a job. She shook her head, then said, so innocently, “There is nobody in this house.”

‘For a moment, Nikunj bhai, the world stopped spinning. My heart felt like a lump of flesh that’s being hammered into mince.

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