Whilst eating my dinner this
evening at my local food court my friend and the repairer of my shoes - Mr.
Santosh tapped me on the shoulder.
At the time I was chewing on a
succulent piece of breast of duck and was reading an email on my Blackberry.
When Mr. Santosh tapped me I
jumped a little in surprise.
I was also listening to music
on my I-Pod whilst I was eating my dinner so I did not see nor hear Mr. Santosh
approach. The song that I was listening to at the time was "Blinded by the
Light" by the Manfred Man Earth Band.
I am that old.
The email that I was reading
was a ridiculous diatribe on a non-sensical work matter that I had received
from one of the not-so-bright English for whom I work.
I was on the verge of replying
with a vitriolic attack but upon arrival of Mr. Santosh I decided to simply
ignore and delete it instead.
"Good be evening to you
Mr. Peter"
Mr. Santosh beamed at me.
"It is most wondrous to
be seeing you here and again"
"Good be evening to you
Mr. Santosh"
I replied.
"It is so nice to see you
as well".
I stood up and we shook hands
warmly.
"I am sorry I did not
hear you. I was listening to my music" I apologized.
I unplugged my iPod and put
down my Blackberry and invited Mr. Santosh to sit down and join me.
"But you are eating your
most delicious roasted plate of meats and I will not be wanting to be
interrupting you Mr. Peter"
"It is quite OK Mr.
Santosh"
I insisted and I pushed my plate to one side.
I had pretty much finished my
meal anyway and it is always good to see Mr. Santosh.
I very much enjoy his company.
"I have eaten my fill and
was about to get a cup of tea. Please join me"
"Are you being sure Mr.
Peter?
"I am very sure Mr.
Santosh"
I beckoned to a bespectacled
young Singaporean waitress who was hovering near by and asked her if she could
kindly bring Mr. Santosh and I some green tea. Mr. Santosh pulled up a chair
and we both sat down. He immediately looked down at my shoes and made a
disapproving clucking noise.
"Your shoes are being needing
an immaculate of polishes Mr. Peter"
"They are a bit worse for
wear,”
I agreed.
I was wearing my fairly
scruffy black work shoes that I have not polished for a while.
Mr. Santosh is a great
connoisseur of shoes and a master cobbler.
I first met him and his
delightful wife Mihika a couple of years ago at their small shop in Ballestier
road. Mr. Santosh has repaired several pairs of my shoes and Mihika has taken
up the hems on a couple of pairs of my trousers.
They are both delightful
people who I am very fond of.
They are warm and genuine and
they are kind and considerate.
"How is Mihika?" I enquired.
"Mihika is being luscious
with great happiness Mr. Peter. Venya has being visiting and we are on the moon
with great joy"
Venya is Mr. Santosh's
daughter and only child. I have never actually met her as she is studying in
New York. I have however been shown many photographs of her by Santosh and
Mihika. She is in her final year of Law at NYU. They are quite rightfully very
proud of her.
She is their everything.
"Venya is here now?" I asked.
"She is being and now
going"
Mr. Santosh replied.
"So she has gone?"
"Yes she is been
gonning"
he said sadly.
I could see tears well up in
Mr. Santosh eyes when he told me this. The love he has for his daughter and the
incredible pride he displays when he talks about her moves me a lot.
It touches and chokes me.
It has moved me before too
when Mihika and he have shown me album after album of photographs that they
have of her. I have seen nearly all of her school reports and academic
achievements.
They keep these in plastic
folders in their tiny shop.
Venya is a truly outstanding
student. She has excelled in every subject that she has taken in High School
and University and she has plans to be a Human Rights Lawyer. When she
graduates she wants to return to India to help people less fortunate than
herself.
She has inherited great
qualities from her parents.
I think this is wonderful.
The adoration of her family is
much deserved.
I have told Santosh and Mihika
this on several occasions and they swell with pride.
Mr. Santosh and I had a very
good chat over our tea. We talked about the game of cricket that we both love.
We agreed that Australia deserved it’s win over India in the test series that had
just concluded and we continued our long running debate as to whether the
Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar is better than Donald Bradman.
We laughed and we verbally
jousted on a number of subjects and time passed very quickly.
When Mr. Santosh departed he
shook my hand with both of his and he once again expressed concern over the
condition of my shoes. He invited me to come and drink tea with him and Mihika
at their shop this weekend and I told him that I would. They are both very
decent and nice people and I like visiting them at their shop and talking with
them.
I like it a lot.
As Mr. Santosh left he told
me, "You are pleased to be keeping very well Mr. Peter because you
are be getting fatter and your eyes are looking most tired and in redness and
puffiness"
I told Mr. Santosh that I had
been working very long hours lately and I was in fact quite tired a lot of the
time.
"You keep well too Mr.
Santosh and please say hello to Mihika for me"
He grinned in delight and
trotted off.
As I walked home I thought a
lot about what great sacrifices Mr. Santosh and his wife have made for Venya.
They work so very hard in their tiny shop to give their daughter every
opportunity they possibly can.
My admiration of them is deep.
As I am writing this I have realized
that I have written the word 'well' a couple of times. Once in the context of
Mr. Santosh tears when he was telling me that Venya had come and gone from
Singapore and again when he told me to be "keeping well".
The English language is a
funny thing and there are many words like 'well' that have different meanings.
It has made me think too about the hole-in-the-ground wells that I am rather
fond of.
I don't really know why but I
just like them.
The idea of digging a hole in
the ground to find water appeals to me and there is some beauty and art in
their construction.
These trains of thought made
me dig into my photos to find some pictures of wells that I have collected over
time. Here is a photograph of one that I took in Kathmandu.
This well is nearly always
dry.
Virtually every well in
Kathmandu is.
There is a water crisis in the
dry season in Nepal.
There are many crises there in
fact. Life is very tough. Bhim and his beautiful wife Saraswoti line up every
day with hundreds of other Nepalese families to draw water from this well to
drink and to wash with.
Often there is no water at all
in the well.
Interestingly and
coincidentally the most beautiful well that I have ever seen was in India.
It is spectacular and
mind blowing.
I can assure you that this is
a well.
It is a big and ancient one.
This well is located in a
village called Abheneriin in Jaipur. This is in the Indian state of Rajasthan.
The correct Hindi name of the well is Chand Baori but it also known as 'The
Well of Many Steps" - for quite obvious reasons.
I shall show Mr. Santosh these
pictures and ask him what Chand Baori actually means - and who built this wonder when I take tea with
him and Mihika this weekend. He is very knowledgeable about all facts
concerning his native India and I have no doubt at all that he will teach me something new.
He always does.
It is said that we never know
the worth of water until the well runs dry.
I shall tell Mr. Santosh this
too.
He normally likes such
sayings.
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