Neighbours in sight, at last

Neighbours in sight, at last

(Time-pass piece - skip it if you are not tuned for lighter moments)

Misfortune never comes singly, says the proverb. However, as an incurable optimist, I maintain that Fortune never comes singly. It pours in multiples. Don’t believe it? 

Yesterday, a young lady and her teen-aged girl knocked at our door, and walked in with supreme confidence - even before we had gestured them to do so. They knew whose house they were stepping into, but we had no clue whom we were greeting. The suspense ended when the lady introduced herself. They were Anuradha and her daughter, our neighbour-to-be (Maple 3194). We have had chats over phone, but never met in person. That explains their supreme confidence. They were here to update themselves on the progress of their apartment which incidentally has been done up very well. And, of interest to us, when were they moving in? “Well it depends. If children get admission in the school we look for, we will shift.” “Otherwise?” I persisted. “Maybe, after about six months.” If Winter comes, can Summer be far behind, we consoled ourselves.

The other, a couple, walked in, seconds later. They are Hari Subramanian and Geeta - Maple 3192. Given their elder son’s online input from left, right and centre, this apartment too has all the features that one looks for.  The good news here is that the Haris will shift sooner than later. Earlier they had predicted the house-warming to be 29 April, along with us, then it got shifted to two different dates in May, and now it stands at the first week of June. Anyway, I shall update you. We look forward, Hari, to your actual move. Do make it happen.

The lady of the house (Lalitha - or Lalitha Aunty, if you like, going by our senior-citizen status) and I sit out in the balcony early morning to enjoy the rising sun over a cup of coffee. The other day, involuntarily, our eyes fell on the balcony, on the 20th floor across (3206). We saw another couple enjoying tea. We greeted each other and exchanged pleasantries (read: bio data, short of  the last-drawn salary). Their original base of Kanpur and our erstwhile livelihood-base of Delhi and the consequent possibility of free flow of Hindi for communication, helped us bond instantly. He introduced himself  as Chetan Sharma. Before I could ask him, “Are you by chance…”, he cut me short saying, “No, I am not that Chetan Sharma whose last delivery Javed Miandad despatched mercilessly for a six to register Pak’s victory in that match.”  In the present day context, that particular delivery, by arrangement, could have made Chetan richer by at least a couple of crores, given that the confrontation was with Pak, I said to myself. 

Last but not the least, Priya (3196 - yet to move) wrote to Aunty in What’s App to wish us all the best in our relocation. Isn’t all this a good take-off?

V V Sundaram

Maple 3195

14 May 2016