Vacation Woes..!!

It was the summer of 1996 and the two month long vacation was knocking at the door. I was pissed off by the thought of recalling what had happened in the last summer vacations. Since my sister had a fracture in her leg, we could not go for an outing to some hill station and stayed at home throughout the two month long period. Our next door neighbor, Mrs.Singh used to come everyday to our house in the afternoon for a cup of tea with my mother and talk at length on the latest buzz in our colony. The topics raised for discussion by her used to swing in alignment with her mood and sometimes were indirectly pinpointed towards me and my kins (two sisters). She did not have an air conditioner at her home and used to come to comfort herself in our house.

Everyday at 12 in the afternoon the door bell would ring and all three of us (me and my kins) used to hold our heads. She would talk nasty things about other people residing in our colony, about the love affair between Mr.Sharma’s son and Mrs.Verma’s daughter, about the fight she had with the milkman, vegetable vendor etc. etc.. She would also cover the dressing sense of the young generation (indirectly making a reference towards me and my sisters), the careless attitude of parents towards the same etc. etc.. She would talk about the married life of her new tenants, about the new sari’s she bought, At many occasions she noticed my face getting red with indignation, but she would continue in complete ignorance of the same as if ruling it out as my childish behavior. My sisters and I had labeled her as the “Aaj Tak” of our colony as she was like a local reporter in our house who would come prepared with answers on all probable questions that may crop up on the topic covered by her.

I recalled the long debates that followed at the dinner table with my Dad, who acted as the redressal forum. My sisters and I used to crib over her comments and plead before our Dad to convince mommy to not to entertain her. My mother, who actually enjoyed such gossip, had an interesting reason to justify her innocence. She would tell Dad that Mrs.Singh had no family to talk to and no air conditioner at home and if she comes for a cup of tea in the afternoon we should not act callous.

I and my kins used to close ourselves in our bedroom and watch television till she was there in the house. That summer was really an awful one. However, after hearing so much about so many people of our colony, my impression of them had changed significantly.

But still for the upcoming vacations of 1996, I did not want to have a repeat of last year and so I planned a week long trip with school friends to Mussorie. The fright of listening to her comments for the remaining days pursued me to join grammar classes. And that summer, everyday at 12 in the afternoon, I attended my English classes which lasted for two hours.

Those were the learning days of my life as I improved on many aspects of my spoken and written English. It is only now do I realize that Mrs. Singh’s habit of attending our house proved to be a blessing in disguise to me and I learnt good English as a result thereof. I express my sincere gratitude to Mrs.Singh. Today, when she has grown old and is incapacitated by her old age, I make it a point to visit her once a week and confirm about her well being. She still visits our house at 12 everyday for a cup of tea, it is only that I am away at office and the two old ladies say cheers with their tea mugs.