MISTAKEN IDENTITY
Feb 27 2008 | Views 542 |
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Tags: sulekhachallenge6 WITHOUT REALISING IT WE SUDDENLY BURST OUT LAUGHING BECAUSE -Sulekha Challenge
Tags: sulekhachallenge6 WITHOUT REALISING IT WE SUDDENLY BURST OUT LAUGHING BECAUSE -Sulekha Challenge
WITHOUT REALISING IT, WE SUDDENLY BURST OUT LAUGHING BECAUSE -Sulekha Challenge
MISTAKEN IDENTITY
Without realizing it we suddenly burst out laughing because our overreaction had converted the otherwise normal circumstances into a real funny scene, as the poor boy was standing there, over the stool all by himself, holding a screw driver with all of us surrounding him, laughing at our loudest possible voice. Actually the situation was so hilarious that it was just but impossible to keep the dignity of the boy and control our laughter.
It was during the first month of my first posting at the heart of the north eastern India when I was staying at my Uncle’s place searching a suitable accommodation for me. As a young girl just from university straight into service, with my newly found financial freedom, I was more than comfortable and happy staying with them, with five of us making a group indulging in all sorts of merry making and bindas lifestyle, Uncle, Aunty and their two young kids Rehan and Riya.
Everything was just perfect, until one fine day the ceiling fan of one of the bedroom went out of order. It’s easier to tolerate the dry hot summer of Delhi, but that was the place with more than 80% humidity during summer. There, you don’t actually need ACs, since the temperature was not that high, but during May-June, five minutes without fan, and you’ll sweat like getting drenched in rain. And in such weather, our bedroom fan went out of order. Somehow finding an electrician was not as easy as we thought. We tried our best, utilizing all the contacts available to get the electrician. It was not at all difficult to find an electrician, but since nobody used to be at home during the day, to find an electrician to come for visit either before 9 a.m. in the morning or after 6:30 p.m. in the evening proved to be a Herculean task. Many promised to come while calling, but in reality nobody turned up and our misery with fanless summer continued. Defying all our wishes, we had to spend night after night fighting with hot sweat looking up at the fan, facing us, complete stand still. Then one fine day after coming from office, Aunty announced proudly that she had managed an electrician to agree to come at 7:30. We waited eagerly for him, looking at the clock.
Finally the doorbell rang 15 minutes before 7:30. We couldn’t believe our ears. Well, you don’t generally expect these electricians to be so punctual, right? I opened the door and welcomed him inside delightedly. Aunty was really enthusiastic:
“Why don’t you come straight to the bedroom here?”.
The boy was a bit surprised, or maybe hesitant; but anyway slowly he moved in the direction my Aunty showed.
Uncle asked Rehan to bring a stool so that the electrician can reach the fan easily. Perhaps, he was the most silent electrician I had ever seen, I thought. Nobody needed to explain Rehan why the stool was needed, after all, seeing the electrician was like seeing an angel, after so many day-nights of suffering in the humid hot weather. He brought the stool, placed it just below the fan to which Aunty asked the electrician to climb over the stool. He obeyed silently. Aunty was getting a little bit irritated, why we need to tell him step by step? He must be doing this atleast ten times a day.
Minutes passed. Ooooohhhh what the hell he is waiting for ! He had not even started his work to which all of us were observing keenly from all around him. He was just standing there over the stool, doing almost nothing. Uncle realized suddenly, maybe he had not brought his screw driver and was being hesitant to ask for. This boy seems to be a really reserved type electrician. Well, you find all kinds of people in all professions, I thought.
“Do you need the screwdriver? I mean in case you left it by chance, fortunately we have one that we can give you. “, Uncle offered.
“Screw driver?” the boy seemed to be hearing this word for the first time in his life. He seemed to be shocked at hearing this. Too much of a drama, I thought.
Before he could react, the screw driver was already in his hand. Rehan was faster and hundred times more enthusiastic than the boy.
“Yes…….to repair the fan, didn’t your shop owner tell you that we needed you to fix our ceiling fan. Oh, these shopkeepers are just good for nothing. They send their electricians with no clue about the problem. Now he may need to go again to bring necessary parts and equipments. Oh shit, not another night without fan”….Aunty got really angry and irritated this time.
“Electrician?”, the boy seemed to be totally confused.
“Of course, we needed an electrician”, Aunty clarified.
“I’m not electrician”, the boy finally told us.
“You’re not the electrician??? Then who are you??? Why you are here???”, Uncle asked him in real astonishment, this was our turn to be confused and shocked.
“I’m the new boy working for the cable operator, joined only yesterday, he sent me here to collect the bill”, the boy tried to explain.
“You’re here to collect the cable bill?”, Uncle asked him in disbelief to which he nodded. For some moments we all stood there motionless, silently with our mouth wide open. Then suddenly all of us started laughing simultaneously at the loudest of our voice. The boy, coming to collect the cable bill, still standing over the stool holding the screw driver, at the centre of the bedroom, looked nothing less than a joker. He slowly shared a hesitant shy smile with our laugh. Well, he had nothing much to do.
Just then the doorbell rang again. When I opened it, I found another young man standing there. To the questioning look in my eyes, he told himself before my asking,
“Madam asked me to come here, she said you have some problem with a ceiling fan. I’m the electrician”.
“Are you sure?”, the words came out of me before I could realize what I’m speaking.
© Anneshwa., all rights reserved.
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