006. The foldable cots in Gautam Nagar

Kingdom of Bahrain

06 Nov 2009

Winter of 1993 was at its peak (at least for me, being a first timer).  I got down at New Delhi Railway Station after a long domestic travel from South to North, for the first time in my life - a "voyage" spanning more than 54 hours.  I liked train journeys, always.  I liked  meeting different people, seeing different places, eating different food, enjoying train coffee etc. etc.  Since  that was my first long journey, Daddy accompanied me, who had been to Delhi many times, during his Services tenure.

My sister, Lekshmi Chechi (who was then in Gurdaspur, Punjab) and another relative, Wing Cdr. Mohan Chand (a.k.a. Mohan Chettan) received us at the Railway Station.   Will write more about my acquintances  with Mohan Chettan and his wife Mallika Chand (a.k.a Malu Chechi) a little later.   I can never forget their care and affection shown to me,  especially during my initial days in Delhi,  and the big consideration towards me, a novice in the big Capital city.


Malu Chechi introduced me to Joies, one of her colleagues in Modi Xerox.  The latter, hailing from Pala in Kerala was a very helpful person  and  had consented to accommodate me also in his accommodation in Gautam Nagar (near AIIMS).


Very clearly I remember, with a beige coloured VIP suit case and another bigger travel bag, I started my independent life, miles away from my home and family.  From a huge house,  till a few days ago,  I got confined to a shared accommodation (to be read as one-room + kitchen + common bathroom).  To make matters worse, the room was shared by five people, including me, the latest entrant!   Initially, I felt claustrophobic, but, later got used to it.


When I was staying comfortably with my parents back home in a big house, without any "mandatory hassles", I thought that  independent life would be interesting and enterprising.    Those where just blurred thoughts, I learnt.

After helping me to settle down in my "new house",  Daddy left for Gurdaspur with my sister for a short visit.  Though he was scheduled to come back to Delhi  after two weeks (prior to his  return to Trivandrum),  I felt a strong tremor within myself - a feeling of solitude - a feeling of loneliness - in simple terms, budding of home sickness!!


I tagged relationships and bondings - priceless !


Accommodation in Gautam Nagar

Though it was very difficult to cope up at the beginning, I started to like the place and the environment, progressively. 

In every similar accommodation in these big cities, I learnt that, there was a "leader" who would be the single point of contact, at least for the house owner, for following up the rental dues, if any!    In vernacular  terms, his neck will be the first to be caught by the  (stout)  house owners if he fails pay the house rent on time!!


For us, Joies was the leader, as he was the person who took this particular room for rental.  Literally, he was our Guardian!  House owner, was of course, a strong and stout lady (with a silent husband).  In the same building, there were many rooms provided on rental basis, house owner may not be the right word in this context.   I would rather call her, a rooms owner. 

Like many other buildings in Gautam Nagar (and many other parts of Delhi), this building also had a first floor with 5 rooms (+ 5 kitchens) and one common bathroom-cum-toilet.  This room-renting concept in these constructions gave me a feeling that the first floor of houses in Delhi were meant to cater to the requirements of people like me,  a part of the  "job seeking influx".

Lovingly and honestly, I would write more about my Gautam Nagar life sometime later!  Because, there were very different, loving  and funny people associated with my day-to-day life there.

Moving forward, the crux of this story, is neither related to this building I am talking about, nor about the rooms owner.  

It is something related to the two folding cots available in our room! 


About the roommates - a background information

The roommates I had in Gautam Nagar, were ambitious.  Their main ambition was to get themselves migrated to Gulf/Middle East.  They all considered their Delhi tenure as a stepping stone to get in the first flight to the Middle East.

Joies,  alias the "leader"  was working in the capacity of a Service Engineer in Modi Xerox.  Because of his systematic and disciplined work habits, he could possess  wonderful and timely appreciations from the organizations wherever he was attached to.  Coincidentally, one of his responsibilities, from a Service engineering perspective,  included my office in the Ministry of Defence as well.    For a perfect Gulf job,  matching his experience and "all" his expectations,  he desperately tried, then got tired and eventually retired.


Tale of Joseph seemed little wierd for me.   He was a hotel management professional who resigned from his job,  completely relying on a false belief of acquiring a job in Saudi Arabia.  He expected that he would get his Job Offer letter as soon as the interview was cleared. On a haste, he relinquished his charges from his  then position.   Occasionally, he cursed his bad time,  but resumed applying for Gulf jobs afresh.    Since he claimed to be a close relative of Joies,  he could earn the title and "rank" of a deputy leader in our room.  The pose I best remember of his, is him scanning the Jobs-Vacant pages of Hindustan Times swiftly with a "501" brand beedi glued to his mouth, early in the morning.   He was obviously on the look out for a hotel management related job, matching his experience and "all" his expectations.


Jose, reportedly, a "5km-distant" cousin of Joies came from Rajastan two weeks before I joined.  Since he joined our room prior to me,  he also was a senior to myself.  He was good in cooking and he WILL ALWAYS BE REMEMBERED AS MY FIRST COOKING GURU.  More about his cooking skills and the culinaries I learned from him,  will be detailed when I write more about my Gautam Nagar life.   Like Joseph,  he was also desperately attending umpteen Gulf bound interviews,  but in construction domain.   Gradually, he started to dilute his  aggressive enthusiasm towards Gulf opportunities.   Alternatively, for his passion sake, he transformed himself to a "domestic cook", for all of us ! 

Of the above, Dilip wore a different coloured cap altogether.  He was a soft spoken person, happily enjoying his job in a company in Nehru Place.   He was undergoing some medication,  more details unknown to me.

Foldable cots

The time frame I am referring to, is January-February of 1993.

Winter!

Severe weather!

The winter nights in Delhi, for me,   became intolerable.   Because, we were sleeping on the floor. 

The two foldable cots available in the room were used by Joies and Joseph.  An unwritten rule prevailed there,  and in line with that, the cots were allocated to the two "top ranked room  leaders".   Jose, due to his physical strength occasionally overpowered Joseph and used to grab one of the foldable cots.   But, Dilip and myself were permanent "floor sleepers". 

It was fun! 

Full of comedy! 

Bachelorhood !

Days passed by.  Due to acclimatisation problems,  the  winter nights and continuous sleeping on the floor became a real nightmare for me! 

In the meantime, to get rid of this inconvenience,  I requested one of my colleagues to help me in finding a better and convenient accommodation.   He told me that one of his roommates would return to hometown, thereby opening up a "vacancy" in their accommodation.   But, there was uncertainity as he did not assure any guarantee on the timeline expected.

Under the circumstances, only two options were open to me - either to become a leader of the room or shift to another room alone (with  a "leader" status)! 

Frankly,  being a "neophyte" in the Capital city,  both these options were not practical for me.  And,  the only feasible solution was to pray for the best!

Yes, I started praying, very religiously, for me and for all concerned!

Prayed for a suitable job for Joseph in one of the best hotels in Saudi Arabia.....

Prayed for a matching job for Jose in a well known construction company in UAE.....

Prayed for an awesome job for Joies in a MNC in any Gulf country he likes.....

Because, the above three were the only possible candidates for the foldable cots!

Also,  prayed for a promotion for Dilip and a better stay for him in Delhi,  as he was not at all a threat to me to grab one of the available  foldable cots !!

First or last, but not the least, I prayed for my well being too!!    Selfish!??

I trust in God - past, present and future.

Within a fortnight, my colleague, gave me the happy news of the readiness and availability of a "berth" in his accommodation.   Without having any second thoughts, I nodded positively to his much awaited call. Moreover, this newly proposed accommodation was located near to the office.

I got a little relieved. 

Not little, but a lot relieved!

In March the same year, Joseph got a job  offer from Saudi Arabia, which he happily accepted.  He left Delhi within a week and I have never seen him thereafter.  

After a month later, Jose also left Gautam Nagar.  He got a job in a construction company in Dubai.  Due to his family commitments, he went ahead with the appointment.  I will never forget the Aaloo Mutter (an Indian curry made of potato and green peas) he taught me to cook, the very first time.  Even today,  I have a sentimental attachment to Aaloo Mutter, and I cook whenever I think of my Gautam Nagar days.  

Dilip was not that lucky like others and I would say, that my prayers were not heard for him.  He went back to Kerala for some further treatment.   I came to know many years later, that he got settled in Kerala.  

Joies continued, like ever before.  But, his ambitions had a paradigm shift.   He abandoned his Gulf aspirations and he  wished  to marry a beautiful girl  from the nursing profession to get settled.

When Jose, Joseph and Dilip vacated the room,  Joies and myself experienced a missing feel.  

No fun.

No comedy.

And, there was no fight or competition for the foldable cots. 

(Anti)climax

Summer had started  by the time I started to enjoy my sleep on the foldable cot.  The story and the nightmare continued, as it was terrible to sleep on the cots during Delhi summer !!  Then, I longed to get rid of the foldable cot.

Months later, winter started all over again.  As per my word given to my colleague, I shifted to the new accommodation.   Ironically, I was junior in their team, again, and my story of sleeping on the floor continued.....  

I resumed my prayers ......

Roommates - today?

Joies - succeeded on his mission and later married a nurse.  Surprisingly,  with a matching name too - Joisy. 

Jose - neither I saw him thereafter,  nor I talked to him over any communication media.   Jose, we will meet up, one day -  I am confident.  I have improved my culinary skills.

Joseph - due to lack of familiarity with emails and mobile phones when we parted, could not establish any contacts with Joseph.   Joseph, if you are reading this by any chance, please contact me.  Lets revisit our fun-filled days.

Dilip - hope and trust he is a leading a healthy and happy life.  Dilip, if you are happy, I am also happy.

I would be more than happy If we can  have a reunion after a very very long 17 years! 

Not one, or five, or ten, or fifteen, but seventeen long years! 

I am feeling very sleepy.... let me get my foldable cot, kept somewhere here !

Good Night!

Renjith Sarada

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