Old-age Home!

  

 

Janaki just stepped out of her house for a beauty parlour, a man in his late fifties approached her and asked for a small amount. His looks revealed that he was educated, once employed and not impoverished. “ Why doesn't he have any money? Can’t believe, “ her mind wondered. Somehow she felt an intimacy to that man.

 

“ Ayyo! I do all the transactions with my phone. What if you want cash? For food? Common, I can serve you food.”

“ No, not for food, mine a long story, anyway you have no money, so goodbye!”

“Wait, it's not a big deal. I shall withdraw from the ATM. Come with me. It is nearby, only a walking distance.”

 

“ Your, good name child?” The old man.

“ I am Janaki, working in a multinational company. Today is a holiday.”

Can I know your whereabouts, uncle?”

“ I am Devdas, a retired senior manager of a private company. It is only two years after my retirement. My daughter and her husband are staying in the  USA. They don’t want me to stay alone. So, they made arrangements for an old-age home. It couldn’t make me happy there. Ailing old people, some rejoice, but some bewail, remembering their kin. Hardly I cut two days there. I want to go back home, twenty kilometres away.  My daughter kept all my bank records herself. She fears that I may return home. Yes, I want to stay in my house, though alone.”

 

As the amount reached Devdas’ hands,  Janaki said, “Uncle, you look tired and hungry. So, come to our residence. You can have lunch and go.”

 

 The stomach of Devadas did not allow him to hesitate. Offering him a seat to sit, Janaki went to the Kitchen, where her Amma* was the sole authority. Amma and Janaki, a twenty-four-year-old girl, were looked after by that house, father no more. When the story went to her Mother, she turned to the sitting room. Devdas’ and  Premlath’s meeting brought back memories, fluttering in their minds. Devdas was her tuition teacher turned lover. Janaki, who knew the story, stood for their reunion. As Premlata wavered, Janaki said, “ Youthfulness has no age, Amma.”