WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU WERE GOING TO GOA!

 

My phone rings and its Pagnis Kaka – 

I pick up the phone wondering if we need to order the water tanker again…but am surprised by his tone…
“Arre, why didn’t you tell me you were visiting Goa? I would I have introduced you to .. wait let me come downstairs, anyway I have to give you these papers…”

I quickly prepare some jasmine tea & await his arrival.
You see we are both part of our apartment block’s managing committee, and there is always something or the other to be signed etc.
Kaka is +80 by age but the most active member of our society and a hard core task master.
Pandey ji ( about him, another story, another time) the electrician has a fitting introduction for Kaka –
“Yahan pey Pagnis baba hai, isliye sab kuch lallantap hai, nahi toh…”
making a hand gesture that can be interpreted to signify the end of this world(he means to convey that because you have Pagnis Kaka managing this building, everything is in working order, ... else…).

This time Kaka not only has some papers, he also has some chocolates for me. (Lucky me!) We sit down for our tea, while finishing the minor paperwork. And then he gets to the point...

“Arrey, if you had told me you were going to Goa, wouldn’t I have introduced you the to the main priests at the temple…that way you would have got a close view on the workings of these holy places..”

I hesitantly say…”Kaka ji, I am not really the regular temple guy…sometimes I don’t even know the most obvious temple protocols…”…
 “Must be my convent education” I murmur to myself.

Then I tell him about of great short vacation at Panjim city & the simple fun we had walking around the narrow streets, the market place & the new riverside promenade.
When I come to that part where my colleague took us for a car ride up the slopes on the east side, I mention a few rich & famous grand and prosperous looking family houses in the higher reaches

…and he stops me…

“ whether you are a believer or not… listen to this one…” he says,
holding my hand to stop my one sided travelogue.

 “ You know Ashim, you just mentioned a name in the list of the rich and the famous… …whether you are a believer or otherwise, I have to tell you this story…it’s a story about how that particular family you mentioned got rich across the generations…”
Gesticulating in his signature style Kaka ji continued...

“You see, many generations ago, this family, a typical middle class family with limited means had settled on that simple plot of land. As was typical in those days, a small family house with a little piece of land around it for growing food for daily needs and a small well at the back as a source of water."
...he went on...
"The widowed lady of the house stayed there with her grown up son, his wife & grand children. They lived a simple life within their means. This very devout old lady, who they called granny, had been widowed at an early age & had seen a lot more of this world. They said she had a special perception of character and was quick to point out people’s personalities. Thus often saving her family from ill intending people…”

Sipping his jasmine tea, Kaka continued, a tonal change now hinting at having arrived at the interesting part of the story…

” its so happened that one evening as the old granny and her daughter-in-law were going about their household chores, a lady came asking for alms at their door steps.“ ...

 “One look at the woman, and the granny asked her daughter-in-law to welcome this alms seeker inside. She cleaned her feet with water, offered her food & a few gifts..” “The daughter-in-law was surprised, as she has never witnessed anything like this in their house. They barely managed a living, and here was the old lady inviting a streetside alms seeker into their house, cleaning her feet, feeding her & giving her gifts!”
“When she was done eating the offered food, and was about to leave, the old woman asked her to wait & got out of the house. “you’ve come from far away, please wait till I come back”...
the perplexed alms seeker responded
“Ok, I shall wait for you to come & then leave”.

As I looked up from my cup of tea,
Kakaji’s face was red & there were tears in his eyes.
In a cracking voice he said
 “Arey, that old woman never came back. They discovered later that she had jumped into the well behind their house… but the family became & remained prosperous ever after…generation after generation…”
“That’s the family house you saw & described as grand and seemingly prosperous” “The old woman had recognised that evening, the alms seeker at their doorstep was none other that Goddess Laxmi, the goddess of prosperity, and she also knew that the Goddess never breaks her promise, so she sacrificed her life to make sure she never left her family house…”
“This was the story I wanted to tell you…now you decide if you are a believer or otherwise, if this was true or not…”

             Kakaji at his architecture firm’s office in Dadar, explaining a building plan to Dad…and talking about their visit
             to the Girnar Mountain as illustrated thru paintings by his wife 

Written As Remembered, with no claims of authenticity. Read if you like, believe if you have faith.