The Landlord's Daughter

Amit: 1

Life comes in many splendored hues. I never believed this, of course, because my life was more or less quite dull. I lived alone, as my wife had died in childbirth some years back. I blamed myself for that and just couldn’t forgive myself. I mean, why was a child important when I had to lose the girl I loved?

My landlady had allowed me to continue to live in her house, partly because she got the rent in time and also because she found me a great help. She lived with her daughter. I didn’t mind helping the ladies, driving them around to complete their chores or getting vegetables for them. They treated me like a family member and I reciprocated. I lead a peaceful and maybe a boring life, going to my office in the morning and coming back every evening.

I lived on the first floor of a very large house and I liked it here. I had two maids: one who would come and cook for me and another who kept the house clean and tidy. The landlady and her daughter lived on the ground floor. I had stayed in the house through the changes in my life. I think the landlady liked the familiarity of having me around.

In the evening I would sit out on my large balcony on my floor and read a book or simply look at the people who passed on the road below. It was not a busy road, as the house was on an inside lane, so I had a chance to study whoever came to the street. I was not one to take a risk in another relationship again. I had left all the love and romance for the movies.

The balcony also gave me a view of life downstairs. I would watch the landlady and her daughter come and go. The daughter was a petite young thing. She was studying somewhere but hardly ever went to her college. Her name was Simi. She had sharp features, a long nose and a very innocent face. She wore little make-up, sometimes an eye liner and a light lipstick. She had an extremely attractive personality: the kind of girl that is silent but intelligent.

As she grew up, I saw she was becoming a very beautiful. I noticed little mounds coming up under her dress. But she appeared to be a very shy girl because she hardly spoke to me. Occasionally we would meet when I went downstairs and we would exchange smiles. The few times that we spoke she was so soft that I had to strain my ears to catch what she said. Usually a hello. The landlady sometimes exchanged pleasantries with me. Sometimes she sent me a plate with some things to eat that she had made. That was the time I would chat a little with Simi.

I didn’t mind helping the two ladies. The landlady would request me to get her some things from the market or run a small errand. She had lost her husband at a very young age and had brought up her three daughters by her own grit. Simi was her youngest and lived with her. The others were married and lived in distant cities.

The balcony was my lifeline. At times I caught a glimpse of the mother or daughter, or both, as they went about their business. Sometimes they looked up and the landlady would have a brief conversation with me. Simi also looked up but would turn her glance away quickly.

To keep my sanity I had invested a good amount in gadgets. I had a very expensive sound system, and my bedroom was air conditioned. And then I got a huge TV in my bedroom. It was the largest one available in the store. I had it installed in my bedroom. When it came the ladies were sitting outside and enquired what it was. In the evening they came upstairs to check it out. The daughter exclaimed how beautiful it was and wished they had it too. But knowing my landlady and her penny pinching ways, I knew she would stick to her old TV.

“Can Simi come and watch the TV upstairs?” the landlady asked.

“Sure. It’s your house. You can keep the key and come any time. In any case I am not home most of the time.”

The landlady took the key gratefully. It saved her the expense of buying a new TV.

After that, I could make out that Simi was a regular visitor to the house. I would notice small changes that showed someone had been in the flat. Simi carried a very pleasant perfume around herself - a mix of sandalwood and rose - and her pleasant smell hung around my rooms. From that I could make out that she had come to watch TV. She would often come in my absence, while I was in office – there were crumpled sheets on my bed or the reclining chair was moved slightly. Sometimes she wanted to catch a movie or a soap in the evening and I let her occupy my bedroom while I would go for a walk or sit on my sofa in the other room. Sometimes the mother and daughter brought food and we would have it together.

Simi was also fond of reading. I had a large collection of books. Simi would read something and leave the book on the table, a way of communicating to me what she had been reading. I would imagine her pottering around in my flat and going through my things. Frankly I liked that. When I lay on the couch I could smell her faint fragrance. There is something about the presence of a young girl that is so attractive even she goes away, but I stopped my mind from going in that direction – she was so young!

Soon Simi finished her college and got admission to an institute in Delhi. She came with sweets and announced that she would be going way. I noticed her beautiful, well-kept hands, and her perky feet. She had dressed up for the visit: I saw she was wearing a frosted lip color and her eyes were highlighted with a liner, which made her look very beautiful indeed.

“Mama is going to be alone,” she said.

“Oh I am sure she will manage,” I said.

“I must thank you for giving us the key to your home. You are very generous. I have been reading your books, listening to your music and watching TV as if it was my own home.”

“I like it that you enjoy my house. What music do you like to hear?”

“Girls just wanna have fun’ is a song that I like. Sometimes I play that song and dance to it, when I am alone. But when it comes to having actual fun, I am a little scared. So I keep to myself most of the time.”

“Is your mom strict?”

“No, no,” Simi said. “It’s not that anybody stops me, least of all my mom. On the contrary, she always tells me to have friends, hang out with them, and have a good time. But I just can’t.”

“It’s all right. I think you are an introvert.”

“So there is nothing wrong with me?”

“No, no. You are a perfect girl, can’t be better. In a way I am an introvert too.”

Simi laughed. “We have something in common.” Then she said, “I like you,” and blushed.

“I like you too,” I said. “You are a beautiful young girl.”

Again she blushed. Then she got up to go.

The ice had been broken. Thereafter Simi came often to sit with me and we would talk endlessly.