If something goes right first thing in the morning, or there is some good news when you first look at your messages, then there is bound to be more good news before the day is over. Yesterday was one such day.
It began with the news that Apurba Sharma Sir had agreed to be the Chief Guest of the next 'Bhal Khoboror Din' on 1 Jan. 2024. He had kept us waiting for nearly two weeks and we were a little worried about how we would find another speaker in case he turned down our request. So his confirmation came as a huge relief. And I told myself -- today could be my Bhal khoboror Din -- and that is what it turned out to be.
First I finished writing my travel blog that I had been working on for the last week. But I realised that we had no photos of the amazing claypot restaurant we had eaten in in Thanjavur. So I wrote to the owner. And low and behold, he replied almost immediately -- yes, he did remember 'the two brave ladies' [his words], and of course he would send me some photos of his restaurant once the lunchtime rush was over. And he did.
Next stop at the tailor, and contrary to usual practice, she had everything ready on time! How unusual!
Nothing very big, but it is these small things that make so much of a difference.
I wsa dreading the next step as I was having trouble with a shop-tenant and had to go to the local police station to discuss what to do with the police. I had imagined they would make me wait and would be rude and brash as ever, but no, we did not have to wait and the person I spoke to was polite and helpful and gave me good advice. What a dream run I was having...
Once you have had it so good till mid afternoon, you imagine that your luck would slowly run out. So I was worried about driving to Kalakhetra in the evening to watch a play. The play, directed by the renowned Nayan Prasad and the text based on Dr. Bhaben Saikia's translation of the famous 'An Inspector Calls' by J.B. Priestley, was a real treat to watch. I am usually a little diffident about driving in the dark and about being able to park and reverse my car in crowded placed. But today everything worked nicely. The rest of it worked well as well -- there was not much traffic, we got a good parking space and also good seats, and the play itself was excellent. In the end it turned out to be a very pleasant outing with friends.
I drove back towards Panchabati, and thought it best not to stop as it was getting late. But what was that -- I saw the shutter of the shop with the troublesome tenant open although it was past nine in the evening. What was going on? I stopped the car and went towards the shop. What could be happening? Maybe the defaulting tenant was back again and making trouble. But no, that tenant was not in sight. It was my caretaker and chowkidar; the tenant had given them the keys to the shop a little earlier, they had tried the keys and opened the shutters to check that everything was fine. Then they proceeded to lock the shop with our own locks. The shop was ours again! So a problem that had persisted nearly all the time since Ma left was suddently over. The fellow had about 2 lakhs in rent still to pay, but at least the shop was back in our hands again. What wonderful news!
I was humming lightly as I drove back to Kharghuli. It was past nine-thirty, my normal bed-time. As I looked at my phone (which had been on silent all the while since the start of the play). There were three missed calls from Arupa Baidew. Was it too late to call back? I would take a chance. She received my call and told me that she had called only to tell me that she was dedicating her latest book to me! I did not know what to say...felt like crying in joy...
That was a description of a Bhal khoboror Din for me...
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