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Looks
are deceptive..
Rashmi Shenoy
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Rashmi Shenoy writes
for OKC in her spare time from Auckland New Zealand.
Motatau Road has a new resident. The house opposite ours was
empty ever since we moved in. I’ve always seen it old,
empty and locked. Last week, I saw some movement around the
house and just out of curiosity (oh well! I’m sure you
know by now, I am a curious cat), peeped out of my window. I
could see a huge carrier truck in front of the house –
“Some one is moving in!!” I shrieked. “Someone is
moving in where?” asked Shiv. Due to want of time, I could
not continue my peeping process and did not really find out
who had moved in.
The next week went on as if there was not a soul in the
house. “May be an angel has moved in,” I thought.
After a few days, I noticed a sign on the “angels” post
box. “NO CIRCULARS”
Looks like the angel is busy with a lot of business. The
next day, I saw another sign – this one was on the gate
“ Animals, children and other pests not allowed”. Some
angel this is!
My next-door neighbor told me that the owner of that house
has moved in from South Island. Then I saw him… the old,
evil and haggard man. Like house – like owner. He looked
enough locked up within himself but empty or not I did not
know.
As the days went by, I observed the house was
spring-cleaned, re-painted, the lawn moved, the garden
done… the house started getting some life back into it
now. However, I never stopped wondering if the man actually
looked evil or sad. I’d never seen him speaking to anybody
or any visitor at his house. Not that I’m at home all the
time but I never ever saw anybody speaking to him.
I always catch a glimpse of this old man in the mornings and
afternoons. He sits out on his deck with a newspaper in his
hand on the easy chair. He used to look at me too when ever
I looked at him. After three days, I smiled at him. I
don’t know if he was shocked or embarrassed…. he was
just expressionless. I was a bit perturbed but drove away to
work. The next afternoon I smiled at him again and this time
he smiled back and waved his hand – gesturing me to go
towards him. I crossed the road and stood at his gate.
“You’ve got a very good smile” he said “you know, no
one has ever given me such a warm smile in the last 40
years!” I noticed his eyes were pretty moist and I
concluded he looked sad – not evil. I welcomed him to
Papatoetoe and asked him if he'd had his lunch and he came
up with a long story about his age – he was 79 and had
lost both his wifes to cancer. He had five children from
both of them, who he said “…. are much older than you.
They have all settled down in the US and have forgotten all
about their dad. They don’t even want to acknowledge that
I’m still alive.”
I’d invited him over for a cup of coffee last evening…
and the good old man came home with muffins and a banana
tart.
As against what I first thought, I know now, that by heart,
he is neither old nor empty.
I’m sure I’ve got a lot to learn from him.
Looks are deceptive. Aren’t they!
- Rashmi Shenoy
Click
here if you would like to Contribute or send a feedback.
Click
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Click
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