A Day in the life of a Hospitable Housewife

This sunny school day was no different for Geetha. Chores started from 5 in the morning - starting with rice in the pressure cooker, pressing and ironing the kids' and Ravi's clothes, getting the stove to parallel process as many food items from breakfast and lunch as possible, all the while running around like a mini cargo train, lifting pieces of paper waste from the floor from little Maya's art work from yesterday, picking discarded pieces of clothing from the sofa, the dining table and the beds and finding appropriate landing spots for each item ; Geetha's day chugged along merrily.

In fact Geetha felt quite smart and confident today! She had her morning routine quite under control, everything in its place and a place for everything. Discipline is key. Who said women had to be nags and complaint boxes and perpetually in a bad mood while doing household chores. "Stupid movies always portraying women in a bad light. Hmph!" She thought. She could write a book on how to flow smoothly through the day without a single crease on her face or her clothes!

4 pm. Kids would be home soon after their tuition classes and Ravi too. All was still going well. Today's snacks were banana fritters - the kids favourites.
Just as she was smugly placing them in her fancy new casserole, contemplating how she even managed to make snacks today without ruffling a single feather, she heard the gate clink open.

A man in mundu and shirt seemed to be at the door. She half smiled courteously, mouth a bit open unable to identify the stranger but the ever hospitable host. He entered a bit hesitantly too..."Ravi... is this Ravi's house... Federal Bank Ravi..." "Yes yes...Ravi's house only..Please come..Please come" she said warmly, her body exuding hospitality and friendliness. "My name is Madhavan Pillai. I am an old friend of Ravi's...haha.. I do not even know if he will recognize me now!"  "Ohh...I see I see.. Please do sit. Make yourself comfortable please." and pointed at the cane chairs in the verandah. "You must be so tired. Quite a hot day outside.Tea? Coffee? Buttermilk?" "No no its fine.." "No please dont say that...Buttermilk? Tang?" "Uhh.. ok.. if you insist, a glass of buttermilk would be good".

Smart bustly movements in and out of the kitchen and a tall glass of cool buttermilk appeared in the visitor's hands in the blink of an eye.

He took a sip and looked up at her. She smiled broadly and warmly. "Tell THAT to your friend Ravi who says I dont know how to make guests feel welcome! " she thought and smirked. He smiled back innocently, overwhelmed. What a gracious host Ravi's wife was!

He laid the empty glass down after a few minutes and looked back at her. "You know, Ravi and me used to be best friends in school! His mom used to make lunch for me and mine for him! Because we started exchanging lunch boxes in 3rd standard itself... hahaha" "Aah is it...So nice so nice" she chuckled and replied.
"Do you know what happened once in 5th std. Our Maths teacher Menaka Ma'am..." He went on to relate story after story and she chuckled loudly and politely at the end of every single sentence as politely as was humanly possible.

An hour had gone by. The evening sun beat down on them and seemed to dry everything up including their throats. Geetha's cheeks had begun to hurt half an hour back itself with the strain of artificial laughter. Madhavan Pillai's jovial demeanor had also started to run out along with his repertoire of childhood memories. A fly buzzed lazily on top of the empty glass and flew away. For a second both of them looked longingly at the fly, wishing they had sprouted wings and could fly away too. Suddenly they caught each other's gaze and smiled ingratiatingly again, for the one thousandth time since his entry an hour back. Both grew tired, gave up soon and looked away, she at her hands and Pillai outside at the garden.

" Your garden is maintained so well by the way! I do have to say! Your hands have done nothing short of magic on the rose bushes! What a beautiful variety of colour!" "Ohhh no no no, I hardly have time for flowers! That's all Raviettan's doing. He just adores them! Built the entire garden layout with his own two hands!"

There was a moment of silence. Pillai's face seemed slightly confused. "Oh! Well. I admire his spirit then...to be able to manage so well such physically taxing tasks with the sort of disability he has... " Geetha smiled slightly in confusion " I mean.. Its a wonder how he manages to do gardening with just one hand! Lucky that he has use of his right hand I suppose!" Now Geetha was completely bewildered. " Chetta I really dont know what you mean!" Pillai replied. "My dear of course I am talking about the fact that Ravi lost his left hand in his dad's sugarcane machine at the age of 4! I used to help him with most of his tasks because of that! That's how we became so close!" Geetha was now downright insulted and stood up abruptly. "My dear sir let me assure you. My husband has perfect use of both his hands! He is in fact quite strong too let me make it clear!" 

Pillai rose from his seat, his face completely changed. A drop of sweat trickled down his forehead and his face began to flush. He looked around the room for the first time searching for photographs hanging on walls. He looked back at her and said ... "Ravi... Federal Bank Ravi..." She nodded in agreement.He continued " Raveendran Panicker...from Muvattupuzha...Father farmer..." his voice trailed off seeing her reaction. All the hospitality drained from her face, she pursed her lips slightly and swallowed. "Ravikumar Menon. Aluva. Father had a shop in the junction." she whispered quietly and defeatedly. 

There was nothing left to do. He hung his head and walked out slowly. She stood at the steps leaning on the pillar and looked at his receding figure hopelessly. Then she turned around, walked to the chair and sat on it, resting her head on her palm, contemplating the past hour and other deeper thoughts such as the meaning of life. After a full solid ten minutes she rose quietly and walked slowly into the kitchen.