One Sat 11 pm at night I received a call from my Mother at Mughal Sarai that my father and my younger sister Usha have just departed by over night train for Delhi. My mother gave me their coach no and birth no and asked me receive them at New Delhi - station. She was talking in a hush- hush tone and refused to explain why they have left to Delhi so suddenly. She said you can ask your father when he arrives next morning at New Delhi station. NOIDA to New Delhi Station is about 16 KM away. I wanted my father to get down at Vivek Vihar station which is just 5 KM from my NOIDA residence. Unfortunately he had no cell phone. He could not afford one and he did not need one because of poor network in the village where he lived.
Here in NOIDA I was celebrating promotion of my close friend Rajiv to a senior position in his IT company. After couple of beers in our room and dinner , we were watching a latest bollywood release on my laptop. We were having a good time . Rajiv intended to shift to Gurgaon where he was recently transferred after promotion. We were discussing his shifting . Since we were sharing a room for a long time I did not want to loose his company , I was pleading him to stay back in NOIDA itself so that we continue to live together.
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His new work place was in Gurgaon which was about 40 km away from NOIDA .We were evaluating pros and cons of of his shifting . Economic loss to him by higher rentals in Gurgaon , commuting time from NOIDA to Gurgaon etc. were being discussed . If he shifted out I was sure to take an economic loss . In shared accommodation I used to pay only half of the rent of Rs 8000. With his shifting I would have to either look for another accommodation and room partner. Mt preference was we stay together. The phone call from my mother interrupted our deliberations.
My Roomate Rajiv is 28 years old has been a close friend of mine for last 6 years .We studied B tech in one of the private Universities in Mathura. Rajiv was 2 years senior to me and I first met him in college and decided to become room mates in College hostel as we shared common hobbies in sports . He Came from a rich prosperous family from a village close to Mathura.
Our College in periphery of Mathura City was 25 KM form his village . Staying in Hostel was compulsory for Btech students , . I had visited his village and met parents and family during vacations and weekends. Rajiv's social states was much above of mine
I belonged to a conservative family with literally very limited means , living in a village about 10 Kms away from Mughal Sarai in UP. My father had retired from a clerical position in famous Mughal Sarai Railways Yard and later joined a petty contractor as their babu. Besides my mother, my family had 3 members ; me, Suraj aged 26, My younger sister Usha aged 22 and yet another younger sister Kiran aged 18.
Me and Rajiv became very good friend and shared good time as we had common hobbies of playing cricket and singing. Rajiv is very intelligent and got campus recruited by one of the IT cos and got a job in NOIDA . I had two more years to catch up with him at college. Finally I also passed out 2 year later after B Tech and came to NOIDA and joined a junior position in a telecom company.
We were about to retire for the day that I got this call from my mother around 11 pm
Me and Rajiv had rented a room in NOIDA which we used to share. Rjaiv was placed in good company whereas I struggled to get a new in job. Finally after 6 months of scouting around I got a job as as a support executive of in one of the Telecommunication company.. My salary was around Rs 15000,. It was difficult to make both ends meet for myself alone in NOIDA. The news of arrival of Usah was a irritating in many ways. I had now to support her as well.. Besides there was no one to share the room and rent ren with me.. Besides I was about to loose my freedom and privacy which I was now quite accustomed to now
The rented accommodation comprised of just one big room which could hold two folding cots. Two chairs , a dressing table with a half size mirror ,a rack of drawers , a wardrobe . The facilities were very basic., The land lord had carved out a kitchen in the same bedroom, It had a slab on which we place the stove to cook and wash basin at the end of the slab., We had taken a gas connection and we had a kitchen stove . We hardly cooked as both being bachelors were used to eating breakfast and lunch in office and some street food before coming home, We used live in area where a lot of bachelors and office going girls lives in rented accommodation, The area had some Dabbawalas who used to sell ready to eat cooked food , home delivered. The room was also had a very small toilet; The bathroom door opened in bedroom on one side and a balcony on the other , where we dried clothes or used as observation post to see the traffic in back street. The toilet was very small. At the entry there as a small bath area where one could take bath and a small wash basin on the opposite wall. And then there was a commode which was separated or partitioned for the main bath area by by a wall about 5ft high. Thus only one person could use the bath room at a time. , The commode area did not have separate door. Thus if you are taking bath you can strain your neck to see who using the commode and what is being done there. If you walk along the wall you can the clearly witness the person using this facility .For two boys this was Ok But now with Usha's arrival it was to become a challenge. No privacy and no place to whack if one wished..
Frankly I got quite upset on news that my sister Usha was being thrust on me without notice and without any financial support, My father I knew all along that I had hard time make both end meet. I conveyed my displeasure to him in no uncertain terms. . He agreed, but stated that he had no option but to escort her here . He promised that he will take her back once her marriage was settled for which I knew he had been trying hard., He gave me Rs 20, 000 for initial support of Usha with a promise that he will send more if required. He was also some what confident that I will be able to get job for her .
Rajiv shifted to Gurgaon Taking way the cot and stove and his other belongings, He promised to be in touch visit us on week ends.
Father too returned home after two days leaving me and Usha alone to fend for ourselves.. Usha as a measure of economy did not let me buy another cot for her.. She who told me she is happy sleeping on the floor for which I bought a mattresses and 2 pillows.. But we bought new stove and kitchen utensils and grocery.
She took charge of the house from Day one . She arranged to fix the kitchen and cleaned bath room. She used to wash my clothes as well. She was used to getting up early have bath and prepare tea and wake me up by touching my feet every day. We used to have tea together and discuss the job opportunities and what we need to do. I used to go off to work while she stayed back to look after the house chores. I had shown the stores in neighbourhood form where she got settled to buy fruits vegetable, milk etc . Arranging household things were new to me which i never done before. She used to prepare breakfast and pack lunch for me before I went off to work. Now routine changed I used to come back home for a snacks and tea and later a piping hot and tasty dinner. My old habits were in for a big change of leaving house early and having all 3 meals outside.. I must say I found Usha very efficient and responsible .in managing the house hold. The quality and taste of the food used to be great.
Some times we used to visit Malls and shops in NOIDA, she was overcome with sense of inferiority complex as she had seen other girls of her age dressed in modern dresses suits etc. She observed and told me once that in Malls she had hardly seen any ladies wearing Sarees. Even mature and elderly wore pant shirts , punjabi fashionable suits or jeans & top etc, In shops her eyes were always hunting for such dresses with some kind of desire . She used to feel and even drape some dresses over her, Her womanly feeling of getting to look beautiful was noticeable. . On the other hand I did not have enough money to buy these and satisfy her needs..
I felt the need for Usha to work and self support . It was extremely difficult for me to support an independent house hold in city like NOIDA where house rent and utilities accounted for nearly 50% of total income I had., But Usha on the other hand greatly reduced expenses on food. My once in awhile going for beer was also not possible now as I was afraid Usha will not like it and report it to my parents. Having brought up in a very conservative society it is very difficult to change the mind set of people.who have are born and brought up and lived in villages. Migrating from of village to hostels and in big town I may have changed in 6 preceding years but it was difficult to change Usha as she rooted in strict family values rituals. Taking bath in morning before going to kitchen or touching feet of all elders every day was ingrained in he value system. All these cultural and religious values were deeply rooted in most persons who lived in neighbourhood in village where our room was located . Even in and around Delhi NCR there are Khhap panchayats who greatly resent the cultural invasion arising out of growing industrialisation and urbanisation. Our room was ideal nesting place for cultural values of Mughal Sarai to be maintained despite being in middle of a modern city like NOIDA. This conflicted with my priorities .
My priority was to get Usha working as soon as possible. I had to find a job for Usha.
Now let me describe Usha. She is about 5ft 2 inches. well built like sonakshi sinha , fair , athletic, and very well endowed I guessed under my prying eyes . Perhaps her commuting 30 Km to & from from College every day on bicycle to college helped. . She was very poor in presentation. Her dressing sense was awful. In fact she looked more like a " kamwali " rather than girl who had graduated with honours in B Com . She used to wear very loose Salwar kameez and her Dupatta was always covering her head. That way she was rustic" Dehati" . She use to wear Sari in typical benaras style .Her accent was pure Banarasi akin to East UP setting. She was also a very traditional. pujeri type observing all fasts and used to conduct pooja every morning. She made a small pooja corner in the room and brought some statutes of shiv, hanuman and Lakshmi etc.. She used to touch feet to all elders every morning. She was what we term Sanskari; and very rustic village belle. But she was very beautiful ans an object of desire
One day while I was sitting on the bed with my feet touching the ground , she emerged from bathroom and bent down little too quickly to touch my feet. As usual, I put my hands on her shoulders for giving her blessings and signalled her to get up. But on that particular day she, after touching my feet tried to get up very fast as if she was in a great hurry. In process my both hands slipped from her shoulders and slipped on her through her body making a momentary contact with both her breasts ,I felt my both palms have hit some stones. I looked at her in disbelief . She did not notice my reaction and she moved on. This incidence did not generate ill feeling of any kind at that time and life went off as usual, but from within my mind always wondered on firmness and size of breasts.
To find a job for this kind of girl in industrial NOIDA was extremely remote unless she worked as unskilled labour in factory. But having done Graduation with honours in Commerce she was not to be suitable for job a factory worker,
In order to find vacancies I sounded all my friends and acquaintances . I also states subscribing to local Hindi and English news papers . She use to go through all vacancy announcements and classifieds and write applications. I used to sit with her and finalise applications and send them to prospective employers. I used to escort her to the interviews and discuss the outcome. Nearly a month passed without success or promise.
The days stated rolling by..Another day while I was sitting on the bed , she emerged from bathroom and bent down little too quickly to touch my feet. As usual, I put my hands on her shoulders for giving her blessings and signalled her to get up. That particular day she, after touching my feet as she tried to get up I let my both hands slip from her shoulders and rested my palms to make firm contact on both her breasts resting on the breasts little longer . I made it look as if it was an innocent touch. She realised the long rest. She smiled at me very shyly this time as she disappeared to kitchen.
This kind of unintentional touch became common. Usha made efforts not to come too close for this act to be repeated , while I was now extending my arms and palms seeking the feel of the breasts every time she came to touch my feet. . It all became an innocent game but it elicited guilt in me as her touching my feet was out of traditional respect while my efforts to seek touch and feel of her breasts in disguise of blessing were covertly sexual in nature.
To be continued..