Sunday, June 10, 2001		Life Ties

REHANA'S marriage had just broken up and she, along with her son and parents, had moved into an apartment block closer to her office. She was desperately trying to come to terms with the altered situation, mustering all her physical and emotional energies in creating a support system. It wasn’t easy. Having lived in a home where everything was catered for, independent living bogged her down with the unending list of chores, all of which needed her intervention. Rehana’s only concern was to get her house in order and her teenaged son into a steady routine. She was convinced that by expending the required physical energy in doing so she would be able to fill all the gaps in her heart. There would be no time to brood.

Suresh came into her life like a breath of fresh air. She had hired him to clean her car every day. With his constant ever-ready-to-please "Yes Ma’am" demeanour, he took charge of all routine errands. After a time, she found herself leaning more and more on him. From cleaning her car every morning, he took over the role of buying groceries, watering plants, taking her son for tuition classes, helping her shell peas, chop onions while she prepared the evening meal and even cheering her up when she felt dejected and hopeless. Although he was a car cleaner and odd-job man who ran errands for people in the apartment block, there was a bond which had undoubtedly been forged between him and Rehana’s family. When he started doing more work for the family, they wanted to enhance his remuneration. He resisted saying, "Am I not a member of the family ? You give me food to eat, clothes to wear, it is enough." Of course, Rehana paid him what she felt would be appropriate. However. their dependence on him was so much that on days he did not turn up, everything in the household would come to a standstill.

This is why they became worried when he didn’t come for a full week. Was he sick? Did he have to rush to his native village for an emergency? Had he got into trouble? Surely, he could have called. Normally, when he would be late by a few hours he would phone and inform her. Since Rehana had no idea as to where he lived, they could do nothing but wait for him to get in touch. On the eighth day, while scanning newspapers in office, a news item caught her eye. The headline was "Car stereo thief caught red- handed" and bang beneath it was a shot of Suresh. Numb with shock and disbelief, Rehana read the details. A spate of car stereo thefts, alongwith car accessories, had been plaguing the colony residents for over six months. Special vigilance committees had been set up and the residents were convinced that the thefts were the handiwork of an organised gang which operated in connivance with chowkidars and local cops. The police had finally cracked the mystery and caught Suresh who, they said, had masterminded the entire operation. He worked during the non-peak hours of late noon and pre dawn. It was a one-man set-up and not the work of a gang as had been suspected. The cops had been keeping a watch on him after zeroing in on him as a potential target. They caught him red- handed and then photographed him in his very house with a backdrop of hundreds of car stereos.

Rehana’s mind was in turmoil. The whole situation was ludicrous. How could a man, who was so affable and trustworthy, be so deceitful? Did he have a criminal record, too? He was obviously more than a petty thief. To know that all this while you had a criminal in your home, who was plotting and scheming to lay his hands on the next vulnerable victim, was unnerving.

How had Rehana not seen through the veneer? Had she not looked hard enough? How easily she had entrusted her family’s welfare into the hands of a complete stranger! He was in their house at all times. Leaving her young son and old parents so often in his care was something she should never have done. What if he had physically harmed them? He could have kidnapped her son, knowing very well that her husband would do anything to have him back. Everyday one read dastardly stories of innocent-looking men like Suresh duping foolishly trusting victims. Why had she not got his credentials checked and police verification done?

More than anything, it was her sense of judgement which had let her down. She had barely managed to put her broken marriage behind her. When her entire family had opposed her relationship with Gautam, she had stubbornly insisted that he was the right man. While they had seen that he was an irresponsible cad who would always like to be foot loose and fancy free, she had hoped that her love would tame him. That didn’t happen and she dragged herself through a miserable 14 years, unable to muster the courage to move away. When she finally did, she tried not to blame herself for all her judgements which had backfired. Now, before she could regain her confidence, Suresh had happened. Was she really so bad at seeing what people were all about? If that be so, how would she shoulder the responsibility of her aging parents and growing son in the years to come?

In spite of all the churning that was going on in her mind there was a strong feeling of disbelief. Wasn’t Suresh extra nice and helpful with them? If he really was a thief, why had he never stolen anything from their house? Surely, there were times when he could have stealthily taken away watches, gold ear rings, CDs, portable tape recorders etc. that were in the house. She had even given him cheques for encashing. Now that she was thinking about it, she could recall how he had come and given her the salary packet of Rs 32,000 that she had left in the dashboard ofthe car. He had also gently reprimanded her for leaving money in the car. How could he then be a hard-core thief? It just didn’t make sense. She had to meet him in jail.What she wanted to know was why he had spared her family.

Suresh burst into tears when he saw her. "I was hoping you wouldn’t see my picture. I tried shielding my face but I couldn’t,"he said between sobs. Seeing his agonised expression at having let her down, Rehana herself broke down. She said, "I am not going to ask you why you were doing this. All I want to know is why did you not target us, moreso since it was the easiest thing to do." He said, "The love I received from you and your family was completely new for me. You trusted and treated me as one of your own. I could see that you were having major troubles. By giving me the responsibility of sharing your burdens, even though you never really spelt them out, I felt as if I was doing something important. For once I actually believed that I could wash my sins by being true to at least one person. The thought of stealing even a pin from your house never crossed my mind. Instead, I could have given my life protecting you from the evil eye."

Having exhausted himself with this short emotional speech, he retreated into a corner. Rehana stood rooted to the spot unable to move away. After what seemed like an eon, she met his expectant gaze and said, "Suresh, nothing changes.You may have been the villain in dozens of situations but for us you will remain the same lovable dependable young lad you always were. We will keep coming to see you and I will try to do what I can to soften your sentence. Trust me."