Compelled

Have you stood outside for a while and felt the world out there? Have you noticed the changes of one form or another? With enough time flowing by, it is not only us who change but also almost everything around changes with us.



Hanshi stood looking at the busts of a man and woman whom she did not know. They had been placed on a pedestal. On the pedestal was written ‘Mr Anmol Balaji and Mrs Chameli Balaji’.



The path through the park led to the apartment building in which was Hanshi’s grandparent’s apartment. Both of Hanshi’s grandparents were no longer a part of this world and they left their apartment to Hanshi’s mother.



Hanshi and her parents lived in another city and hadn’t come here in the last three years for one reason or another. Now, Hanshi was here with two days leave from her office to get things a little sorted.



What made Hanshi feel truly odd was not the busts of two complete strangers but rather what they had replaced, the neem tree. Many of the plants here had been planted by the initial residents of the apartment, which included Hanshi’s grandparents as well, when they came to live here with their small son and daughter.



The neem tree had stood there from before the residents arrived, the developer had decided to plan the park around it and the apartment buildings around the park.



This park used to be a more happening place before with people enjoying each other’s company and children playing around. Hanshi distinctively remembered looking for her grandmother after returning from school. She usually found her talking to her friends in the park.



The park had lost a lot of its charm from back then and looked rather fancy but devoid of any positivity from the lives existing around it.



Almost all the people who had initially come to live here were not present anymore, many had passed away and many had moved away with their children.



‘… and looking at the present condition it certainly looks like things have fallen from the standards that were once upheld. Earlier no one would have allowed for this to happen,’ thought Hanshi and then she picked up her bags and moved onwards to her grandparents’ apartment.



Hanshi had spent most of her school years here while her parents were working hard to settle in another city.



Hanshi cleaned up the apartment with a heavy heart due to the emptiness that it carried and with eyes moist from all the memories whose footprints remained ther. She especially took her time cleaning the framed photographs, adding two more, those of her grandparents.



Hanshi later decided to go to the office of the apartment complex regarding plumbing work that was needed. As she entered the office building, she saw a man completely disinterested in his work, busy in doing something on his smartphone.



Hanshi knocked on the door and the man sat straight, aware, eager and smiling.



“Is Mr Gosain on holiday?” asked Hanshi



“He had left a year ago, now I am overseeing his responsibilities,” replied the man



Hanshi looked around at the almost familiar room, it had been newly painted, the cupboards were new and so were the other furniture.



“I need to get some plumbing work done in my apartment 323-D; can you send someone?” said Hanshi



“Sure, I will send someone,” replied the man



“Thank you. Can I have your number? I can see there is no longer a landline telephone here,” said Hanshi



The man smiled and then wrote his number on a piece of paper along with his name, Shyam Nautiyal. Hanshi took the paper and started to walk away but then she turned and returned.



“Who are those people whose busts have been placed in the middle of the park?” asked Hanshi



“They are the parents of Mr Balaji,” replied Mr Nautiyal



“So…? Why are they there?” asked Hanshi



“Well Mr Balaji is a businessman who offered to develop the park and pay for all its maintenance with the condition that his parents busts be placed in the centre”



“.. and no one opposed to it? The cutting down of the tree that stood there?”



“Some did, but eventually everyone became satisfied with the fact that they wouldn’t have to pay for the maintenance of the park anymore”



Hanshi thought about the poor decision making of the people and then she asked, “Which apartment number does Mr Balaji live in?”



“Oh, he doesn’t live here, he lives at his house thirty minutes away from here,” replied Mr Nautiyal



“He doesn’t even live here and you allowed him to do this?”



“Not me, the people of the society. Everyone was informed, I am sure you must have been as well”



Hanshi realised since her mother was the current owner of the apartment she must have been informed about it. She later had a conversation with her mother over a phone call and when it came to the topic her mother simply said that ‘she had not thought much about it at that time’. An answer which was far from any form of satisfaction for Hanshi.



The plumber did not come that day, Mr Nautiyal informed that the plumber would visit the next day positively. Hence, Hanshi decided to go out to buy a few essentials from the nearest supermarket.



Hanshi placed a few things in her basket on the first floor of the supermarket and then decided to go to the floor below. She managed to hold the elevator doors just as they were about to move towards closing and stepped in.



Inside were two other people whom Hanshi recognised at once.



“Mr Anmol and Mrs Chameli Balaji, you both are alive,” the words slipped out of Hanshi’s mouth as she had assumed that the busts were in their memory after they passed away. But that didn’t look like to be the case.



The elderly couple looked at each other in confusion and then at Hanshi and at that moment the doors to the elevator opened again and Hanshi stepped out and walked away quickly after whispering a quick apology.



Hanshi went back to the apartment and that night she had a good sleep of a unique kind, one which she had experienced before but a long time ago.



The next morning Hanshi sat having her breakfast in the balcony, looking at the empty view ahead where was once visible the canopy of the beautiful tree which attracted birds and squirrels.



Hanshi spent most of the rest of the day working on her laptop. She had a flight in the evening, there was no sign of the plumber and when he actually did arrive it was almost time for Hanshi to leave.



“It’s my brother’s marriage next week, that is why I am a bit busy nowadays,” explained the plumber



Hanshi wondered what kind of deal did the plumber have with Mr Nautiyal that he did not send anybody else but him, then she spoke, “I am about to leave so nothing can be done now”



“I am really very sorry,” said the plumber, “whenever you come next time, I will come without fail”



As the plumber walked away, Hanshi said, “Wait! I have a work for you and I will pay a good amount for it, you can share it with Mr Nautiyal”



A week passed and Hanshi was back home with her parents, everything was fine although she noticed her mother was a little worried.



“What happened? You look disturbed about something,” said Hanshi 



Hanshi’s mother showed her a photo, “Look at this, the busts you were talking about have been vandalised badly. I don’t know what is happening to people and why do they behave like this.”



Hanshi looked at the photo trying hard not to reveal her real expressions and then she said, “the cameras must have caught it”



“No,” said Hanshi’s mother, “oddly many of them malfunctioned that day”



Hanshi kept looking at the picture and said, “who knows someone might plant a tree for a change”

Written by Anuran Chatterji

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