As Moments Went By

Mrs Damle was a housewife, in her 70s. Living a decent life with her retired husband who kept himself to his books most of the time. Their only son was divorced, but shared custody of his daughter.



Their apartment was on the ground floor and the small porch in front of the second entrance which was near the society road, was decorated with flowering plants planted in different types of pots.



It was a hobby of Mrs Damle. Taking care of the plants gave her joy, and by now she was a special customer in the nursery who enjoyed great discounts.



But on a particular afternoon when everything was mostly silent, a car crashed into the flowerpots, and most of the ones towards the outward side were trampled. They had been planted fresh for the season.



Mrs Damle stepped out to look at her worst doubts coming true and then she looked at the driver, a man who hurriedly got out and stepped forward, first to look at his car which had sustained very minor damage and then he looked at the pots lying broken and scattered and the young plants, some broken beyond survival and then he turned to look back at the small boy who had got up and rode away on his bicycle hurriedly clearly feeling guilty. Mrs Damle saw him too. Both were glad he wasn’t injured.



The man, Mehraj rushed to the nursery to buy new plants to buy new pots and plants despite Mrs Damle’s insistence that he didn’t have to do so. Mrs Damle came along as otherwise Mehraj wouldn’t get the discounts.



Things led to a cup of tea and a bond. Mehraj occasionally visited Mr and Mrs Damle for a cup of tea and almost each time brought another plant with him. He continued to do so till the end of their lives and Mr and Mrs Damle and their son were very happy about this positive inclusion to life during that time. 

Written by Anuran Chatterji

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