Keki kaka ... reporting live from where the dead live... Maru naam (my name) Keki ...Keki Kakobad Modi Umar (age) 88 ... Retired Bank Manager Kaam (work) ... adhar waras pehle karwanu chodi dedhu ... (left it 18 years back).
I live with my daughter and son-in-law. Ahye nazdeekaz (just nearby) Gamadia colony ... nahin nahin Gamadia colony ma nahin (no no not in Gamadia colony) Gamadia colony ni samheni je gaali chene (just opposite it there is a lane). Exactly third building. Tower che Motho (it is a tall building). Doki upar karini joiye...
(If you raise your head and see) Doki adi jay (you shall sprain your neck)
Everyday when my daughter leaves for work she drops me here ... yes it may sound strange but she drops me here ...at the doongerwadi (tower of silence) ... They don't have kids ...married late ... both are working ... So a few years back I decided I didn't want to sit back at home and talk to the kites ... and stare at the sky ...33rd floor you know?
I told both of them I will come here and sit and talk to the relatives of the deceased ones. Be a part of and share a little of their sorrow... my daughter's first reaction was "su kohli karoch" (what rubbish are you talking?). My son-in-law is a lawyer, he saw some sense in it. He just glanced at me, smiled and dug his head into his laptop. He somewhere knew I would convince her.
I did! Maybe as a daughter she didn't but as a psychologist ... Maybe...
It was convenient for me to just sit here since anybody who came here thought I was here for my relative ... They would share their grief, their sorrows and at times their secrets too ... because they believed that there was this one common thread connecting us .... Grief! And in grief we are the least judgmental.
After some months, there were a few Dasturs (Priests) and Khandyas (men who carry the dead body) who noticed me and my regular presence became known to them but they didn't mind ...there wasn't any rule, probably, in their rule book to stop me from coming to the doongerwadi (tower of silence). Some knew me since I had lived in Grant Road all my life.
I became known to them as KEki KaKA ... For me it was a privilege to be called KEki kaKA ...since i was a big fan of kaka ...Rajesh Khanna ... and his famous dialogue ..." Pushpa, I hate tears!" ...I would often murmur but never really speak aloud.
Some days there would be no one and the silence would be deafening and scary. Those would be the days that saddened me ...strangely, those days when no one would have taken off to their heavenly abode. As it meant I would have to walk back to my tall concrete kingdom as lonely as the ruvaan (soul ). And then, there would be days when the Banglis (rooms where the last rites and prayers are performed) would all be occupied and the silence would be broken by, sometimes a loud cry, sometimes by a soft mourn and mostly by practical banter .... "Saru thayu chuti gaya "(It's for the good, the person is relieved).
Each day, a new tale; each time, a new lesson; I heard patiently!I learnt intently!! To some I gave and from some I received.
Some I could console and some consoled me.
To some I was a God send messiah and for some a hindrance.
Where the body found its ground and the soul a liberating journey, I found life!!! KEki kaKA
*Do catch up, next Sunday, with your late morning cup of tea or maybe coffee. KEki kaKA will be sharing his first tale...
If you feel something in the blog touched you, if KEki kaKA reminds you of someone you have known, do write to me at nozzer.p@gmail.com