My Land Lady

“Welcome Home!”… she said in one of the most joyful voices I had heard. Let me introduce you to Ms Nalini Mehta whom I fondly call “Aaaaaunty”.

It was Saturday, January 3, 2004 I landed in Bombay for the first time. My firm in Bangalore was relocating me there to begin operations in the city. I knew no one in the city. Armed with a leather bag and a borrowed suitcase I rang the bell of my land lady. I was to stay with her as a paying guest.

She was about fifty-five or sixty years old, and the moment she saw me, she gave him a warm welcoming smile. She seemed terribly nice. She looked exactly like the grandmother of one’s best school-friend welcoming one into the house to stay for the summer holidays.

And a unique grandmother she was….nurturing yet non intrusive. In the two years that I lived with her we may have spoken for not more than thirty hours. But those thirty hours were good enough to build a great bond. She decided not to have another paying guest after I left …. “I could not find anyone like you she said!”

She happens to be one of India’s only “Kathakali Doll” makers. Have a look at the picture attached here …… I think they are just breath taking.

Gifted (as she says) with a physical impairment she wanted to find a way to keep herself entertained and happy. She stayed in Kerala for a few years leaning the dance form, its costume creation, make-up etc and put together one of the most well researched documents on costumes and makeup details for Kathakali. Her dolls have found homes around the world and she has won numerous national and international awards.

The years I stayed as a paying guest I always felt like I was living at home. Not once did I feel homesick. I remember the evenings we used to cook together and have dinner while watching “KBC 2”.

The day I left Bombay she came to see me off with some special “wheat” sweet meant for happiness and a bowl of yoghurt meant for success. I just hugged her and knew I would miss that warmth and calm.