Money plant- 1% story
The dusk was setting in as our taxi stopped in front of the house. Last few days had been very hectic. After living in a foreign land for fifteen years we had now come to settle down in our family home in Kolkata. Years of yearning and emotional bond with the house had made the decision much easier for us. The winding up process from our home of last fifteen years had not been easy. Besides the emotional upheaval of leaving our familiar zone, selling unwanted furniture, packing and shipping the rest of the stuff, planning other important aspects of the move and to top it all, the regular dinner invitations from friends, had taken a toll on us.
As our taxi stopped in front of the house we saw Baba’s frail frame waiting in the balcony. The eagerness in his eyes was evident. He came down quickly to welcome us, made an attempt to help us with the extremely heavy luggage. As we entered the house Swapan stopped for a moment and looked at the house with moistened eyes. After all, now that it was finally time for us to move back, one person who would have really cherished this moment was not there, Ma. Since she left for heavenly abode baba had been living here alone, waiting for this day. He had already ordered the dinner for us and hot tempting tea was ready in the kettle to relieve us of the strained journey. After tea I just strolled around, looking out for familiar objects. I smiled as I walked through the. newly constructed portion of the house that I had just gotten done few months back in anticipation of our quitting nomadic life and moving back to our permanent abode. The beautiful round verandah was ornated by plants and some garden furniture. The familiarity of the place comforted my strained nerves. Nothing like home coming, I sighed. Suddenly my eyes fell on the Money-plant placed on the dining table just below Ma’s framed picture in a very familiar bottle.
It took me down the memory lane to that rainy evening when we had hosted a surprise guest. We had been on vacation in our family house in Kolkata. The rain and thunder was deafening. We were just about to pounce on hot serving of bhajiya when the bell rang unexpectedly. My husband Swapan went out to open the door and was majorly surprised to see a long forgotten cousin who had settled down in Uk never to return. He was drenching in the rain carrying a small suitcase and a shoulder bag.
Swapan immediately brought him in and Ma asked me to get a towel and dry clothes for him. After changing in to Swapan’s kurta which was quite tight and short for him considering the size difference, he seemed to relax a little bit. His eyes were on the bhajiya plate. Ma asked him to be comfortable. and have some snacks and tea to sustain till dinner time. He readily took the plate but did not want tea, instead started fishing for something in his bag. The object of his engrossed search soon came out, a Chivas Regal bottle! Although we were a little embarrassed, we did not say anything and provided him with glass and ice. He invited Swapan to join him. The drinking session started and each time I tried to get him on the dinner table he said – a little later please. Slowly the draining of the bottle was visible and his emotional convulsion filled the atmosphere with a melancholic gloom. He started telling us his story about how he was ditched by his wife. She, after getting UK citizenship through him had dumped him for some one else. And he, as a revenge, went out with random females wrecking his career and life. We just sat through all this, unable to console him. After a couple of hours he was not even in a position to get up and go to bed. It was almost impossible for us to carry his heavy body to the bedroom so we just made him comfortable on the sofa and went to sleep. Our evening snack, dinner and sleep all had been ruined.
We woke up in the morning to find him gone. His wet clothes were nowhere to be seen and Swapan’s clothes were lying on the sofa. He had just left a thank you note saying that he wanted to quit drinking and was off to some unknown Himalayan destination in search of self realisation! We could not help but laugh out aloud. I started cleaning up the mess, picked up the whiskey bottle, the culprit from last night, was about to throw it in the garbage bin when Ma walked in. She took it from me and said – “Such a beautiful bottle but what a waste!” I kept wondering if her statement meant more than what was obvious. Mean while she cleaned it thoroughly, filled it with fresh water and put some Money-plant branches in it. It looked nice, we placed it on the dining table as a reminder of that evening.
My next visit to Kolkata came soon after this episode. Ma had suddenly passed away in her sleep, just as a calm person like her should go on her final journey. After going through all the rituals and seeing off all the relatives it was time for us to go back. We had framed Ma’s picture and put on the dining wall above the chair she used to keep sitting on till each one of us finished our food. I glanced at the room before leaving and suddenly my eyes fell on the money-plant bottle. It had been carefully nurtured all these months. I took it to the kitchen sink with moistened eyes, changed the water and placed it on the table again instructing our cook to take good care of it.
After a year or so we decided to renovate and construct the remaining portion of the house. I stayed in Kolkata for long spans and got the work done. During all this, the bottle was displaced to many odd places. The house was disturbed and it was difficult to take care of delicate stuff. I kept the glass bottle in the half constructed verandah and forced myself to forget about it. It seemed to come in the way all the time. Sometimes the workers put it under some shade, sometimes some family member tried to get rid of it, but still the creeper survived in all it’s glory. After three months, when I was ready to leave I looked at the Money-plant. The leaves had grown pale due to lack of care and sunlight. The construction work was over and things back to their designated places. The money-plant also came back on the dining table under Ma’s picture with freshly changed water. It’s condition made me little sad, but I crossed my fingers and left it on its fate. By now the Money-plant had become a good luck charm from Ma and I did not want to lose it.
Now, after having moved back to Kolkata, seeing it again in that familiar bottle, flourishing green leaves, sparkling clear water seemed like a blessing. I looked at the cook standing at the doorway of kitchen watching me with a pervading smile. I smiled at her with gratitude. The money-plant bug had infected her too. I had no words to express the positivity it generated. Ma’s picture with the Monalisa smile seemed to have taken care of it. I felt truly blessed by Ma for the new phase of our life!
