Mr.Narrain And Our Tenant
A love story… mostly.
It was his second divorce. My family was with Mr. Narrain for the entire tenure of the court proceedings. He lost nearly everything. His house, the custody of his son and much of his earnings henceforth would go towards alimony. Mr Narrain was a tough man on the outside. His face was clean shaven and his hair was well combed and always looked wet or oiled [I was never sure]. We were on our way to the parking lot when Mr Narrain put his hand on my shoulder and said ‘Don’t worry son. Your Cricket Team RCB will win next year’.
Two divorces. Two ugly terms of separation and all Mr Narrain could think of as a 54 year old man was, our home team RCB not winning. As a fan he should have been disappointed when his team never won the cup. But I think he was more than a fan for every time we lost he would become more optimistic about the next season. ‘We will only get stronger with defeat’. He was a believer.
His personal life was never in good shape according to my father who knew Mr.Narrain since college. ‘He never paid attention to women even when they found him attractive. Women would ask him out and he would never show up for the date. Instead watch cricket at home.’ I asked my dad if there was anything we could do to get Mr.Narrain’s obsession away from cricket and together we came up with this plan.
India was to play Moldova in a cricket match in our home ground in Bangalore. We would buy him tickets and on the day of the match we would get a pretty single woman who was a tenant in one of the apartments that we owned to accompany us and sit next to Mr Narrain. Our only fear was if Mr.Narrain would decline watching a match India played against a country like Moldova. Much to our surprise he readily agreed, ‘When you support someone, you will love them more when you are assured a display of their majesty’. Our plan was to set Mr.Narrain with our tenant and then coax our tenant not to take this forward asking her to cite irrational reasons for cancelling dates such as ‘need to watch a chess match’. We wanted him to get a taste of his own bitter medicine.
The day of the match arrived. We picked up our tenant who looked really attractive. She wore a Team India Jersey and had an expensive pair of aviators which she rested on the top of her head. We were sure Narrain would fall for her looks. We met Narrain at the stadium and he was wearing shorts, a team India jersey, a cap and had a fanny pack around his waist. His face was painted and he screamed in excitement when he saw us. I couldn't believe that it had been only 1 month since his second divorce. Losing a wife, his son and his money didn’t matter.
Our tenant sat next to Narrain. They cheered together and were enjoying the match in full enthusiasm. When my dad and I returned from using the rest room they were holding hands and our tenant was resting her head against his shoulder. I high-fived my dad and in the process, spilled the coke I was carrying on an old Moldovan woman who cursed me. The cricket match was over and our tenant went back, in Narrain’s car.
The next day we spoke to our tenant and told her that she had to stay away from him. My dad said ‘we are sorry but we have to warn you. He’s lost two marriages because of his cricket obsession. You have to teach him a lesson, which is why we got you to come with us to the match. All you need to do now is, to say no to Narrain when he asks you to meet him again and tell him that you have to watch a chess match.’ Our tenant remained silent for a good 10 seconds and in her sinister pissed-off tone said, ‘how dare you make use of me like that?’. My dad looked scared. ‘We are sorry. We were just trying to help a friend get past his obsession with this stupid game’, my dad said. ‘Not only am I going to be with Narrain but we are also planning to get married’, our tenant replied.
Mr.Narrain soon moved out of Bangalore with our tenant. We didn’t hear from him for ten years. Then one day we got a call from him. “I’m in England. I am leaving my job as a cricket club president. I am coming back to India. Cricket is not everything.” We were shocked and when my father asked him what happened he broke down and said that the woman, our tenant to whom he married, left him to marry a cricketer. I don’t know if our plan worked but he said ‘cricket could also be the reason why I feel sad sometimes’.
I went to pick him up at the airport and drove him home, I asked him about what he felt about life. He said ‘I’m very optimistic’ he took a deep breath and added ‘this year our home team RCB might win’.
Thanks for reading. TheComicCurryBlog publishes four blogs a week, make sure to follow us. Donate to us, for a good cause (RCB tickets!)
