Fiction || The Janitor

On hearing Savitri hum a song and cheerfully perform her daily chores Mrs. Britto, her mistress asked out of curiosity, "What is it Savitri? You seem very happy today!"

Savitri ecstatically responded, "My son is arriving today!" As an afterthought, she asked, "May I leave early today? I want to make his favorite dessert before he gets back home tonight."

"Absolutely!" responded Mrs Britto.

Sitting in the veranda of her cottage in Dehradun, while sipping her tea, she watched Savitri finish her cleaning work and hurry off to her home. As she slipped into a pensive mood, she recalled how she had met Savitri the first time.

Twenty-five years ago, when Mrs. Linda Britto had first set foot in India with her husband, Edward Britto, the couple had stayed at a hotel in Connaught Place, Delhi. Among one of the first people that Linda had met in India was Raheem, a janitor at the hotel the couple was staying at.

Mr. Edward Britto had a sister who was married to an Indian. After her children came off age, she moved to India with her husband. The first time Mr. Britto visited his sister and brother-in-law  in the small town of Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, he went for an excursion to Dehradun and Mussourie, and fell in love with those hills and woods so madly that he decided to relocate to India.

Mrs. Linda Britto was a shrewd English lady and totally disapproved of her husband's decision of relocating to India. Since they had no children, the excuses of raising children or planning for their future could not be used. She found the idea of moving to a 'retirement home' while being in her 40s quite outrageous. Nevertheless, Edward had his way and the couple landed in Delhi, all set to move to Dehradun.

The initial experiences of the couple weren't very encouraging - the staff at Air India was not as "courteous" as in British Airways, the taxi driver had duped them of a few hundred rupees and the hotel staff took quite a long time looking for their reservation. Despite all the initial hiccups, Edward ignored Linda's discomfort and remained firm on his decision. He decided to visit Dehradun alone in order to close the deal of a cottage there because he wasn't sure of her reaction. So he left for Dehradun on the day after the couple arrived in Delhi, leaving Linda behind to explore Delhi.

Since Linda wasn't very happy with the way things were going, she decided to spend her day at the hotel - shuttling between enjoying tea in her room and reading magazines in the hotel lobby. She continued this exercise for a couple of days and by the end of it, knew the faces and names of almost the entire staff of the hotel that she had met, except for one man - the janitor. Somehow, Linda remembered Raheem's face but not his name; to her, he was the janitor - someone whose name was not worth remembering? May be.

Finally, on the third day, Linda decided to explore the city. As she discussed the routes and locations to visit with the driver of the taxi she had called, she fiddled with all the maps she had while the excitement of exploration quickly slipped away. Just when she was about to cancel her plan because her driver was unable to converse in English, the janitor came in and helped her sort it all out. Raheem had just gotten off his duty and seeing the British guest struggle with the language, decided to offer some uncalled help. 

Knowing the city well, he planned an itinerary for Linda and instructed the taxi driver accordingly. Though Linda was thankful to Raheem, but being a snooty lady, continued to be skeptic about the city and its people.

After an exhausting day when Linda returned, she ran into trouble again as she accidentally hit a local who created a hue and cry to gather public attention and extort money out of the British guest. Luckily, Raheem had just arrived for his evening shift and seeing the lady in trouble again, stepped in and got Linda out of the mess. This time, however, Linda could not ignore Raheem's help and was morally compelled to express gratitude towards him. Being a rich British lady, she decided to reward the janitor for his help by offering him a tip. However, Raheem refused the same saying that he did not help her for any rewards and would've done the same thing had any other lady been in trouble. Linda was taken aback by his genuineness and sent a letter to the manager of the hotel appreciating the janitor. But Edward, who was back in town that evening and witnessed the entire episode, had a different plan.

Three days later, Raheem accompanied Mr & Mrs Britto to their cottage in Dehradun - Edward was impressed with Raheem's matter-of-fact attitude and had offered him a job of caretaker at his cottage; an offer that Raheem sagaciously accepted.

On that evening, twenty-five years ago, Linda first met Savitri, Raheem's wife. Though she was impressed to see a peaceful marriage between people belonging to the two biggest religions of India, she never expressed it to them.

A year after reaching Dehradun, when Savitri delivered her first child, a baby boy, Raheem named him Jahaan, meaning the world. Linda, however, had a special nickname for this boy - She called him "Janitor".