My agency never sends me to any personal place like house, guest house or offices of the customers. But on a special request, this customer could make the agency agree to send me to his flat where he alleged that he lives alone. Booking was made for a day. I found out the customer was a foreigner when he came to pick me in a car. He asked me what my name was and he told his name too. I don’t remember any customer’s name for obvious reasons. In another half an hour or so I entered his flat with him. It’s a double bed room flat with a spacious hall where there was a bit of furniture like a sofa set and a TV. I found nothing else much as in other middle class houses in the hall. But there were two more men over there watching TV and talking. As soon as I entered the hall, both the guys turned to look at me. The Foreigner introduced me by my name to them. Though it was little strange for me, I said hi when they said hi. They were foreigners too. One of them was middle aged and the other was as young as the foreigner. Middle aged man smiled at me and said, “you can go inside” showing his hand towards a bed room that is close to the kitchen and little far from where they are sitting. I was escorted by the foreigner to the bed room where I could see a huge bed with pale green colour bed sheets spread neatly. There was a chair next to it and a table on which a few books, pens, files and note pads were scattered. He asked me to sit. I sat on the bed. He left the room. I just moved around and looked at the books.
It seemed that the other two men left the house, but it also sounded as if there were a few people in the house. He came inside the bed room smiling at me. I smiled at him too. He said “the servant girls came”. Though I dint bother to ask him which country he belonged to, I remember that he was not at ease to pronounce the words in English. He sat on the chair. He was gazing at me with a smile on his face as if he was examining me. There was a knock at the bedroom door. He opened. There was a young teen girl standing covering her head with a scarf. I guessed she is a Muslim girl. She asked, “bhaiya, aaj khane mein kya banavu?” and giggled when she noticed me sitting on the bed. He could not understand what the girl said in Urdu. I translated it for him. He told me, “There is chicken in the fridge. Tell her to make biryani”. But this time, before I finished translating the foreigner’s words, the girl ran into the kitchen blushing and giggling. Seemed there was another girl over there. I could hear them giggle and whisper so much.
He latched the door. He sat next to me on the bed. His hands were quickly moving to remove my clothes. As usual I did not respond much. I was cold. It was just like a husband mechanically stripping his wife off whose marriage took place twenty years back. He completed his job soon and lied on the bed. I dressed myself up automatically and lied next to him. There was another knock. He was irritated a bit that time but opened the door. The same girl came blushing and said, “hum ja rahe hain.”. “How is Ganesh? Are you going to meet him?” said the foreigner in a teasing manner to the servant girl. She started blushing more and said, “ye usne diyatha” showing her feet with new anklets. The foreigner went outside the bed room into the hall. I think he was going to close the main door after the girls leave. I was sitting up on the bed and just turning the pages of a magazine from the table near the bed.
The foreigner came back into the bedroom in another few minutes. He closed the door. “It’s more relaxing now. There is no one in the house now” he said. He sat on the chair again and told me, “let’s have lunch.” I nodded. I remembered that I had been very hungry since I had not been eating properly for the past few days. A day before that was a whole night booking. That day morning I just went to the foreigner’s house without eating anything. He quickly moved into the kitchen. I followed him slowly. He took out two plates and started serving the food. There was such an appetizing fragrance coming out the biryani bowl. He served a little birayni into both the plates. He moved towards the bed room again. I followed him. He pushed a few books and things aside on the table next to the bed to keep the plates. He told me to freshen up. I went into the washroom. He did not start eating till I came out. I sat down on the chair and he on the bed. We started eating. He used a spoon. I too used the spoon to eat. He started talking to me about his family and country to which I did not pay much attention except that I learned that he was a student. My concentration was completely on the food. Even otherwise I wouldn’t have paid much attention since it’s not common that men do talk to me about anything. I finished the entire food he served for me in my plate. Of course I was not at all full or satisfied. He too was going to complete his food. I just waited till he completed. He took my plate and his plate too as soon as he finished, and went inside the kitchen and came back wiping his wet hands with a napkin. I was still hungry. I could not get second helping. I was a little hesitant to ask him for more food. I just kept quiet. A few minutes later, he pushed me back and started stripping me again. It was over soon.
The door-bell rang. He went inside the hall. Soon, I could hear that there were two or a few men talking to him. I thought somebody came for him. I just lied down on the bed. I was still hungry. I had nothing else to do to deviate myself from the hunger. I was thinking that this booking will end now since the foreigner seemed to be busy with something else. At least then I could go and eat food.
I heard some sound from the kitchen. I went to the kitchen’s door hesitantly and looked inside. I saw a pigeon from the ventilator flock into the kitchen and through the lid that covered the birayni bowl. I went close to the kitchen platform and kept the lid in place and turned back. Once I turned back, I noticed that the Foreigner also was standing at the door of the kitchen behind me. He asked me what happened. I told him that the pigeon entered the kitchen. “Shit…this stupid bird always spoils the kitchen!” he said angrily and went away. It sounded little harsh for me. I went into the bed room. I was thinking of the food in the kitchen.
In a few minutes, there was again some disturbance in the kitchen. I went till the kitchen door and looked inside again. The pigeon came again. But it did not disturb the biryani bowl this time. It just moved some utensils from the sink and flew back to settle over the ventilator. I went back and sat inside the bed room. The foreigner also was busy talking to his friends and did not brother to see what happened in the kitchen this time. I was thinking that I should just be dropped back home by the foreigner. But the booking was for a whole day which means it includes that night. So, he might drop me the next morning. I was a little restless since I was more hungry and the foreigner also seemed to be busy chatting with some guys in the hall.
I showed so much patience for some time. I endured the hunger. I felt I could not tolerate it any more. Then, I went into the kitchen, I removed the lid of the briayani bowl and took a big morsel of rice into my hand and put it quickly into my mouth. I went to the sink to wash my hand. I heard the footsteps of someone coming into the kitchen behind me. “what happened?” the foreigner’s voice came like a thunder upon my head. I did not turn my face towards him for a few seconds till I swallowed the morsel in my mouth and then turned back to him and said, “it’s that pigeon again.” He stared at me for a moment without any expression and then went back with an irritated face muttering something that I could not hear clearly.
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