Sunday, August 27, 2017

THE STRANGE FRIEND WHOM I CAN'T FORGET!


I visited in those cold winter times the distant place up the Northern Hemisphere for a stay of about 3 months with my daughter. The area was totally new to me and the language spoken was unknown with English used sparingly now and then. And I was slowly getting accustomed to the new place, new people around, their lifestyle and habits..

A week passed thus. I picked up few words of the local language but it was too difficult for me to get into any free conversation with the Locals..

That day in the morning hrs, as usual my daughter and her husband left for their works and I was preparing myself to get ready, go and bring a few groceries for the family. Just then the calling bell rang..

I opened the door, saw the familiar face of the Estate Manager of the Apartment Complex whom I met on an earlier occasion, wished him and smiled at him which he very much reciprocated..

Beyond that, I could not communicate with the Manager and the Manager too not familiar with English was unable to do that and thus for a while there was certain silence between us. To overcome that the Manager finally adapted an in-genuine way of conveying his message through 3 prominent Hand Signals and left the place in haste..

I was instantly tensed up with what the Estate Manager conveyed and the new place at the moment looked to me frightening. I quickly closed the door and rang up to my daughter saying,

“Dear! Our Manager had conveyed to me that a STRANGER wearing a long coat with hood is coming to each door and trying to call thru' by ringing the calling bell.. 

He told me not to open the door at any cost for this man and in case he is seen through the peep hole, asked me to call for ‘HELP!’”

My daughter got wondered. She never heard of such incidents happening in those areas at any time as the place was quite safe and peaceful with Law and Order maintained the best. For a moment, she asked me to be careful and not to open the door..

Half hr had passed and suddenly the calling bell rang. I instantly with all attention looked out through the peephole and my fear was confirmed. Exactly as described, a STRANGER in long coat with hood half covering his face was standing in front of the door..

I just remained totally silent for few minutes. The stranger pressed the calling bell a few times and seeing no response, left the place. I was in a state of great tension till a call came from my daughter on the phone. She said with a big laughter,

"Dad! He is not any STRANGER. He is the young man who lives above our floor. He rang up and told me that our Manager wanted to find out from us whether the items we kept in the common Cloak Room be retained there for some more time or we would be taking them out.. 

He wanted this young man to convey the message to us in English. That's the reason he was there!" 

That evening on my daughter's return as I recollected and narrated to her what all the Manager had conveyed to me through Hand Signals about the

'FRIEND'
Turned to a
'STRANGER'

In no time and of course back to a
'FRIEND'
In few minutes, both of us instantly bursting into an unending laughter..

The repeated Hand Signals of the Manager were..

Moving both hands with the palms up horizontally and rapidly Right and Leftwards..,

Moving up both the hands kept behind the neck and further forward down till half of his face.. and

Moving the right hand stretched out with the fist closed towards the right ear and keeping it there! 

The Post is written in line with the IndiSpire Prompt Do you have that one person who was once your best companion but now a complete stranger? What changed?#Friend2Stranger

Keywords: FRIEND, STRANGER

30 comments:

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    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks a lot.... I' ll just look into the Subject and decide about my Contribution....

      Delete
  2. Language is such a cultural thing and we suddenly become so handicapped if you don't know the 'correct' one.

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    1. Yes! It happens in our life a few times.... Thanks for the good observation!

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  3. hehe... Loved that. I guess you understood exactly what the Estate Manger said. I assume he wanted you to call when you see that stranger so that the Manager came to your place and talk directly with the help of translator. :)

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    1. Yes! That may be his Message, Ravish! I can only presume that....

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  4. this is hilarious... :D thank god you didn't do anything much out of fear of the so called 'stranger' ... enjoyed reading the post. :)

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    1. It truly happened.... It was a real fun for a while.... Thanks for the comment!

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  5. Nice Article!!

    http://www.thewordlyconfusion.com/

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  6. I have seen your blog for the first time... This post is very nice....:-)

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    1. That's nice to hear from you Karthik.. Thanks for the appreciation!

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  7. Replies
    1. Thanks Rajeev for such a nice appreciative comment on the Post!

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  8. Thanks Niska for the appreciation.. Happy to hear that!

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  9. Wow Sir! Really enjoyed this :)

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    1. Thanks Joses for the appreciation.. A nice Comment on the Post!

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  10. Very enjoyable read Sir. A new place and people is surely difficult task .

    -MeenalSonal

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    1. Thanks MeenalSonal for the appreciation.. Rightly said!

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  11. Enjoyed reading Sir. Yes, such things do happen in our life and leave their memories forever (with some lesson to learn, of course !).

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    1. Thanks Jitendra.. Rightly said.. A nice comment on the Post!

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  12. :D funny incident. Nice !

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