The Tenants Of Shanti Villa

Chapter 4: An unexpected announcement

Half-yearly exams are over and Sridhar, characteristically is frolicking around the place.

The afternoon air hung tightly around the villa. There was a sultry feeling in the air with the narrow roads, alleys, and old buildings.

He jumped over two stairs at a time to Mr. Mittal's apartment. Even though he buzzed from the excitement, he still felt somewhat uneasy about that encounter with the man in a polo shirt and the dog that day.

It was still so very vivid in his memory.

He reached Mr.Mittal's door and heard some sounds inside. He was taken by surprise a bit.

The voice of the other person was not recognizable.

Nobody ever comes to meet Mr. Mittal, at least not that he knows of.

He hesitates a bit as if to call Mr.Mittal out now, in between the conversation he seemed to be having, curiously in quite a low voice.

He takes a deep breath, and knocks on the door twice!

There were a few moments of silence before Mr.Mittal flungs the door open with his so very familiar smile.

"Ah! Sridhar....At this time?" Mr.Mittal, despite smiling seemed to be quite caught off guard.

"Come inside!" he calls Sridhar inside and directs him to the spare chair to sit on.

"Now then, what brings you to me?" he asks in a mostly warm tone.

Sridhar, meanwhile had been observing the other man all this while since he entered the room. Quite heavily built, his biceps were quite clearly visible beneath the shirt, not that they meant anything.

But the presence of multiple tattoos on his forearms has got Sridhar a bit lost. He had never expected a simple man like Mr.Mittal to be acquaintances with someone who looked more like a professional hooligan, akin to some he often saw in the news during instances of political violence.

The man, quite suspiciously, had turned himself around and sat facing the window, as if to conceal himself. His heavily bearded face, with a pair of black sunglasses, was still visible to Sridhar.

"Sridhar..." Mr. Mittal seemed to be in a hurry as he called upon him again.

Sridhar, having woken up from his thoughts began narrating everything that had happened on that day he came across the man in the polo shirt and the dog, so very familiar now.

Mr. Mittal listened with intent, his expressions turning into one of quite surprise and very serious.

He leaned back, drumming his fingers on the chair's armrest.

The moment seems one of very perplexity, as the lime on the walls of the small room coupled with the presence of the bearded man brings sweatdrops to Sridhar's forehead.

"Quite peculiar, isn't it?"

Mr. Mittal seemed to mutter softly.

"A man with a German Sheperd, warning you to stay out of his business"

"Do you think you know him, uncle?" Sridhar quickly threw the question as if to judge the mood Mr.Mittal was in.

"No...no, I don't think so" A shadow of hesitation passed over Mr. Mittal's face as he said those lines.

Before Sridhar put out any more questions, Mr. Mittal seemed to subdue him a bit.

"Well then! You should leave that dog and its owner to their plights and activities, you must not bother or focus on them anymore!"

Saying this he got up to escort Sridhar out of the door.

As Sridhar had been wearing his chappals Mr. Mittal suddenly shifted the conversation.

"By the way Sridhar, I would be taking a transfer to another city pretty soon, within a month.

So both of us shouldn't get into trouble in the locality eh?"

"A transfer Mittal uncle? But you seem so settled and well off here already!" Sridhar shot back.

"Well look, Sridhar, one must consider when life gives them better opportunities"

Sridhar nodded, but was little surprised, as he failed to fathom how a man who rarely gets along in the social events and happenings of the society could get into any sort of trouble.

Unknown to them, Mrs. Darshan had been climbing down the stairs and quite to her habit, had overheard the last piece of conversation Sridhar had with Mr. Mittal.

As Sridhar raced past Mrs. Darshan downstairs he overheard her murmuring

"A Stable Job, settled life, yet a transfer so sudden, this doesn't add up"

As Sridhar came to the floor below, he bad slowed his pace to one stair at a time.

This transfer of Mr. Mittal somehow doesn't add up to everything that has happened till now.

Questions, he had a lot of them, and the winding and mazy staircase seemed to metaphorize his life right now, trapped in a labyrinth of mysteries and unanswered questions.

And who could forget the troubles he was having adjusting to the absolute wreck of housing.

Who would he find to bond to, if Mr. Mittal leave, he wonders.

To be continued...