Room 201

Slowly, he dragged the mop across the floors. He felt like he was walking on pins and needles. He seemed to blend with his surroundings. His actions were so slow it was like he was a part of the furniture around. There was not much of a distinction that could be made between his skin and the wooden floorboards. Both were dusty, wrinkled and smelt faintly of vinegar.

He had lived in that hotel for as long as he could remember. As he polished the bannisters of the staircase he smiled to himself. He could see his reflection on the glass of the photographs hung on the walls. It finally occurred to him. How he had aged.  

He had been the sole caretaker of seaside inn for the last forty years. As he climbed down the stairs painfully, his knees creaking was the only sound that could be heard throughout the corridor right up to the reception. Chako remembered the first time he walked up to the reception. It was with his mother. She was a handsome woman.  Sturdy as an ox, her hands were coarse and rough from washing all those clothes.  Somehow they never seemed to have enough money for chako’s school or birthdays or new clothes. There was no dependable father around. Just men who lived with his mother from time to time. As a child, chako never had questions about why he was made to sleep in the other room when the men stayed. He just immersed himself in strange fantasies. His mother always told him he was an odd child. Never a burden. But children always asked questions, didn’t they? Chako never did. He did what he was told. Never kicked up a fuss.  Never ever questioned anything or anyone. In a sense he was an extremely easy child. Maybe that’s what frightened his mother.

She took a job as the housekeeper of the inn. It was purely because one of her lovers had recently left with all her money. She was desperate. At that time, seaside inn was quite a cherubic place.

It was run by Mr. Koshy and his wife – an oddly identical couple. They had built it from scratch. Every brick in that hotel had their blood, sweat and tears. What started as a meager home stay had slowly expanded exponentially into a two story concrete structure with fifteen rooms – fully furnished with attached baths, and a fully equipped banquet/ restaurant.  Mrs. Koshy had painstakingly knit all the table clothes, mats and napkins. They had two sons who ran around the hotel. To ensure that they were not a nuisance to Koshy’s beloved guests, they were sent to boarding school. One of the fanciest ones that too.

With the boys away, Mrs. Koshy’s maternal instincts reached its high point. She made sure every guest was welcomed with a warmth that could only be compared to being home. And so, they kept coming back. Be it the couple for their second honeymoon or the bachelors for their business meetings. Slowly a first story was built and then the second. It was not guilt, but pure love that ensured them putting in all their money into sending their sons to America to study further.

Initially Mr. and Mrs. Koshy found it hard to divide their time between phone calls from America and customers booking in advance. But gradually both ceased. The phone calls from America stopped because the boys had found themselves American wives who were a little too cost conscious. Mrs. Koshy’s  constant worrying of the boys caused her to be a little absent minded. So when there was a little too much salt in the soup, word got around. What started with Mrs. Koshy being distracted only made the situation worse with the new Riverfront hotel coming up on the opposite street. It  was four stories and painted bright yellow. It had the new English marble flooring and French widows. The added advantage was that it was economical and came out with new super discounts. Mr. and Mrs. Koshy’s price ranges were still those depending on the months fluctuating grocery rates.

And so, in their distraught between America and running a hotel full time, Mr. and Mrs. Koshy found that the empire that they built slowly crumbling and fading away. It was not so much as crumbling as it was turning into grey.  The lustre from the walls began to fade away.  And along with their fleeting ill health, seaside inn began to fade away into the backdrop of old Calcutta. It became as common as the next old newspaper mart. No one went in.

It was a rainy evening when Mrs. Koshy breathed her last on a bed in room 201. She had just finished dusting the back of the curtains when she felt faintly dizzy. Mr. Koshy found her lying on the bed three hours later when dinner was not ready yet.  Mr. Koshy was found dead exactly one week later by chako while he was dusting the back of the curtain.

By now chako was fairly experienced with dead. He had lost his mother to tuberculosis when he was sixteen. Probably Mrs. Koshy felt the loss of young blood around in the house and so, she decided to allow chako to stay on in one of the outhouses. Chako had proved to be a trust worthy lad as he ran around the house completing errands. He stayed at an arms length of trouble, didn't unnecessarily indulge in excess alcohol or girls at the youthful age of sixteen. His only weakness was the occasional beedi from lalu’s tea shop.

After five years of working independently for the koshy’s at seaside inn, Chako’s role slowly began to be more significant. What was ironic was the fact that as Chako’s responsibilities increased in number , slowly did the deterioration of the hotel. It was not that Chako was bad at his work. It was just bad timing, as they say.

Today, thirty years after the death of the Koshy’s , Chako was the sole caretaker of the place. The others were long gone in search of greener pastures. Even the cook who was ever famous for his rogan rosht now had a popular television show to his credit.  He smiled when he thought of the children. They were well settled with children now in America. They did send money frequently to take care of the hotel. They didn’t want to sell the place. Well, not just yet at least.

So it was with great penitence that Chako took care of the place in the hope that some day when the heirs come back to India, they would find the place just as their parents had left it. You see, Chako was, afterall a faithful man. Faithful to the only real family that had even shown him a semblance of love and had made him feel like he was required.

“trrrrrrrrrrrinnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggggggggggggg.”  “tttringg!”  “ ttttttringggggggggg!!”

Chako jumped up from his daydreams. It had been a while since he had heard that ring of that bell.

He slowly hobbled to the belldesk. A young woman of around thirty stood with a man beside her.

“ can we please get some service?” she was fanning herself with a piece of paper. Chako came closer. She wore tight jeans and a long floral top. She had a scarf wrapped around her hair and thick large sunglasses. She carried an oversized handbag. Her husband was the typical corporate. With a large V.I.P roller on one side, he carefully clutched an airbag close to his chest.

Chako walked up to the couple.

“ can we please get a room. It’s just for the night” she said it more like she was reassuring herself that her ordeal in seaside inn would be bearable as long as she just had to spend one night only. She continued to look around. There was an obvious hint of disgust on her face. She didn’t want to be there. she made that quite clear.

As Chako came closer to her he could feel faintly his breathing becoming increasingly difficult. And he was acutely aware that it wasn’t the asthma, nor was it the heart burns. At fifty six, he was not new to the ways of women. He had been around quite a few women. That he had not decided to marry was a choice that he made personally. He knew that the domestic life was not for him. He remembered the first woman he had been with. He had insisted on making love to her with all their clothes on. Except for the obvious. She had found it strange. But he was so rigid that it scared her away. It scared most women away, infact.  He had no father himself. So, he had decided against fathering his own child.

And so, when he saw those tight jeans on this woman, he could feel his pulse rise. He didn’t know why. She was one of those women he detested. They were too pricy and high maintainance. They only preferred to eat at restaurants that had a wine cellar that was large enough to hold a football team.

He wondered why she didn’t go next door to the fancy inn. Looking outside he figured. It was shut for renovation. This was his chance he thought. Maybe he could bring back the charm of the place. Maybe he could make it popular again. Maybe it would go back to its glory. It was at this moment, that particular moment, when he was standing there, in front of that door picking up their luggage that chako decided that he would, come what may, ensure that he would make sure that Mr. and Mrs. Sengupta ( as they wrote down their names on the register ) would part from seaside inn with nothing but the nicest of things. This was his resolve.

Therefore, despite the fact that they had paid for a single room that came under the category of “ economical “, chako still ensured that they got the honeymoon suite – room 201.  Even here, with exquisite tiling and the works, the Mrs. Still crinkled her nose at the sight of the washroom. Despite the exotic tiles and the massive washroom.

Chako left them to themselves. It was a moist and humid afternoon. Chako made sure that he cranked up the air conditioning.

His afternoon was one that was filled with much distraught and discomfort. Going up into room 201 proved to be fruitless. They didn’t require any refreshments. So, the freshly baked cupcakes of Chako went to sheer waste. He wondered what they wanted. If there was anything he could do to make them feel comfortable. After going into the room thrice, on various pretexts, being enquiry of food, water, alcohol or any other pleasantary, the fourth time saw the do not disturb sign being put out of the door.

Chako could not deny that he was grossly disappointed. His mind constantly played tricks on him.  He was her husband. He had every right to her. Who was he afterall?  Just a miserable caretaker of a dilapidated inn. But he wanted her. God! He wanted her. And he couldn’t understand it even. Why? He didn’t know. All he knew was that he did want her. So he spent the evening buying the most expensive fish, meat and preparing and extensive desert. He made sure every item on the menu was available. He didn’t remember the last time he had worked so hard.

It was dinner time. He wanted to ask them about dinner. But the “do not disturb” sign was still on. He laid out the best crockery. And he waited. Patiently. Eight o clock… nine o clock.. ten o clock… they had to eat at some point.

By ten thirty he could hear laughter in the corridor. She had worn a satin dress with skin coloured tights. Chako’s heart skipped a beat on seeing her.  He was so caught up that he almost dropped the jug of water he was holding.

“ we’ll just have a few sandwiches. That’s all. “ – she said.

Sandwiches? Shit. Of all the things – beef, pork, chicken , stew… they wanted vegetable sandwiches?

Chako went into the kitchen. There was no bread. Sandwiches were on the breakfast menu. But chako was so determined to make them happy. He wanted them to believe that seaside inn was  a place that they would recommend.

“ and please make it fast” – she called out.

Chako walked out of the hotel. Not a shop in sight. Nothing was open. There was no one in sight.  Chako wasn’t exactly the friendly type. He didn’t have anyone who he could call a close friend. But these were desperate times that called for desperate measures.

He knew where lalu, the man who owned the tea stall stayed. In the dead of night he knocked on his door.

“ please. Can I have a loaf of bread?”

“ chako! Have you gone insane? What time is it? Coming to my house at this hour? You scared my wife. And me. What is wrong with you?”

“ please lalu. All I want is a loaf of bread. Eight slices to be exact. I’ll even pay you for it! “

“ you are insane! Oh god!! Fool ! get out!”

“lalu. Please. This is important to me. Please”

The neighbours knew the rest of the conversation. But chako was a persistant man. He begged. And pleaded. And finally, lalu threw a loaf of bread and asked him to make sure that he was never seen around him ever again.

“ is it ready? Its taking such a long time. And we are hungry also!” -  she said

“yes madam. Almost done”

They didn’t say a word. But they ate in silence.

They retired shortly to their room.

They didn’t want breakfast the next morning. They only asked for a cab and help to bring down their luggage at daybreak. 

With a heavy heart, Chako went into the room the next morning. The couple were sitting by the bedside. She looked radiant. Chako took one look at the bedcovers and his heart sank.  He picked up the bags. He began walking out.

Just as he walked out, he heard her voice..

“ tip him. But we are never coming back here. I mean the service is so bad. Please make sure  you never bring me to a place like this..”

Suddenly, Chako felt the real weight of the bags. And his heart seemed to have lost its place.