The Mattress

 

The Mattress

“Spare a coin for a poor old man!”

Chinnappa the beggar had started his daily rounds as usual from the crowded, almost slum-like neighbourhood.During his rounds, he walked with an exaggerated limp and put on the most woebegone expression on his face.

He had been begging for as long as he could remember. Starting with the poor neighbourhoods populated by daily wage workers, manual labourers, auto rickshaw drivers, street vendors and the likes, he moved up to more and more affluent neighbourhoods as the day progressed.

He did this partly due to habit, partly because it was convenient since he slept on the footpath in this very neighbourhood, but mostly because he found that the poorer the people were, the more sympathetic they would be to his situation, which increased his likelihood of getting alms.

Ramesh the auto rickshaw driver was dusting the cotton mattress on his charpoi outside his one room kitchen house. When he saw Chinnappa, he stopped what he was doing, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a five rupee coin.

“Here you go!” Ramesh unfailingly gave alms, though the amount varied depending on how much he had made the previous day.

Chinnappa took the coin, made his obeisance, bowing in Ramesh’s general direction and touching the coin to his forehead, before putting in the sturdy leather pouch tied around his waist. The leather pouch was cleverly disguised by an old piece of rag. Wearing torn and dirty clothes was a necessity in his line of work, but one needed to be practical while storing one’s earnings!

Before moving away from Ramesh’s house, he looked longingly at the mattress on the charpoi. Even though he made more than enough with his begging to feed himself and for the occasional drink, he was still forced to sleep on the hard cement footpath. If only he could scavenge a mattress, he would be able to sleep so comfortably!

***

Ramesh stopped at the popular tea stall after he had dropped off his fifth client for the day. Thankfully, business was good today. But this wasn’t always the case, especially since those new-fangled service providers like Ola and Uber had become popular. They were offering cab rides for dirt cheap prices!

He spotted Bankim, a cab driver who also frequented the tea stall. Perhaps he should consider becoming a cab driver himself. He had heard cab drivers made upwards of twenty thousand rupees every month! Twenty thousand rupees! He would be able to do so much with twenty thousand rupees! Plus there were also incentives and bonuses!

“Bankim!” Ramesh called out.

“Ramesh anna! How are you?”

“I needed some information about this Ola and Uber.”

Before Ramesh could continue, Bankim’s mobile phone rang shrilly.

“Yes madam. I am coming in two minutes madam.” Cursing under his breath, he pocketed his mobile phone.

“Sorry Ramesh anna, I have to go. The lady who has booked the trip will complain that I was late and give me a bad rating.” Leaving his cup of masala chai unfinished, Bankim hurried away.

***

“You took too long!” Sarita grumbled as she got into the cab, carefully pulling in her dupatta as she sat down.

“Sorry madam, I was on a break.”

“How is it my problem?”

Bankim remained mute, stifling his irritation. This happened almost every day. The rides were assigned randomly via the call centre, and though the drivers could cancel the ride, it reflected poorly on their rating if they cancelled too many rides, which in turn affected the incentives they would get.

He regretted not completing his graduate degree. If he had, he would probably be working in an office and be riding in cabs instead of driving them!

He regretted having fallen for the big-city glitz and glamour. Why ever had he thought that his life in the huge city would be better than his life in his village?

***

Sarita hurried up to her flat on the second floor of the apartment complex. Living in the city was so expensive, even with both her and her husband working full-time. There was the monthly house loan EMI, children’s school fees, and the expense of running the house!

She didn’t mind the job so much, but working full-time in addition to taking care of the children and the domestic duties was getting too much! If only she could hire house help...

She hurried to the dry balcony where the clothes were hung out to dry. As she was gathering up the clothes, she happened to glance into the bedroom of the mansion next door. Though she would never admit it, she often took longer than necessary in the dry balcony, secretly spying on the inhabitants of the mansion next door.

It belonged to a rich businessman, Mr. Shetty, and was filled with every conceivable item of luxury. The mansion had at least ten rooms, but only three people lived in it- Mr Shetty, his socialite wife, and his old mother.

It was remarkable that during all her spying sessions, she hardly ever saw the three of them together. They seemed to be living three separate lives, despite living under the same roof.

Mr. Shetty seemed to be home most days. She craned her neck discreetly to see what he was doing in his bedroom. Not that he did anything interesting. Mostly, he sat by the window, morosely gazing out on the street below.

But today was different. There seemed to be a scurry of activity going on in the bedroom. The servants had removed the thick, expensive looking mattress from his bed. It was the kind that had been specifically designed to provide supreme comfort.

What were they doing with it??? Oh dear Lord! They were actually throwing it away in the by-lane adjacent to the mansion!!! What a waste! If she had had a mattress like that, she would use it for twenty, perhaps thirty years!

Shaking her head, she walked back in, wondering just how rich Mr. Shetty was, to be able to casually throw away a perfectly good mattress that must have cost him at least forty thousand rupees! Forty thousand rupees was what she made in a month, after all the deductions!

How lucky he was!

***

Mr. Shetty was sitting by the window, gazing at the street. It was a quiet neighbourhood, and even though more and more mansions were being replaced by apartment complexes, he still liked it. It was one of the few things in life he actually liked anymore. Retiring at forty five had been his dream. He had concentrated on nothing but his business for the better part of the last twenty years in order to be able to retire early.

But in the process, he had alienated his family and friends. He had no particular interests or activities to keep him engaged these days.

His wife hardly talked to him, and he hardly talked to his mother. His mind was filled with non-existent worries and he had difficulty sleeping at night. Changing his mattress had been a desperate, last-ditch attempt to be able to sleep without the aid of sleeping pills.

The sun had set now but he did not move from his position by the window. There was that beggar again! He was a regular feature in the neighbourhood at this time. Even though the security guards of various apartment complexes chased him away, the beggar still made his round unfailingly.

Oh! He had discovered the mattress! To Mr. Shetty’s amazement, the beggar seemed miraculously cured of the limp he walked with as he rushed towards the mattress and plopped himself down in the middle, and within moments seemed to be fast asleep!

What wouldn’t he give to be able to fall asleep in an instant!