Truth is stranger than fiction! .. but I’d still prefer fiction - lesser nightmarish.
Also ‘Truth’ is with what this young WOH entered our lives - even if not .. we still want to believe so!
Ok then.. while we were still coping up with the described-in-last-episode betrayal .. it wasn’t easy for us to trust anyone! But we so wanted to .. especially this smiling and youthful WOH we had just hired.
Like every desi girl in her 20s .. this Bollywood fanatic was in search of her knight in shining armour! She was this Simran looking out for her Raj, the pooja who believed in ‘koi na koi to hain, jo mere liye bana hai’ and the Rahul ki maya - the dreamy deewani (read crazy) whose only aim in life was to look good and find that someone special and dance through .. well wait I dont know if she could dance .. mmm.
“XXXX hum YYYY movie dekh rahe hai .. tumhe dekhani hai ? Aajao ..”
“*nahi Bhabhi ye to Maine dekh li “*
“Achha”
....
“ nayi movie release hui hai Yaha Bangkok me Kal .. chalogi dekhane humare saath?
*“dekh li Bhabhi Wo to Maine .. Kal raat ko online”*
... these routine answers for a couple of more times and I was done being unwise 🤪
Well .. Unlike many of her age, she enjoyed cooking too and took special interest in trying newer dishes - some of which would come out really well while others were a lesson ‘Always keep a take-out menu handy’!
Some days were like ..
“XXXX bhook lagi hai”
“*Kya khaaoge Bhabhi?”*
“Kya banega jaldi se? .. thodasa kuchh”
“*Maggi phat kar du?”*
“Haan chalega”
... and by the time I would reach back my bed to laze-out .. she would run in holding the most-unhealthy-but-super-delicious-dish of the world which even a Michelin-star chef could never recreate ‘THE Maggi phat’!!!
It was for her that we got to eat the homemade chay (vegetarian) versions of all the delicious and chilli-cious ‘A-haan Thai’. She also introduced us to the not-so-famous but super yummy Burmese cuisine. .... slurrrrpppp .. Not fair .. now I need to find an Asian restaurant nearby ASAP!
Phat (stir- fried) , chay (vegan) , ahaan (food) are some Thai words which frequent these Burmese WOHs’ spoken dialect... and so does Thai food their at-least once-a-day meal !
Dusky and sweet - she was very friendly to talk to. Understanding and available - she would tag along for long walks and made a good company when my hubby would be travelling or working late. We would have incessant chats sharing our lives - from how we grew up to how we moved to this beautiful city we were in and from what we loved and hated about our respective birth and work places to what do we want to do next.
While her country happens to slowly open for better prospects - now that a lot of sanctions have been lifted off Burma .. she wanted to go back and work as a teacher.
These noble thoughts of hers had given birth to mine and there we were - buying books and trying to teach her English during our free times/weekends - right from the ABCs.
We were also digging for further online lessons to make her life easier.
However we couldn’t go very far- lots of hurdles . For eg. the humble ‘Ws’ - We so wish there were only 25 alphabets!
English grammar is no piece of cake though!
She also had shared how her elder sister wasn’t ready to get married and hence it was a problem for her marriage and that she feared if she grows older she wouldn’t get a good match!
“*Main meri behen ko bolti hu Tu jaldi kar na .. to mera number lagega.. sab achhe ladke khatam ho jaenge nahi to.. par Wo maanti hi nahi .. usko shaadi nahi karni*
*Bhabhi badi ki shaadi nahi hui to chhoti ki kaise karenge na*”
“To tumhe koi pasand hai kya?”
“*Nahi Bhabhi .. bahut saare ladke poochhate to hai”*
“Achha tumse poochhate hai?”
“*Haan Bhabhi .. Abhi parso ek ladke ka phone aaya tha .. Wo b Burma se hi hai .. yahi rehta hai .. baat hoti hai to bolta hai shaadi ka ...* “
“Tum jaanti ho use?”
“*Nahi Bhabhi phone pe baat hoti hai .. Wo passport agent hai na usase no. liya tha mera usne aur call kiya mujhe*”
“Ohh achha ... Dhyan se Haan xxxx “... and my ‘the-mommy’ lectures would start !!
One thing was really catchy about her - she could never be diplomatic - all her emotions could be very well read from her face!
As good were her non-verbals, her verbals weren’t at all.
It was that time of the year when our family would travel together to spend some quality time - but could never do without Indian-food!
And so, while Chiang Mai was a touristy spot, we had booked a with-a-cook-ourselves-kitchen Villa for our stay. Our plan was to, essentially, take this WOH along so she could cook for us while we could visit places.
A week or so earlier to our travel .. she had come up to me.
“*Bhabhi mera passport agent ko dena padega visa lagane*”
“Okay kab aaj dena hai ?”
“*Nahi Bhabhi kal*”
“Achha to tumhe jaana padega?”
“*Nahi shayad Wo aa jaega yaha pe lene*”
“Achha chalo good hai”
Cut to the morning of travel ....
“*Bhabhi Maine sab rakh diya hai pack karke... Chhota wala cooker b rakh du kya ..?*”
“Nahi bass ek hi bahut hai .. tumhara bag b rakh do na laake yehi .. driver rakh dega gaadi me ..”
“*Bhabhi main to nahi aa rahi na*”
“Kyu????”
“*Maine bataya tha na .. mera passport nahi hai to main nahi jaa sakti na ..”*
“Hain???”
You know how the husbands say - to understand their wives they need to learn to read ‘between the lines ‘.. well that is true and not just about wives !!
And here we were - respecting the packed-to-cook stuff on our vacation... all by ourselves !!
One fine day I walked into the kitchen for my daily round of supervision, only to find her face covered in white creamy layer while she was rolling rotis.
“Ohh Kya hua .. ?”
*“Kuchh nahi Bhabhi .. Wo meri behen ki dost ne ye cream batayi hai .. usko b aisa hua tha to usne ye lagayi thi .. usko kaafi farak pada tha.. “*
“Achha !”
The other day she had told me about her visit to a doctor for the break-outs on her face .. and apparently he had suggested ‘heat’ could be the reason for it.
I do not exactly know what language the doc told her this in but it was translated to
“*Wo main din bhar gas ke paas rehti hu na to usase hua hai doctor bola”*
“Ohh achha ... paani jyada peeya kiya karo..” startled the ‘no-degree-doctor’ in me!
A few days later the relaxing sandalwood smell had led me to “Ohh Achha chehre pe lagaya hai”
Sometimes coconut oil, sometimes Thai face packs and some other times some traditional Chinese medicine - she was educating both of us.
And My ‘Achhas’ were increasing in number day by day as were her varied attempts to get rid of whatever that was affecting her facial beauty.
Towards the end of my family’s vacation there was, as the tradition goes, a gift exchange -
My sister (in-law on papers) gave her a beautiful dress
and
She gave us ‘THE NOTICE’ ..
yes it was the day.. the day she put down her papers ....
Had the gifting order been reversed .. I would be wearing the better one today😜
“*Bhabhi main Khaana banane ka kaam nahi kar sakti .. mera face bahut kharab ho raha hai gas ke paaas khade reh ke.. “*
“Achhaa ... to kya karna hai?”
“*Bhabhi main koi aur dhund dungi aapke liye ..”*
“Achhaaa “
“*Main abb kisi ke ghar pe nahi karungi .. meri ek behen shop me kaam karti hai .. uske jaise hi main b shop me karungi ..”*
“Achhaaaaaa”
“Thik hai abb .. koi aur dekh lo fir .. dhund do .”
*“Bhabhi ek meri dost hai .. Wo kaam dhund rahi hai .. usko bula du ..*”
“Achhi hai kya? .. “
“*Haan Bhabhi meri dost hai .. *“
“Thik hai baat karte hai ..”
And ting tong .. the friend was standing at our door ..
My WOH’s notice period was as short as her KT to the new person - 2 hrs!! This lady was actually out of our house within 2 hours of putting down her papers !
What a planner !!
Am I the only one here who cannot get past the achhaaas and get smart enough to see what’s coming ?
But thanks to you - my readers .. atleast I am not the last one to know the reality!!
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