by Esther David
Irene’s hand froze in mid-air. She looked suspiciously at Ruby. ‘How come after all these years you are asking me about Georgie? I remember you were to be married, but he disappeared and you married Gershom. Must say, a much better choice than Georgie. Have you met him recently? I know he is in Puducherry. Did the lecher come here?’
‘Not really.’
‘What do you mean, “not really”?’
‘Well, I saw him.’
‘Where…’
‘Right here…’
‘When?’
‘Last month.’
‘Well…’
‘Did you meet him often in California?’
‘Of course…’
‘What does he do there?’
‘Why?’
‘Because in Puducherry he is a potter…’
‘Oh yeah…’
Irene’s eyes blazed. ‘Ruby, you are hiding something from me.’
Ruby’s eyes brimmed with tears. ‘Irene, I don’t know what to do. I am in love with Georgie.’
‘So what next?’
‘I want to marry him. I have been so lonely.’
‘Marry Georgie?’
‘Yes.’
‘Are you mad?’
‘I don’t know what to do. He was here for a week.’
‘I am sure he used all his charm on you.’
‘I can’t explain. I felt like I was sixteen and in love all over again.’
‘He plays the same game with all women.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘My husband Mordecai and I have kept in touch with Georgie since we all went to America together. We often met, as Georgie is my cousin. And, when he married Victoria, we had the reception at our place. They had met on a blind date. It was a whirlwind affair. Remember, he ditched you for Victoria—a real American blonde, just the type Indian men fantasize about.’
‘I know, but he was so young…’
‘Don’t justify his actions just because he came and swept you off your feet, knowing that you were lonely since dear Gershom passed away.’
‘In a way, I agree with you.’
‘Let me tell you, Victoria was a wonderful wife to him. He behaved himself for the first three years, since she supported him. And, by the way, he has never done a jot of work his whole life.’
‘But he told me he is doing well as a potter.’
‘Lies … when he married Victoria he knew she would support him, as she was in love with him. But she had not completed her studies. So she first worked as a cashier at a mall and went to school late in the evening. In two years, she had a diploma. She worked as a secretary in a law firm and, as he did not want to study, she found him a job as a waiter at a friend’s restaurant. He was interested in art, so she sent him to art school. That was where he learnt pottery.’
‘She must be a wonderful person.’
‘Yes, she was committed to him and worked hard to make ends meet.’
‘Then what went wrong?’
‘Well, the same old story. He had an affair with his pottery teacher who was twice his age. Victoria told me that once she came home early and found them in her bed. She kicked them both out of the house.’
‘Must have been awful for Victoria…’
‘She was broken, and it took her a long time to get back to normal.’
‘What happened to Georgie?’
‘He was almost on the streets. But Mordecai took pity on him and put him up in our extra room. However, when his potter friend started visiting him at our place, I put my foot down and asked Georgie to leave. Soon after, his lady love ditched him. She was married with a family and did not want to change anything in her life. Anyway, she had no intention of settling down with him. But she need not have worried; women find him charming and he had a series of girlfriends. We continued to invite him for Sabbath dinner every Friday evening and knew all that was going on in his life. Then he introduced us to Myra, better known as Maa Myramayi. After that, his life seemed to change for the better.’
Ruby looked shell-shocked as she asked, ‘Did I hear correctly, Myra … Myramayi? Not the one who lived in Ahmedabad some time back, in Juliet’s apartment?’
‘I think so. She told us that she had lived in Ahmedabad for a year. I remember I asked her if she had met you, but she was not sure. She gave me some mumbo-jumbo about a Ruby who divines dreams. Do you?’
Ruby was embarrassed. ‘No, she must have mixed me up with someone else.’
‘She had gone to Rishikesh to an ashram with her guru but eventually returned to America and became part of some religious sect. Truthfully, I don’t understand her at all.’
‘So, she was Georgie’s companion at that point.’
‘No … they have been together for many years.’
‘Oh…’
‘Didn’t he tell you? She was in Ahmedabad and he had even asked her to meet you. The creep … Myra is a kinky old woman … looks much older than him … she is also a potter. That is how he met her. And hold your breath! She is Georgie’s live-in partner. They work together, live together and she has given him the freedom to live as he fancies, because she knows he will always return to her. She is his lover, sister, mother, all rolled in one.’
‘He told me his friend in Puducherry was a man…’
‘What else did he tell you?’
‘He proposed marriage and said that we would live in America but I should keep this apartment so that we could live in both countries.’
‘Ruby, you are really naive. Georgie will never marry you. He is still married to Victoria.’
‘And Victoria?’
‘She lives with Martin, a lawyer. They do not plan to get married.’
‘How could he do this to me?’
‘He can, because that’s all he does.’
Ruby was in tears. ‘Tell me, Irene, what should I do?’
‘Forget him.’
That night, on Irene’s insistence, Ruby called Georgie. A recorded message responded, ‘This number does not exist.’
5
Yael
WHEN YAEL WAS in her early twenties, she decided that if she ever got married, she would choose a rich man. She was a computer engineer and doing well financially. She did not really need a husband to support her. Her mother Abigail and aunt Lebana had hinted that they were receiving many proposals for her. Quietly, Yael would listen to what they said about the suitors and their financial status. But whenever they asked her if she would consider a certain young man, she would refuse.
At the synagogue, where they had Sunday Hebrew classes, malidas, festivals, engagements, mehendis, weddings and other events, Yael had studied most of the bachelors of the community and rejected them. She was friendly with them and sometimes even flirted with them, but she knew that nobody could live up to her idea of a husband. Abigail and Lebana were worried that Yael might have a runaway marriage with a non-Jew one day and were anxious that she was so friendly with her immediate boss in the office. They took great pride in the fact that she was a well-brought-up Jewish girl. She was always back home by 6.30 p.m. She had told them that after office hours, other employees hung around at a café near the office, but she never joined them, though they teased her that she led a boring life and was tied to her mother’s apron strings. After office, she would take a bus home and not stop at a mall, even when she wanted to buy a bottle of nail polish. Occasionally, when there was an office party, a colleague’s birthday, wedding anniversary or farewell, she would take her mother’s permission to stay late but make sure that someone from the office dropped her home by 9 p.m. She realized that if she came home late, both Abigail and Lebana would be waiting for her in the drawing room, watching a late-night movie on television, or on the balcony, watching the road leading to the main gate. She visualized their tense faces and decided that she would rather be home early and follow their strict timings as she had always done since she was a child.
Abigail and Lebana were proud of their beautiful Yael. T
all, slim and always dressed in full-sleeved kurtis over jeans with a dupatta, her shoulder-length hair in a ponytail or left open, she was the image of a good Jewish girl. Whenever she dressed up in an embroidered kurta and sequinned dupatta and wore make-up, it was for an event at the synagogue.
After all their efforts to get Yael married to a Bene Israel Jew from Ahmedabad failed, Abigail and Lebana spread the word through relatives in Mumbai, Thane and Israel that they were looking for a groom for her. Soon, they started receiving more marriage proposals. Yael checked out each one of them and told her mother and aunt that they should stop looking for prospective grooms, as she had studied the background of each prospect and was not interested in anyone.
One weekend, when her mother had a holiday from the school where she taught English, Yael surprised them by returning home early with a carton of cupcakes, made tea and said that she wanted to speak to them. Abigail and Lebana sat around their small dining table, assuming that she would tell them she was in love with her boss. They were relieved when Yael broached the subject of her marriage but did not mention her boss. She told them that the grooms they had suggested were not suitable. And even if the suitors from Israel looked promising, they were not for her. Abigail and Lebana tried to explain to Yael that money was not everything; finding a good Jewish husband was important.
Yael did not agree and said that she had decided to stay unmarried for the rest of her life. Defeated, mother and aunt accepted her decision, assuming that it was a temporary one to ward off their matchmaking. They hoped that she would change her mind when she found the right partner.
Soon, Abigail and Lebana stopped matchmaking. This lasted till Yael celebrated her thirtieth birthday. Secretly, they worried about her male colleagues, married or unmarried. Yael often invited her women friends for high tea and once a year, she would invite her entire office staff for dinner. At these parties, her friendliness with the men bothered her mother and aunt. Even more so when she had long conversations on her cell phone or sat for hours on the sofa, sending text messages.
Yael was becoming increasingly secretive, so both mother and aunt were sure that she would have a runaway marriage with a non-Jew. They often discussed Yael and wondered if she had a boyfriend, not necessarily from the office. Abigail would defend her daughter at such times, saying that she was friendly but never coquettish.
Then one day everything changed. It was at the Passover Seder organized by the synagogue, where there was an American family of six, a long-faced Jew from Venezuela with dreadlocks and a bespectacled South African Jew.
Usually, during a Passover ceremony, families sat together and Yael shared the table with her mother and aunt. But on that particular day, she came late from office to the synagogue and there was no place for her. So Ezra led her to the centre table he had set aside for their foreign guests and Yael found herself sitting between the Venezuelan and the South African. Both were young and Yael was uncomfortable, as she felt all eyes on her. After all, she was a young unmarried woman and people would assume that she was flirting with the two. Self-conscious, she almost stood up to leave when she noticed Ruby sitting at the head of the table. Ruby had noticed her discomfiture and gave her a reassuring smile. Seated between the two men, who smiled at her, Yael nodded with the hint of a smile. They introduced themselves. The Venezuelan’s name was Arial and the South African was Yohan. Yael introduced herself, throwing nervous glances around her. Soon, they started talking and Yael relaxed. An Indian Passover Seder being different from those held in other countries, Yael explained the rites and rituals to them.
At some point during the conversation, she heard Yohan speak in Gujarati. He asked her whether he was supposed to drink the sherbet or just hold the glass in his hand. Yael smiled and answered in Gujarati. She was impressed. When there was a break in the prayers, she asked where he had learnt the language.
In an hour, Yael gathered a lot of information about Yohan. He had grown up in Johannesburg, South Africa, where his neighbours were Patels from Gujarat. Thanks to this family, he had developed a love for Gujarati food, language and lifestyle. Later, he had taken lessons in Gujarati, but by profession, he was a professor of sociology. He had met an Ahmedabad-based litterateur, Professor Makwana, at a conference in New York, who had spoken about Gujarati literature and recited a poem. Yohan was so impressed that he had followed him to Ahmedabad, after arrangements for Yohan’s accommodation were made near the professor’s home. Like all travelling Jews, he had wanted to attend the Passover Seder services at a synagogue. Professor Makwana knew Ezra and made arrangements for Yohan to be at the synagogue.
When Yohan started taking lessons from Professor Makwana, he had insisted that the young man should speak in Gujarati. So Yohan was happy to practise Gujarati with Yael, who complimented him on his almost-perfect accent. Yohan was pleased.
Abigail and Lebana were watching Yael from a distance and were uncomfortable with her sudden interest in the foreigner. He was friendly and by the end of the evening, Yael and he had exchanged phone numbers.
Much to Abigail and Lebana’s surprise, after the Seder, Yael informed them that she had invited Yohan for tea over the weekend.
When Yohan arrived, Yael was late in coming from work. He stood in the doorway and charmed Abigail and Lebana by greeting them with a namaste. He looked handsome in a maroon khadi kurta worn over jeans. As they waited for Yael, he asked them questions about the Jewish community of Ahmedabad. They were impressed that he was a linguist and, besides Gujarati, could speak Hindi, Hebrew, French and Spanish. When Yael arrived, the older women left the young people alone and started preparations for tea, as Yohan had requested them to make Gujarati tea for him, with ginger and cardamom.
That night, Yael informed her mother that she would be giving Gujarati lessons to Yohan twice a week, and he would have Sabbath dinner with them. She was not asking permission but making a statement. Abigail and Yael accepted her decision, as they were happy that she was taking an interest in a young man. What did it matter that he was from South Africa? After all, he was Jewish and that was more important than anything else.
So on Wednesdays and Fridays, Yael came back home early and one thing led to another. Yael and Yohan started spending Sunday afternoons together. He became part of the family and almost always stayed on for dinner. They turned a deaf ear to rumours circulating in Shalom India Housing Society that Yael and Yohan were having an affair. To counter the gossip, Lebana informed everyone that Yohan had a girlfriend in America and asked, ‘Have you ever seen Yael go out with Yohan? They do not even go to the café round the corner; they always meet when we are at home. They are just good friends.’
When the young men of Shalom India Housing Society teased Yohan about his American girlfriend, he smiled broadly and cracked jokes in Gujarati, which nobody understood but everybody laughed at.
Yohan was funny and friendly. He attended all festivals, malidas and community dinners at the society and also joined the early morning laughing club. Once in a while, he met Ruby and played the piano with her, which annoyed Yael. He also visited Franco Fernandez late at night, chatted with him and played his violin as Yael stood on her balcony, listening to him.
All rumours came to an end when Yael hosted a farewell dinner for Yohan. He was leaving India and going to New York and she wanted to introduce him to her office friends. Yael had made plum juice, vegetable biryani, salad and dal. Yohan had brought mango ice cream for everybody. The menu was planned by Yael and Yohan, who behaved like co-hosts of the party. Abigail and Lebana were suspicious and exchanged knowing glances.
A week after Yohan left, Abigail asked Yael if she had heard from him. She shook her head and said, ‘I just received a thank-you card in my email.’
Soon, life returned to normal and the hope that Abigail had nurtured that Yael would marry Yohan was forgotten, although she had made a secret wish and asked Prophet Elijah to play matchmaker.
The Prophet answered her prayers through speed pos
t. In six months, two days before the Jewish New Year, Yohan was back in Ahmedabad, not to study Gujarati, but to ask for Yael’s hand in marriage. His parents had flown down with him to see the bride-to-be and were staying at a hotel.
Unknown to Abigail and Lebana, Yael and Yohan had been communicating through Skype and had decided to get married.
Abigail and Lebana invited Yohan and his parents for dinner. As soon as Yael opened the door, Yohan knelt in the doorway, held Yael’s hand in his and asked her to marry him. Yael accepted his proposal and they spent the evening having fun and laughing as Abigail and Lebana served the best of Bene Israel cuisine that they had asked Elisheba to cook for them. When dinner ended with the typical Bene Israel rose-coloured chik-cha-halwa, traditionally made for New Year, Yohan slipped a diamond ring on Yael’s finger and they were declared engaged. Yohan kissed Yael, went to the balcony and made a loud and clear announcement to the residents of Shalom India Housing Society that he was in love with her. Ezra immediately held an impromptu party, ordered a big cake and celebrated the event on the society lawns. Everybody shook hands, wished the couple ‘Mazal tov’ to the tune of Franco Fernandez’s violin and danced till late into the night.
As Yohan and his parents got ready to leave in their rented car, Lebana took Yohan aside and said, ‘Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?’
‘Anything you want to ask, Aunty.’
‘I do not know much about your society, but I know marriages don’t last there.’ With tears in her eyes, she added, ‘Promise me that you will never leave Yael…’
Yohan gave her a warm hug and in true Bollywood style said, ‘Nahin, kabhi nahin…never.’
6
Raphael
EVEN THOUGH RAPHAEL did not have an apartment at Shalom India Housing Society, nor is he a bride, he is part of this story. All the residents felt that he was part of their lives. Raphael often arrived like a pre-monsoon storm. His visits were sudden and when he came, he brought a certain joie de vivre with him.