Oct 18 2009 The Carp Comes for a Surprise Visit

So for Divali we gave some sweets to the other folks who live in this 4-plex. This includes the landlord and his family, the downstairs neighbors who run the dhaba and Mr.BA and the Carp. I am now going to call Mr. BA the Grouse. So the Grouse and the Carp. I went into her shop and gave her the sweets and wished Happy Divali and she was actually speechless for like 5 minutes. So that’s the key!  She wanted to give us some chocolate bars and such but we said that’s OK.

Next day evening she shows up at my door knocking. I was quite surprised. She’s never ventured up here before. She has a bag in hand and shoves it at me as she shoves herself inside my door. I had tried to keep the transaction at the door and the entrance but she wasn’t having it.

She brushes past me and goes into the dining room to have a look around. She is smiling all the way. I think she has waited 18 months to get a look at our place. Then on to the kitchen. She took a quick inventory of everything on the shelves. I was surprised she didn’t open the fridge but I was standing in front of it. Then into the big room which has the bed and television. She was most pleased to see Hindu religious pictures on the wall and an Om hanging in the doorway. I told her we have another room also but she seemed satisfied that while even though Manoj and I have this “illicit” relationship there is a place for God around that. We aren’t therefore totally hopeless. I think I mentioned that she yells at Shiva 2 or 3 times a day at least 20 minutes at a go while shaking a handful of bells like she’s trying to  wake him up over at Kailash. (quite a distance from here)

I didn’t invite her for tea. She didn’t seem to expect it. She just left while all the information she gathered was fresh in her mind. Straight upstairs to pour it out to the Grouse and the Son. The whole layout of the place, what masalas were on the shelves, our brand of television everything. And we are not so rich as she thought as well. (gasps!) Though our whole house is very tidy.

So she hasn’t spoken to me since then though no doubt she’s told the other busybody woman a couple of shops down all about it.  The Grouse has taken to waving and smiling at me now more than before.

I thought to thank her for the cockroaches but didn’t. Apparently they cleaned their place (finally) and we had an invasion of their zoo. At least 4 species of cockroaches, silverfish, sow bugs (aka wood lice), spiders, earwigs, centipedes and other things I couldn’t identify. They came in waves like they were storming the beach. Of course they did this in the middle of the night and I woke up when one fell on my face from the ceiling.  They were only cleaning with brooms so of course they were only stirring these things up. In the middle of the night I spent about 2 hours with a flyswatter just hammering all these things. Had half a dustpan full.

Next day I sprayed our rooms down with pesticide. (not my favorite thing to do but I don’t like bugs in my mouth when I sleep thanks) Oh but they kept coming though. The spray would knock them down and the floor was crunchy for a few days. Then a week later they decided to spray their place. Again the onslaught. I got another can of spray and did all the areas where I saw them coming through cracks or crawling.

Well it’s after Divali and we still get a few but they are from the room where the landlord keeps his stuff. I don’t think he’s going to spray it.

But the cold nights are starting up so that’ll kill them. They come into our rooms because it’s warmer and then they walk across the sprayed areas and are done.  It’s been a fight with these things.

I am going to encourage the Asian House Shrews, which are insectivorous,( the little creature I accidentally killed a few days back) as I think there is another one in the ceiling. It’s a wooden false ceiling and that’s where most of the bugs come through. And if it comes inside I will be more careful not to kill it but just shepherd it out into the landlords storage room to take care of things there.

Anyways not much else. A stupid new driver got the truck into an accident which entailed me and Manoj going to Dehra Dun a whole bunch of times to get that fixed. Pain in the ass. With this restriction on getting building materials from the river bed construction has fallen off here and many of the good drivers have gone elsewhere for steady work so Manoj is only left with hiring the cream of the bottom of the barrel. Will be so happy when we sell that truck-it’s been a headache from the beginning. Everyone wants credit, drivers don’t show up or steal the money for the loads or get drunk before work or all kinds of crap. And all of it is always someone else’s fault. Sometimes men just need to grow up a little and take responsibility for their own lives and actions. Not only in India but everywhere is this kind of shirking. Arrrggghhhh! Boys will be boys even if they are over 40! That’s sad.