Early mornings during weekends are a lovely time at the Worli sea face. Bombay is the calmest and quietest as it can be with an occasional Ferrari or a Lamborghini thundering by.
This one time, I wanted to gift a box of mangoes to a friend who was going to join me and my husband for a walk. We were earlier than the scheduled time.
Hubby suggested – “Let’s just sit here for a while, you can’t be walking around with this box.”
But last night’s ice cream calories were weighing on my mind so I said – “I’ll carry the box, it is a good form of exercise.”
“You wanna gift this, your problem, but I won’t carry it.”
“When did I ever ask you for help, I can jolly well carry it.”
So, we continue walking, me trying to juggle the box from one hand to the other, trying out all possible positions. Slowly it dawned on me that every passerby was quite amused by my antics, curiosity written all over their faces.
Hubby is walking oblivious, petting various dogs passing by till we bumped into someone we knew.
“You are such a shameless guy, letting your wife carry the box.”
“I told her not to carry it, she insists, she never listens to me.”
I want to kill him but don’t want to be jailed for it, so I am desperately trying to plot a perfect murder.
Meanwhile, hubby desperately tries to contact the ‘mango’ friend and figure out why the delay. But little did he know that his agony was going to multiply manifolds.
Suddenly a man stops us and asks hubby “Aap Haryana se hain kya?”
Hubby loses his voice and makes futile attempts to appear deaf and dumb.
“Chaliye koi nahin, aapko daya nahin aa rahi hai, main hi utha leta hun.”
I protested “It’s ok, my friend is coming soon, it’s not too heavy anyway.”
By now, hubby has completely disowned me, refuses to walk with me, but by now half of Worli sea face knows us.
We continue walking, people continue smirking. But not once does he offer to carry the box, and neither did my determination fade for not seeking his help.
Finally, to end the agony, my friend arrives one-and-a-half-hour late.
Mangoes handed over, I proceed to the farmers market to buy some fresh produce. Before I complete the purchase, hubby snatches two bags from my hand and vamooses before I can open my mouth!