When souls drift - Part 3

A sigh mixed the sound of the rain water; a sigh which reflected excitement and a lot of nervousness. He looked at the stairs and started ascending them slowly towards the third floor. A gulp went down his throat as he ascended each step at a time. He was very mechanical in his walk. Occasional sounds of the T.V. came from closed off-white doors. Some old woman was chatting in her neighbor’s living room. Looking at the drenched Raj she stopped her unnecessary and useless discussion and after a brief glance at him continued with it. Raj ignored everyone and slowly reached the third floor. Clad in an off-white baniyan and a blue checkered lungi a middle aged man was wiping his feet to a foot rug.

“Whom do you want?” he inquired the puzzled and stressed out Raj.

Moving his hands over his head, Raj tried to comb his wet hair with his two palms. Looking at the gentleman he said “Sanjeev…Sanjeev Joshi”.

“Aren’t you…Rajendra Sardesai!” the innocent fellow went ecstatic. He vigorously shook hands with the highly successful businessman. Raj saw a huge fan in the man’s eyes.

“Could you please tell me where Sanjeev lives?”

“Here, this way, come sir…please come…Sanjuuuu…a Sanjuuuuu…Sanjuuuuuu” the fellow welcomed Raj as if he were his own guest.

Raj removed his shoes and placed tried to place them on the shoe rack. The old wooden rack was already filled with shoes, an old rug, some toy, a small plant in a very filthy pot. He kept his shoes near the rack and looked at the living room of Sanjeev Joshi’s small home. The walls were very light blue in color. A small effigy of the laughing Buddha faced the door. An old showcase was placed in the corner of the room. A mattress lay on the floor with a few corners all torn out. A brown couch faced the television. The room had two doors, one showing the balcony and the other showing the kitchen. A very inexpensive poster of Aishwarya Rai was stuck on one of the walls. The entire look narrated the simplest life possible for Raj. His bathroom would be more expensive than the whole 750 sq. feet block that Sanjeev Joshi lived in.