Ramesh, the garden man, came in at an irritable time. He has this way of dropping by when I'd have just begun my siesta but since there was work that needed his attention, his arrival was good, nay appropriate!
The courtyard's grassy patch was clipped and the trees and plants were attended to that required a lot of pruning. An offensive plant trying to grow through a drainage pipe was removed using a medicine that he'd promised during his previous visit. The different varieties of Bougainvillas, that had begun to flower - he'd vouched that all of them would flower provided we didn't water them unnecessarily - were also attended to.
It was at this time that I'd broached the topic of a young lady - claiming to be a salesgirl for the nursery under the aegis of the Agricultural College nearby - who'd visited us about a fortnight back and had collected Rs.850/- towards providing us a few potted plants of our choice. She'd promised to deliver them within the next 48 hrs and it was now over a fortnight since that promise was given!
I remember Ramesh warning us about impostors on an earlier visit but Lekha, who'd initiated the transaction didn't have reasons to doubt the visitor's integrity. She'd provided a receipt for the amount on the nursery's letterhead which accentuated her authenticity! Ramesh's explanation blew the last shred of hope that we'd nurtured. According to him, there were quite a few of such impostors who chose the houses of people who're actually outsiders - not belonging to Guruvayur, that is - to work their charms and dupe the unsuspecting host!
The afternoon was hot but Ramesh's explanation was explicit and it dawned on me that I'd been nicely duped!
Tailpiece.
My ego had suffered a serious bruise at the thought of having been duped at this stage of my life even though I claimed to have a tremendous amount of experience from life, in general.
The courtyard's grassy patch was clipped and the trees and plants were attended to that required a lot of pruning. An offensive plant trying to grow through a drainage pipe was removed using a medicine that he'd promised during his previous visit. The different varieties of Bougainvillas, that had begun to flower - he'd vouched that all of them would flower provided we didn't water them unnecessarily - were also attended to.
It was at this time that I'd broached the topic of a young lady - claiming to be a salesgirl for the nursery under the aegis of the Agricultural College nearby - who'd visited us about a fortnight back and had collected Rs.850/- towards providing us a few potted plants of our choice. She'd promised to deliver them within the next 48 hrs and it was now over a fortnight since that promise was given!
I remember Ramesh warning us about impostors on an earlier visit but Lekha, who'd initiated the transaction didn't have reasons to doubt the visitor's integrity. She'd provided a receipt for the amount on the nursery's letterhead which accentuated her authenticity! Ramesh's explanation blew the last shred of hope that we'd nurtured. According to him, there were quite a few of such impostors who chose the houses of people who're actually outsiders - not belonging to Guruvayur, that is - to work their charms and dupe the unsuspecting host!
The afternoon was hot but Ramesh's explanation was explicit and it dawned on me that I'd been nicely duped!
Tailpiece.
My ego had suffered a serious bruise at the thought of having been duped at this stage of my life even though I claimed to have a tremendous amount of experience from life, in general.
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