Malti Maushi

 

Malti Maushi was free at last, she could do whatever she wanted to. At 55 years of age all Malti Maushi ever wanted to do was - to mop floors. She had dreamed of it all her life. It would seem rather odd but ever since Malti Maushi was small, well she wasn't technically a “Maushi” then, but ever since Malti Maushi was a little girl she was fascinated by floors. She was told that as a child she had her most peaceful naps on the floor of the house. “We had to put you on the floor, only then would you sleep well. Not the soft bed, not the cradle, but the bare cool floor”, her mother had reminded her ever so often as she grew up. “Gosh! and how much you licked the floors girl!” Mai would add laughing. Malti Maushi loved being reminded, yes she loved floors and what she loved even more was keeping them spotless clean.

Now she could do just that, mop floors to her heart’s content!

Malti Maushi looked at the dust covered floor in front of her with joy in her eyes. At least a quarter of an inch of dust covered the entire surface. This meant she would have the delight to uncover the pattern of the floor tiles. She got down on her knees to examine it minutely. Malti Maushi gingerly put her index finger in the dust and displaced a few inches of it, bright blue and green lines that appeared to be part of a floral pattern showed up.

Wow! Her heart gave a leap, was it? Could it be? yes it seems like it, Malti Maushi, marvelled at the beautiful Athangudi tiles! She wanted to jump for joy.  Malti Maushi, and Malti Maushi alone would have the delight of cleaning these beauties.

Malti Maushi was ecstatic; she must go shopping soon and begin immediately. But wait there were other things to do, the first of which was to find a device or the physical shops that sold the supplies she needed and of course the other most important thing – find the currency required for the purchase. This new city was not bad, everyone was so very happy. Malti Maushi quite liked the place. She had moved in just yesterday and already she knew this was where she was always meant to be.

Malti Maushi twisted herself in an attempt to see if her new nine yard saree was properly tucked in at her backside – yup. Good! She liked it, she had specifically requested for a nine yard  parrot green irkal saree with bright red borders to make the trip and Priti vahini had procured it for her and even helped her get dressed.

“Rsehamachya dhagaane.....”hummed Malti Maushi with a big smile on her face. She checked her nose ring, and glass bangles – all good. Now to find a device or get to the market.

Malati Maushi went outside the house, her delicate silver anklets jingling to her every step. There was a man in a white kurta and pyjama seated on the steps of the large veranda. He appeared to be solving a crossword puzzle.

What was that faint wing like thing behind him? t5hough Malati Maushi amused. Her eyesight had sure got dim and of course she had forgotten to carry her eye glasses as usual.

“Ahem….Brother, where can I get some money and cleaning supplies here? I arrived yesterday and don’t quite know my way about. Can you please tell me?” asked Malti Maushi.

The man in the white kurta, hurriedly stood up.

“Oh don’t you worry. What you need you let me know. I will get it for you. I am your personal assistant my name is Punjee” smiled the man.

“Oh that’s great Punjee. I will need a grass broom, a bucket, a mop cloth, please get me a soft cotton one and my favourite jasmine scented phenol. How long would you take to get it?” asked Malti Maushi.

“Here it is” responded Punjee

And true enough, right next to Malati Maushi on the floor was a grass broom, blue plastic bucket, a few cotton pieces of mopping cloth and a large bottle of jasmine scented phenol.

“We don’t need to wait in this city” chuckled Punjee “You ask and I can get whatever you want instantly”

“Wow! This is better than Amazon!” thought Malati Maushi happily.

Aloud she said “Thank you so much Punjee. I must begin my duties”

Delighted Malati Maushi picked the broom, she tucked in the loose end of her saree and began sweeping the floor of the large hall.

As Malati Maushi swept the floor with expert strokes she smiled to herself.

“Malati, you are the mistress of this house, not the housekeeping staff.” Pramod had admonished her when he caught her doing her favorite chore.

“Put that away, what will people think?”

And Malati Maushi would have to hand over the broom to the bewildered looking housekeeping staff.

“What is wrong is cleaning the floor of your own house?” wondered Malati Maushi many a times, but she didn’t want to argue with Pramod.

Won’t Pramod, have a fit if he saw me here, thought Malati Maushi. He can’t stop me now, she smiled raising her eyebrows and nodding her head from side to side.

Malati Maushi finished the sweeping thrilled with the amount of dust she had swept out.

She filled her bucket with water, opened the jasmine scented phenol and sniffed it.

Aah! The fragrance of pure bliss. It reminded her of the floor of her childhood. She was happy Punjee had got her the exact fragrant phenol that she wanted.

“Smart that Punjee is”

Malati Maushi carefully measured out the liquid and poured it into the bucket. She put in her hand, swirled the water and watched the milky liquid fade into transparency.  Malti Maushi picked up the soft cotton cloth, she dipped it in and squeezed off the excess water. Then she walked to the furthest end of the room, got on her knees and began mopping. She hummed a happy song as she unmasked the beautiful patterns on the floor of the ancient wada.

……………

A comment on Pramod’s FB wall read

“Hugs for your loss. She was an incredible woman. May the soul of the departed RIP”