Chapter 4: Visitors.
Tales of Treselda Cottage, Part 4.
Treselda Cottage as Ava remembered it, had a constant stream of visitors. Relatives, close and distant, would drop in and spend hours with Mama.
There was Uncle Freddie, always immaculately dressed, who came with a b
unch of Morris bananas for the kids one day, and ate up all the fried fish roe, a rare treat that Ava was waiting to fight over with her brothers for, at lunch. "We can get some again, but Freddie might not have had fish roe for a long time now", Mama had said. A spoilt only son of Margaret's childhood companion June, Frederick had a string of unfortunate events in his life, culminating in the mental instability of his wife. He took care of her in their old, crumbling, once-grand house, barely managing to hold things together.
Aunty Vivette visited occasionally from the Anjengo convent. Orphaned at a young age, she was brought up in the convent. She had short, curly hair parted straight through the middle and neatly pinned on either side of the parting. She used a lot of face powder, Ava had noticed, and carried embroidered handkerchiefs. Mama would buy handkerchiefs from her and make her a cup of horlicks, "Because she needs the nutrition".
Old Uncle Bennet, an attorney, would sit for hours on the easy chair and sometimes nod off to sleep. He would quote whole passages from books, in impeccable English, catching any passing child to talk to, telling them to read Victor Hugo and to "masticate" their food sixteen times.
There was Uncle Ronnie, who came once with a small packet of glace cherries from Sunshine Bakery, which he gave to Ava. Ava knew they were used in cakes, and had found it strange to eat them all on their own. As none of the others seemed interested, she savoured them slowly on the terrace, taking bite after careful bite out of each one, to make the event last longer. Uncle Ronnie had forgotten his sandals at the door and had walked off barefoot when his visit was done. "He's not used to wearing them", Mama had said. Ava remembered that incident as a rare one when she found Mama to be wrong. The sandals were worn out unevenly, one flattened towards the outside and the other near where the big toe would be. They had to be well-used. She had kept a worried eye on them till he came back to get them a few days later.
Uncle Patrick would walk from the other end of town to visit Mama. Ava wondered how he walked so far, but Mama said this was nothing for him, as he had walked back home from the Middle-East, via Pakistan, all the way down to Trivandrum during the war. Her brothers had taken out the Atlas to follow his trail. Ava noticed that Uncle Patrick had a limp and always thought he must have got it on that long walk home.
Marcy, a distant relative lived with Mama for extended periods and helped around the house. Like Vivette, she too was brought up in the convent and the nuns allowed her to visit Mama once in a way. She would teach the children hymns and Malayalam songs and help with their school work.
Aunty Janice came to collect old clothes and books. She had been widowed, and had determinedly brought up her children with the best they could get, pre-used or not. She would walk for miles carrying heavy travel bags filled with all the things she collected.
And then there was Potty. The story went that Potty had knocked on Mama's gate one evening, a small child on her hip, begging for alms. She was deaf and dumb, blind in one eye, but otherwise, a healthy woman, tall, with high cheekbones and shiny, dark skin. It was raining when she appeared at the gate, and Margaret had taken her in for the night. As she had no where to go the next day, Margaret let her stay on, eventually sending the child to the Convent. Potty communicated with gestures and her voice would sometimes come out as loud sounds. Children were usually scared of Potty at first, but gradually took to her. Ava always wondered how everyone could casually call her "Potty", which wasn't a name at all, but simply meant "deaf and dumb woman". But "Potty" it was and "Potty" it would always be, as that was the only name she responded to.
Potty lived in Treselda Cottage, helping around the house, but mostly sitting on the dining room floor, leaning against the wall and holding long conversations with anyone who chose to stop by. She was a friendly soul and started going to all the neighbouring houses to help with housework, and became well known and indispensable to many. She would always gravitate back to Margaret in the evening, sitting on the bedroom floor and chatting into the night. Later she would fall asleep exhausted on a thin, worn mat on the floor. Over the years, she had become Margaret's companion of sorts and became part of the family. Potty had kept in touch with her daughter in the convent, and had saved up enough money to get her married and settled, and Ava remembered that Potty was newly a grandmother. Ava noticed that Potty wasn't anywhere to be seen that evening. "She is in Janakis's house now", said Margaret. "Her mother is unwell and they needed someone to be with her at night".
(To be continued...)
Treselda Cottage as Ava remembered it, had a constant stream of visitors. Relatives, close and distant, would drop in and spend hours with Mama.
There was Uncle Freddie, always immaculately dressed, who came with a b
Aunty Vivette visited occasionally from the Anjengo convent. Orphaned at a young age, she was brought up in the convent. She had short, curly hair parted straight through the middle and neatly pinned on either side of the parting. She used a lot of face powder, Ava had noticed, and carried embroidered handkerchiefs. Mama would buy handkerchiefs from her and make her a cup of horlicks, "Because she needs the nutrition".
Old Uncle Bennet, an attorney, would sit for hours on the easy chair and sometimes nod off to sleep. He would quote whole passages from books, in impeccable English, catching any passing child to talk to, telling them to read Victor Hugo and to "masticate" their food sixteen times.
There was Uncle Ronnie, who came once with a small packet of glace cherries from Sunshine Bakery, which he gave to Ava. Ava knew they were used in cakes, and had found it strange to eat them all on their own. As none of the others seemed interested, she savoured them slowly on the terrace, taking bite after careful bite out of each one, to make the event last longer. Uncle Ronnie had forgotten his sandals at the door and had walked off barefoot when his visit was done. "He's not used to wearing them", Mama had said. Ava remembered that incident as a rare one when she found Mama to be wrong. The sandals were worn out unevenly, one flattened towards the outside and the other near where the big toe would be. They had to be well-used. She had kept a worried eye on them till he came back to get them a few days later.
Uncle Patrick would walk from the other end of town to visit Mama. Ava wondered how he walked so far, but Mama said this was nothing for him, as he had walked back home from the Middle-East, via Pakistan, all the way down to Trivandrum during the war. Her brothers had taken out the Atlas to follow his trail. Ava noticed that Uncle Patrick had a limp and always thought he must have got it on that long walk home.
Marcy, a distant relative lived with Mama for extended periods and helped around the house. Like Vivette, she too was brought up in the convent and the nuns allowed her to visit Mama once in a way. She would teach the children hymns and Malayalam songs and help with their school work.
Aunty Janice came to collect old clothes and books. She had been widowed, and had determinedly brought up her children with the best they could get, pre-used or not. She would walk for miles carrying heavy travel bags filled with all the things she collected.
And then there was Potty. The story went that Potty had knocked on Mama's gate one evening, a small child on her hip, begging for alms. She was deaf and dumb, blind in one eye, but otherwise, a healthy woman, tall, with high cheekbones and shiny, dark skin. It was raining when she appeared at the gate, and Margaret had taken her in for the night. As she had no where to go the next day, Margaret let her stay on, eventually sending the child to the Convent. Potty communicated with gestures and her voice would sometimes come out as loud sounds. Children were usually scared of Potty at first, but gradually took to her. Ava always wondered how everyone could casually call her "Potty", which wasn't a name at all, but simply meant "deaf and dumb woman". But "Potty" it was and "Potty" it would always be, as that was the only name she responded to.
Potty lived in Treselda Cottage, helping around the house, but mostly sitting on the dining room floor, leaning against the wall and holding long conversations with anyone who chose to stop by. She was a friendly soul and started going to all the neighbouring houses to help with housework, and became well known and indispensable to many. She would always gravitate back to Margaret in the evening, sitting on the bedroom floor and chatting into the night. Later she would fall asleep exhausted on a thin, worn mat on the floor. Over the years, she had become Margaret's companion of sorts and became part of the family. Potty had kept in touch with her daughter in the convent, and had saved up enough money to get her married and settled, and Ava remembered that Potty was newly a grandmother. Ava noticed that Potty wasn't anywhere to be seen that evening. "She is in Janakis's house now", said Margaret. "Her mother is unwell and they needed someone to be with her at night".
(To be continued...)
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