Conversations I Never Thought I'd Have

You've been very patient, thank you!

So, 2 weeks ago, my carpets were delivered.  Here are the two I didn't show you last time.

Aren't they gorgeous?

Shortly after, there was another knock at the door.  I thought it might be the carpet men again, but no.  It was my landlady.  She came to introduce herself, which I thought was lovely.  We toured the apartment together, and I learned about some of the previous tenants - she loved having the Germans live there, because they just did whatever needed to be done themselves.  For instance, you'll remember that I have a gigantic veranda.  Well, lots of light streams in through the windows,  and apparently the Germans built some sort of canopy/overhang that deflected some of the light.  She didn't know where it was, or why it had gone, and why the school (who really does a great job of maintaining properties) didn't paint all the way up to the top of the veranda, because it just looks awful!

Then we went back inside, and she asked me to be sure not to buy too many plants, because the soil that is used is full of termites, which, as we all know, are very bad for the state of wood.  And, also, if I did buy plants, make sure there were platters underneath them, because if the plants got over-watered, then the water would seep down through the floor to the apartment below.  And, when the school first took over the apartment, they came in and laid down carpet everywhere, but sadly that's not the case anymore, although she wished it were.  

But wasn't it great that the guard told her that I was home so she could come up, because, well, she doesn't like to get involved, but the house help for the previous tenant called her, and asked her to put in a good word with me, because she has worked for the previous two tenants over the last 8 years, and she was expecting to work for me, and now she feels that she has lost her job, so...

It was my turn to talk, and I explained what had happened: in the spring, I was contacted by my new neighbors who live just below me on the second floor (third floor for Americans), telling me that their house help was looking for some more work, and would I be interested in hiring them?  It's a married couple - he cleans and lifts things, she does everything else. I said, sure!  What a great thing - I don't have to worry about finding someone, and it's convenient for me and for them.  Well, shortly after, the teacher who was the previous tenant of my apartment contacted me and offered me the services of her house help.  I was torn - I sort of felt obligated to go with the person who seemed to come with the apartment, but I'd already agreed to hire someone else.  Well, after talking things over - through email - I learned that the person I'd inherit wasn't the best and didn't seem like the right fit for me, so I went with my original agreement, and I'm very happy.

The landlady reiterated that she doesn't like to get involved, although she cautioned me because it had happened before that I wasn't to have my house help stay in the apartment when I was gone as other tenants have done, because she rented the apartment to the school and teachers, not staff.  Was I accustomed to dealing with staff?  No?  Well, I would have to be very on top of things, because she was convinced they were cheating us - they weren't even cleaning the balconies and stairwell as they were supposed to, so I should please ask them to do both things.

We said goodbye.  I went to start dinner.  The doorbell rings.

It's my landlady again.

She forgot to tell me that she intended to put a chain on the door for added security, but isn't it great that we are so secure?  The Japanese family that lives on the first floor (second floor for Americans) are with their embassy, and they pay to have a guard on duty 24 hours a day, so we are really more secure than most other places.  But still, I should have a chain.  And oh, her legs hurt because she just had surgery on her hip because she'd fallen on the stairs, so coming up and down the stairs was a trial, and then we started talking about her children and how her son lives in London and her daughter lives in Australia, and I got part of her life story - for instance, she lives on the ground floor, and that was the original house.  After her father-in-law (who was a horrible person) passed away, they built the rest of the apartments on top, so she is responsible for the layout of all the apartments.  Which reminded her about the house-help situation, but she doesn't like to get involved.

And then she left.  

I again went to the kitchen to start dinner (30 more minutes had passed) when the doorbell rang a third time.  It was my landlady, and the woman who wanted me to hire her.  (I did forget to say that she was waiting outside the building the day I arrived and gave me her resume and letters of reference.  Gotta admire the initiative, right?)  Well, they both came in, and I had to defend my choice of sticking to my original agreement. I did tell the woman that if after a month period I wasn't happy, I would be more than willing to give her a call, at which point she started to disparage the people I have already hired.  The landlady did step in and stop that line of talk, kudos to her, and I told the maid that I knew of other teachers looking for house help and I'd pass her number along.  

And then they finally left.  

Carpets and conversations with the landlady.  Welcome to India.