29 Death in the Colony but Life goes on…

Life in the Colony was good but suddenly there were two deaths – one, a pure accident and the other a cold blooded murder. The accidental death happened, when my friend Murali’s servant was washing the windows of his flat with soap; and apparently lost his grip on the window sill, and fell to his death four storeys below. The other death was a terrible family tragedy, where a certain Mr Karkhanis murdered his family, locked up his flat and later committed suicide on the suburban railway track. Decomposed bodies were discovered due to the foul smell emanating from the flat, nearly three days after the murder was committed.

Apart from these two deaths that cast a gloomy spell over the denizens of the colony for a while, life in the colony continued and soon normalcy was restored. In retrospect, life in those distant days was far simpler and free from many of the contemporary distractions of present day living. For example many of our homes did not have telephones and home entertainment was restricted to the radio as the era of television had not yet dawned. Home and kitchen appliances including fridges and washing machines, that we take for granted today, were very rare.

I remember my grandmother grinding away with the mortar and pestle preparing the masala and the dhobi coming home to take our weekly laundry!

The milk man would come to our doorstep and deliver milk in the traditional fashion. It was only much later that we were able to buy bottled milk, which was made available against a milk card issued by the Aarey Milk Diary. All the snacks and pickles that we consumed were made at home by my grandmother and mother and never ever bought from shops. Pickles were made seasonally and stored in large ceramic jars and sweets and savouries were prepared keeping in mind the various festivals. In our home coconut oil was used as the cooking medium, but later on, this was discontinued due to a health scare that coconut oil was bad for the heart!

By now I helped in doing many of the household chores – I particularly liked taking care of the idols in our puja room! I made sure the copper and brass and silver idols were kept clean and shiny. I also helped in the morning and evening pujas, including dressing the idols with sandal wood paste and flowers. Apart from this, I accompanied my grandmother to the Colony Store every month to buy the groceries and rations; to help her lug the heavy bags back to our flat!