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| September (First) 2010 |
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| DELHI PRESS MAGAZINES : WOMAN'S ERA |
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WOMAN'S ERA /
FICTION (19/21) / TEDDY BEAR
Teddy Bear
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| An entrancing tale of how a divorced woman with a child established a warm rapport with an elderly visitor to the bank where she worked. |
| By B. K. Sinha |
“Good morning.”
An elderly person was standing in front of my office desk. “Good morning, sir. Please sit down.” He pulled the chair and sat down.
“What can I do for you, sir?”
“I want to open a savings bank account.”
He spoke softly, but had an air of authority in his style.
I pulled out the papers from the drawer and handed them over to him.
“You have to fill up this form and submit it to us along with your photographs and some proof of your residential address such as passport or voter’s identity card or driving licence.”
“I have the passport and the photographs with me.”
“Good, then you can fill up the form.”
“My handwriting is not good at all. Sometimes, I am not able to read even my own words,” he said with a sense of embarrassment. “Madam, would you mind filling the form for me?”
His request was so appealing that I could not refuse. I filled up the form and asked him to sign it.
“Madam, I should have told you that I want to have a joint account with my wife.”
“In that case, she too has to sign the form. Is she here?”
“No, I have to bring her. Can it be done without her presence?” he enquired.
Going by the bank rules, I could have insisted on his wife’s presence, but I felt too timid to ask.
“It is fine, you do not have to bring her. But you must get her signature on the form and bring her passport and photographs.”
He got up from the chair, then straightened and correctly repositioned not only his own chair but also the other chairs in front of my desk.
“Thank you, madam. I will be back in 30 minutes,” he said and left quickly. His manners impressed me. He was of average height but fairly in good health for his age. He was 60 years old and retired from a good company. This I could learn from his application form.
He was back in exactly half an hour with the documents. I asked him to come back the next morning at 10.30 to collect the passbook and the cheque book. I also gave him a deposit slip to make the initial deposit.
“You are a wonderfully sweet person. Thanks a lot. I will see you tomorrow,” he gave me a big smile and left.
The next day, he was back in my office at exactly 10.30 in the morning.
“Good morning. How are you?” he greeted me.
“Good morning, sir, I am fine.”
“Lovely! Your office looks so impressive.”
I handed over the cheque book and passbook to him.
“Thanks a lot. Have a nice day.”
“You too.”
He started visiting our bank on regular basis in connection with his business and he would come to me and wish me every time. If I was busy, he would wish me by waiving his hand.
One day, I was all alone in my room and engrossed in my thought, thinking about my child who was not well. I was so much engrossed that I did not realise when he came into my room.
“Hello! I am sorry, I did not realise you are here,” I said apologetically.
“Good morning. How are you doing today?”
“I am fine. Tell me, what can I do for you?”
“You are certainly not looking fine. You are not relaxed as you normally look. Is everything fine?” he enquired.
“My daughter is not well. She has fever.”
It was a simple statement of fact.
“Have you shown her to a doctor?”
“Yes. The doctor says she has picked up an infection in the school, but she will be fine in 3 days’ time.”
“I came here to make a draft. I saw you sitting all alone in the room and then I thought let me say hello to you. I shall go now.”
“Thank you. I am feeling good after talking to you.”
He left the room after completing his courtesy of arranging the chairs and wishing me a nice day.
The next day, when I was about to leave the office, I received a package. Since I was in a hurry, I took the package home. When I opened it, I found a teddy bear inside with a “Get Well Soon” card for my daughter.
My daughter was very happy and excited to receive a gift. I explained to her about who had sent the gift. I was happy to feel that there was someone in this world to care about us. I had never felt so good in the recent past. My daughter recovered soon and started going to school. Things were back to normal.
On one of the Sundays, I had taken my daughter to a park. We were just playing and having fun. Then, from nowhere, he appeared.
“Hello. I come here for a walk every evening. Nice to see that I have company today. Is she your daughter?”
He stretched out his hand towards my daughter. She was shy of shaking hands but smiled and asked, “Teddy Bear Uncle?” This made him laugh. He kept on laughing. My daughter was amused. He knew how to be friendly with a kid. Within 5 minutes, both of them were playing together and laughing. I have never seen my daughter so happy in a long time.
“Where is your husband?” he asked at length. As usual, must be busy with his work or gone on a business tour. He is missing something.”
“He does not live here.”
“What do you mean by he does not live here?”
“We are separated from each other.”
“Oh! I am sorry.”
“There is nothing to be sorry about. We mutually agreed to get separated.”
“I see.”
“We were doing business management when we fell in love each other and decided to get married,” I ventured. “I completed my MBA with an outstanding performance and was selected by the bank in the campus interview. My husband had to struggle a bit to get a job. He changed his jobs frequently. He did some computer course and went away to the USA. The initial 10 months were good, and then the recession hit the IT industry.
“He was without a job for the next 3 months. Whatever money he had saved was spent in these 3 months. Finally, he had to come back to India.
“He got a job but was never satisfied with the work. Having worked in the American work culture environment, he was not able to adjust to Indian conditions. He wanted me to also go with him, but I was quite happy with my job with the bank. The bank was also happy with my performance and gave me a quick promotion. I was in no mood to leave the job and India.
I was earning enough to maintain myself without his support. I was also supporting my parents. My parents belonged to the lower middle class and had put all their savings into my studies. It was my duty to see to it that they did not suffer when my father retired. Both of us stood by our respective points of view and could not compromise. Finally, we decided to get separated.
“Since he had remained most of the time away from us, our daughter is not much attached to her father. I understand he is doing well in the USA now and is married again. Initially, we used to be in touch with each other. But now it is all over.”
He has been listening to my story with full attention.
“You know, life is like this. You never know when and in which direction it will take a turn. One has to accept the situation gracefully and learn how to deal with it. I think you are doing fine.”
He got up.
“I must leave now. Bye, little one. See you again tomorrow.”
My maid told me that he had been coming regularly to the park and playing with my daughter. There was a tremendous change in the character of my child. Earlier, she was very moody and quiet, often dull and mostly played by herself. Now, she is happy, ate well, slept well and did all the work she was told to do. She had put on weight and looked healthier and fresh. Affection and care made the difference.
My daughter’s school was closed and I too was granted my leave, so I decided to visit my parents. As my leave was granted, as usual, at the last moment, I did not have time to inform him. I stayed with my parents for a month. During this period, my parents met with a boy. In fact, he turned out to be a distant relative of ours. He was a chartered accountant working in a financial institution.
He was married but had lost his wife during delivery. The child also could not survive. Our parents liked him very much. We met a few times and felt that things may work out fine. The best part was that my daughter was able to accept him. Maybe, his approach to my daughter was like her “Teddy Bear Uncle.” Both were doing well. We got married.
My marriage was big news in my office. Things had happened so fast that it was difficult for my colleagues to believe that I was married. But everyone was happy. The office people joined together and arranged for a reception dinner for my husband and me. It was a nice gesture. My office people informed me that I could invite my guests. I agreed on condition that I pay for my guests. I have a few friends, who included “Teddy Bear Uncle.” I was told that he had visited the bank a couple of times in my absence and had been enquiring about me. I could find out his address from his bank account.
My husband and I decided to visit him in the evening to invite him for the reception. When we reached the place, we found that the house was locked. The security guard told us that the couple had gone to the USA to visit their daughter. I felt bad that I could not meet him to inform him about my marriage. He would have been the happiest man on earth to see us settled.
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