City of Djinns

The following morning, we were woken at 7:30 sharp by 'Land of Hope and Glory'. Half asleep, I shuffled to the door to find Ladoo, Mr. Puri's bearer, waiting outside. He was holding a tray. One the tray were two glasses of milky Indian chai.

'Chota hazari, sahib' said Ladoo. Bed tea.

'What a nice gesture,' I said returning to Olivia, 'Mrs. Puri has sent us up some tea.'

'I wish she had sent it up two hours later,' said Olivia from beneath the sheets.

I finished the tea and sank down beneath the covers. ten seconds later the Indian national anthem chimed out. I scrambled out of bed and again opened the door. Outside was a tin man with purple betel-stained lips. He had a muffler wrapped around his head and despite the heat, a thick donkey-jacket was buttoned tightly over his torso. I had never seen him before.
'Mali', he said. The gardener.

He bowed, walked past me and made for the kitchen, From the bedroom I could hear him fiddling around, filling a bucket of water then splashing it over the plants on the roof terrace. He knocked discreetly on the bedroom door to indicate he had finished, then disappeared down the stairs. The mali was followerd first my Murti, the sweeper, then by Prasad, the dhobi, and finally by Bahadru, Mrs. Puri's Nepali cook. I gave up trying to sleep and went downstairs.

'Mrs. Puri', I said, 'There have been a stream of strange people pouring in and out of my flat since seven thirty.'

'I know Mr. William,' replied Mrs. Puri. 'These people are your servants.'

'But I dont want any servants'.

'Everyone has them, that is what these people are for!'

'And we dont need a bearer. We both enjoy cooking'

' Then have a cook-bearer. One man, two jobs. Very modern. Its very important to have a good chauffeur. Some pukka fellow with a smart uniform.'

' I dont have a car, so its pointless having a driver.'

' But if you have no car and no driver' said Mrs.Puri, 'how will you be getting from place to place?'

Excerpt from City of Djinns by William Darlymple.

Yes!!! NN- I finally did finish this book. And I am glad I revisited it, cos it definitely was an enjoyable read. Still slightly slow, but love his writing style. Very orthodox and wonderfully fluid.

City of Djinns is a uniquely narrated piece about WD's experience of his stay in Delhi and talks about the aftereffects of Partition and the riots that happened after Indira Gandhi's assassination. About how the city and its multicultural inhabitants coped and recovered from the trauma. I also read on Wiki, that this book has also been made into a play.

One down in the reading cart, 2 more to go.