My guesses were not too wrong.

Part two

4 min read.

All the three amusing happenings are pre-Covid-19. 

I visited my Bank branch to cancel a standing order. I met an officer, who ushered me to the closest cubicle. 

He was in his forties, had a brown short- rounded beard with some grey streaks.

While he was searching for my account on his computer, he advised me that it was better to have an on- line account. It was very convenient and saved time.

I informed him:

“No, I don’t have a passing fancy for an on-line account. I’m working part-time and my wife has taken the retirement. We’ve enough time at our disposal. Quite often, we visit the town centre after lunch to have coffee at Tim Hortons. Now and then, we have lunch there. If we need cash, we use your machine inside the Bank, rather than the one in the street. For other transactions, I visit the branch and get the thing done with some chit-chat.

“Furthermore, I’m wary of the scams, which some on-line account-holders are subjected to”.

I abruptly asked him:

“You don’t appear to be a Banker. You look like a TV presenter.”

He smiled blandly and said:

“My brother is the one”.

I had tooth ache. Quite a few years ago my dentist had advised me that I should get rid of my wobbly tooth. I had declined, but as I was experiencing an excruciating pain, it looked it should be extracted. I was given an appointment for the next day. But it was not with my dentist, but with a different one, who had never examined me before.

After the job was done, I asked him the question tout de suite:

“You don’t look a Dentist or a Doctor. You appear to be a Classic Western Movie actor”.

He had a burst of deep loud heart laughter. The dental nurse standing nearby giggled.

He told me:

“I had a partly funded place in a school of the Arts in New York. But my grandfather did not like it and convinced my parents and me to be a dentist, instead”.

Our gardener announced his retirement and gave us sufficient notice to find a replacement. A family friend gave me the telephone number of a gardener and suggested that, though he and his junior had plenty of work, he might agree to take one more client. We had a meeting with the senior gardener, called Mark, who agreed to tend to our garden.

Mark, who had stentorian voice, was in his early sixties and the junior one, called Bob, was in his mid- twenties.  

 Sometimes, the younger one’s father, an oldster, would also come. He had the professional knowledge of gardening.

Before long, they turned it rather a dreamlike garden.

[Mark will also figure prominently in my interesting blog in the coming months. It will be titled: We, the South Asians, all look the same.]

One day when I was at home during their gardening , addressing Mark, I said:

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure”, he replied honorifically.

“You bear no resemblance with a gardener. You look like an accountant, rather”, I politely opined.

Giving me a coy smile, he said:

“Yes doctor, you’re right”.

He explained:

“All my life, I’ve been a certified accountant, and my wife is still working in the firm. But I found bliss in gardening. So, I changed the profession.”

He continued:

“But Doctor, how did you guess it?”

“The way you calculated the remuneration at our first meeting, it gave me a clue that you might be an accountant”.

They worked for us for a few years. But Mark’s health was deteriorating with speed and the younger one could not cope with the work on his own. He preferred to keep fewer clients near his house.

 We were looking for a new gardener again, who would maintain our garden, as well as our son’s, whose house is about six-minute drive from ours’.

 We have a friend who runs a convenience store, in the locality. When I briefed him about the problem, he promised to speak to his gardener, an ex-army man, who had served overseas as well.

He agreed to take care of both the gardens for the asking price.

Suddenly, he stopped coming. I rang up my friend to find out the reason. The friend enquired from him, and conveyed to me the real reasons verbatim:

“Senior Mrs Chaudhry belittled me by issuing orders the way the company sergeant major used to do when I’s in the service. I’m no longer in the army.

“Junior Mrs Chaudhry could not make up her mind. Sometimes, saying cut that branch, and next moment don’t do it. Also, I felt devalued when she considered me a removal man”.

I was amused, but the comments left both my wife and the daughter-in-law fuming. They rejected the reasons vehemently.

We were on the lookout again for a new gardener.

@drch100

————————————————————————————-

Ps: Next post will be published at11 am on Sunday 12 September 2021. It will be titled: We, the South Asians, all look the same.

---