The Old Man Of Sassoon
Aarthi, a young woman, and her parents live in a cramped single room in Macchimar Nagar, where the majority of fellow Koli fishermen in Mumbai live because of its proximity to Sassoon Docks. Just before noon, Aarthi and her mother are preparing lunch while watching the news on an old boxy television set, and Aarthi is also trying to call her father but is unable to get through to him. Aarthi is worried about her father who left to go fishing alone more than a week ago and should have been home by now.
Aarthi’s mother tells her to calm down, reminding Aarthi that her father knew what he was doing, that he was the infamous ‘Old Man Of Sassoon’. Aarthi argues that the officials have closed all the ports because of the Covid-19 pandemic, so he won’t be able to sell his fish anyway and might as well come home. Also, knowing her father, he might go to several other ports to try his luck and could catch Covid-19 while doing so. Aarthi fumes as she mixes coconut milk, spices and Amsul to make solkadhi (a Konkani kokum drink) while her mother prepares bhakri rotis on one flame and fish fry on another. Aarthi wants to go looking for her father but her mother shuts her down.
As they sit down for lunch, Aarthi doesn’t touch her food and is instead deeply focused on her phone as she messages someone constantly. The water slowly separates from the coconut milk in Aarthi’s drink as she ignores it and keeps on texting furiously. When the mother tries meekly to cajole Aarthi to eat something, Aarthi lashes out at her and loudly yells, “he should be here!” and storms into the bathroom, the only place in the house she can be alone. As she keeps texting, Aarthi pauses in a moment of regret as she listens to her mother cleaning the dishes in the kitchen.
Aarthi emerges from the bathroom sometime later and sees her mother lying on the bed taking an afternoon nap, while sweating from the sharp afternoon heat. She sneaks into the kitchen where she hurriedly but quietly starts packing food in a tiffin box and pouring the solkadhi into an empty soft-drink bottle. She wraps everything in a plastic bag and tip-toes her way towards the door, but before leaving Aarthi turns the fan dial a step higher for her mother.
Aarthi walks down a narrow alleyway and meets up with her boyfriend whom she had been texting all this while. He tries to persuade to not go looking for her father, as it would be too dangerous, but Aarthi is confident in her way around a boat. He explains that policemen are patrolling the docks, and if any of the local fishermen saw a woman sailing a boat it would bring shame to her father. Aarthi is adamant and asks him for the thing she requested, and he hands over a small half-empty jar of aachaar. Aarthi looks around the corner then kisses him and tells him happily that she got her period that morning.
The two of them make their way to a secluded area of the docks where he leads her to his family’s small fishing boat. Just as he’s untying the docking line for her, some policemen arrive and order them to stop. Aarthi’s boyfriend runs to distract them and gets beaten by the policemen’s lathis while the boat manages to leave the dock successfully.
Some time later, late in the afternoon, Aarthi has ventured far away from the shore when she comes across another fishing boat. This one has a few middle-aged men working on it. She covers her face with her dupatta before stopping beside them. The men notice her and question why she’s piloting a boat on her own. Aarthi tries to explain to them that she’s looking for someone, but the men don’t want to cooperate. They ask her who she is, if she’s a Koli, and if she’s married. When she hesitates to answer them, they begin to question the character of a woman who covers her face while traveling alone on a boat. Aarthi begins to fear for the worst and starts driving away from them, at which point the men start cursing her, calling her a prostitute and offering to sleep with her for a heap of fish. She doesn’t take her eyes off their boat to confirm that they aren’t following her, and when she’s a far enough distance from them Aarthi breaks down sobbing out of both fear and relief.
Aarthi has continued her search into the evening, but she’s lost her adventurous spirit and is lying on the floor of the boat in defeat. Suddenly a voice calls out in the distance, and Aarthi perks up defensively. She takes a peek at the boat she is approaching and sees an old man driving a small fishing boat not unlike hers. She stops her boat at a safe distance and keeps her hand ready on the engine starter. At first the old man is shocked to see a woman piloting the boat, but he makes light of it. Aarthi feels safe asking the old man if he’s seen her father and is thrilled when he mentions that he knows her father. The old man tells Aarthi that he saw her father walking home a few days ago while he himself was just setting out. Aarthi finds that hard to believe, since he never came home, but the old man insists, claiming to live in the neighborhood. Aarthi questions him, “You live in Macchimar Nagar? I’ve never seen you before.”
The old man replies, “Macchimar Nagar? No, no, that’s the other side of the city. I live in the Versova Koliwada. I’ve been to your house many times; I’ve never seen you there.”
Aarthi quietly begins to grasp the truth but doesn’t let the old man know. Instead she tries to convince him to return home by explaining the Covid-19 outbreak and that all dock activities were no longer operating so he might as well go home. The old man thinks, then begrudgingly agrees, but asks her to help him throw all the fish he had caught back into the sea. She climbs aboard and helps him throw kilos upon kilos of fresh fish back into the water. When they’re done with that work, they set out towards the Versova Docks. As they approach the shore Aarthi looks upon the Mumbai skyline painted orange by the setting sun.
By the time they dock it’s already dark, and Aarthi quietly follows the old man home. She’s carrying the plastic bag of food tightly in her hand. When the old man bids farewell, Aarthi asks him to accompany her till her door since she didn’t feel safe walking alone in the dark. The old man agrees with a shrug and leads her to her father’s other home. Once at the door, Aarthi waits for the old man to leave, then rings the bell.
A young girl opens the door to Aarthi. They stare at each other silently, as Aarthi examines the girl’s face, looking for similarities between them. The girl’s mother calls out to know who’s at the door and approaches the door herself. Aarthi pretends to be the old man’s niece and offers her the plastic bag of food. The lady thanks her, “Hold on while I take out the food and I’ll return your tiffin box.” Aarthi is left waiting at the door and takes a look around her father’s second home. She sees the young girl watching cartoons on an LCD TV while sitting on a couch and being cooled by a window AC. At that moment Aarthi’s father walks out of the bathroom wearing a towel and freezes when he sees Aarthi. He slowly approaches her when his wife returns with the tiffin, “Here you go! Oh, and you can have your aachaar back, we already have some. The food smells lovely, what was the occasion?”
Aarthi takes back her things and looks at her father, “It’s my birthday.”
Late at night, Aarthi enters her own home and is met with her mother who’s hysterical with anxiety. Aarthi embraces her and tries to console her mother. Aarthi’s mother slaps her several times but Aarthi doesn’t react or try to avoid getting hit. She immediately apologizes for hitting her and asks Aarthi, “Did you find your father?”
Aarthi shakes her head, “No.” Then she fakes a smile and lifts the empty tiffin to add, “But I did find ‘The Old Man Of Sassoon’ and I told him to come home soon!”
Aarthi’s mother returns the smile and calls her an idiot.
END.
