THE COOK
“Cooking, cleaning, doing the dishes and washing the clothes! How is it all taken care of every day!”, Karan asked, as Joshua plopped a chapatti on his plate.
Karan had just recently moved in with Joshua after he’d been transferred to the city by his company.
“I told you”, said Joshua, “Mahesh Kaka takes care of it all.”
“That’s amazing. How does he manage it all?”
Karan had always hated household chores. In fact, the only thing he hated more than household chores was his transfer. He had left his hometown, his family and all his friends simply because the company had a ‘critical requirement for a fresher’ in this city. Ah! He hated it so much.
“ I hope I get to meet Kaka soon”, he said, his eyes filled with wonder about this ‘Mahesh Kaka’ who took care of the household chores every single day for free. Yes! For free! Joshua had told Karan that Mahesh Kaka never took any money for the work he did. How did he earn his daily bread? Neither of them knew. But Joshua didn’t seem to care and so, Karan thought he shouldn’t make it his business either.
But Karan hoped to meet Mahesh Kaka soon. You see, Karan would leave the house early morning in a mess, and return late, past midnight, only to find the house spotlessly clean; his clothes washed, the dishes done, a plate of hot rice – sambar kept for him and exactly 5 buttered chapattis in the fridge kept for breakfast the next morning.
He could never meet Kaka due to his work timings. Every time he would come home after work, Mahesh Kaka would’ve already left, with a trail of his cleanliness and energy left behind.
“Kaka really thought he’d meet you today. In fact, you JUST missed him”, Joshua would say every day.
Days passed, weeks, months and then a year, and Karan’s interest in meeting Mahesh Kaka slowly faded away;
Until one evening, his boss told him to take the day off, as the company had reached its target for the month.
“It’s about time I got a day off”, Karan thought to himself, as he began to list out all the movies he could finally watch that day.
When he reached home, he found the door open. Anxious and afraid, he walked in slowly, and proceeded towards the kitchen; and that is when he saw it.
Joshua was on his knees, scrubbing the floors, with a smile on his face. Karan watched in surprise as Joshua turned towards the kitchen sink and said loudly “Mahesh Kaka, please don’t forget to wash the dishes”. He then got up; walked towards the sink and said in a deeper, but gentle voice, “Yes of course Babua.”
Karan stared in complete shock! “Joshua is schizophrenic?”, he thought. It all made sense now why ‘Mahesh Kaka’ never took any money for his services. Mahesh Kaka wasn’t real; he was a figment of Joshua’s imagination.
His shock turned to worry as he walked towards Joshua to confront him. Joshua heard him walk in. “Hey, you’re home early”, he said, as he turned to face Karan; but he stopped, as he saw the surprised, worried look on Karan’s face. He looked at the dishwashing scrub in his hand and said softly, “How long have you been there?”
Karan didn’t reply.
Joshua smiled. “I know this is weird but….”
“You’re schizophrenic Josh”, Karan cut him off. “There is no Mahesh Kaka. You have been imagining him all along”
Joshua stared at Karan for a few seconds; and all of a sudden, he burst out laughing.
Karan looked at him, now more confused than worried.
“I’m not schizophrenic man, haha, but I can imagine why you would think that”, said Joshua.
“What about your ‘Mahesh Kaka’?”
Joshua took a deep breath, smiled and began explaining, “I know Mahesh Kaka isn’t real man. It’s just something my mother taught me to make work seem easy. She used to say, ‘When you have a lot of work to do, always divide it. Many hands make work light. And if you don’t have anyone to divide it with, you can always call on your friend, Mahesh Kaka. Just ask him to help you out, and he’ll be there.’ I know Kaka isn’t real bro. I know you’ve been having a rough time with the transfer and everything. You’ve got enough stress on you already, and it just wouldn’t be fair for me to ask you to help out with the chores. So I made Mahesh Kaka up, and it’s helped me stay active. It actually feels like I’m sharing the work with someone else. It may sound crazy, but hey, it works.”
Karan heard it all, and stood there in silence. A tear trickled down his cheek. It all made sense now. How the house was always spotlessly clean, how the food tasted so good, and how Mahesh Kaka’s services were free. He was so amazed by the selfless act of his roommate, who for the past year, took care of all the household responsibilities. The cooking, the cleaning, the dishwashing; it was all just too much. He had never complained, and he was always so joyful.
Karan couldn’t take it anymore. He began to weep. Joshua hugged him.
“I’ll do the cooking today”, Karan said.
Joshua smiled and replied, “Don’t worry about it. Mahesh Kaka was here all day and took care of it. In fact, you JUST missed him.”
—————————————————————————————
Days passed by, and one day, there was a knock on the door. Karan opened it to find the landlord’s daughter staring at him angrily.
“Your rent is due”, she said in a gruff voice.
“What? Oh man, Joshua must’ve forgotten to pay it this time. I always pay my half to him and he takes care of it”, Karan said.
“What are you blabbering about? Who the heck is Joshua?,” the landlord’s daughter replied in an impatient voice.
“Joshua? My roommate? Your tenant for the past 2 years? What is the matter with you”, he said, looking at her like she had lost her mind.
She looked at him, her eyes all red - “Listen you fag, I don’t know who this Joshua is and I don’t know what story you’re trying to cook up, but we only gave this house up for rent a year ago and you’re the only one who’s been living here all this while.”
Karan stared at her in horror. “No! You’re wrong. Joshua’s my friend, my brother. We’ve been living here all this while. He’s my roommate.”
“Then where is he,” she said in a mocking tone.
Karan took a deep breath
“He was here a few minutes ago. He must have gone out for a while. In fact, you JUST missed him.”