55.Veggie Remedy For The Guilty Feeling

This is another story from Padidilian series. 

Suresh is Umesh’s younger brother. We became buddies during the time I was a boarder there. Well, not exactly. I’m not doing justice to them and their hospitality, if I use the word ‘boarder’, which is an ugly, commercial word. I was actually their guest, because Umesh was my friend. And they didn’t charge me for anything. 

I was in my first year at the Teachers’ College in Peradeniya, Kandy. Umesh was still working in Ampara and came home about twice a month.

In a world where everything was money, the Padidilians were an exceptional family. They never asked for money for my stay, nor food. When I made an attempt to pay them they flatly refused it and said I was Umesh’s friend and that their home was no boarding place. I could stay with them as long as I liked so long as I don’t try to be funny offering money in exchange of friendship. 

Sri Lankans are a hospitable nation. So hospitable that the westerners would misunderstand it for something else. Still this was very strange. And them not being millionaires either. They treated me as family. 

I somehow was suffering from this guilty feeling of being a parasite and taking the mean advantage of their kindness. 

So one day, I bought a huge bag of vegetables home, just because this guilt was tormenting me. As soon as I went in the door, Suresh saw me. 

“Hey, dude, where are you going fully loaded” with that sneering grin he is famous for. 

I, suddenly realizing what was in store for me, said. 

“Dude, do me a help! Can you take this into the kitchen for me?” 

“Whaaat??? You brought all these for us?” Suresh hollered. “Mommy, mommy, come and take a look at this. Look… we got a visitor…Mommy!” 

The whole household came out running to gape at me as if I was something the cat had just brought in and then started howling with laughter. I felt like a clown. 

“What made you do such a stupid thing, my boy?” Mommy asked finally, when she recovered  enough to speak. 

And that, unfortunately, wasn’t the end of it. It was only the beginning of some Padidilian dinner time entertainment.

 Each time they cooked one of the vegetables I had brought that day, either mommy or a sister just would announce at the dinner table. “Today special is our dudes, beans and corrots…” and so on. 

And mommy would watch me for some time with her wide motherly grin and say” Henry, you are a wonderful…” Before she finishes her sentence I hastily to fill the blank “...idiot”, in the hope of avoiding a more eloquent vocabulary . 

And the day when I saw the last of the vegetables, no need to say, I felt so relieved. So long as I stayed with the Padidilians, I never did anything ‘stupid’ like that. 

 And In a few months I moved to the college hostel. 

I miss that loving family even now. 

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If you haven't read the Part One of the Series "Tongue Twister Family", click here. 

If you want to read the original Sinhala version of this post 
පැඩිඩිලියන් 2 – වරදකාරී හැඟීමට එළවලු වලින් ප්‍රතිකාර, click here.

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