The Man at the Window – The Proposal – 8

I hadn’t seen Poppy for a week owing to the audit at work. So when he saw me walking down the road that evening he was pleasantly pleased, as was I. Owing to the rains the dust had settled down, there was a lovely cool breeze blowing. Poppy offered me hot aloo chops along with my tea today. The weather even made the cat lazy; it was huddled up and asleep in its basket, by the side of Poppy. Sipping on my tea, I noticed an old British style tin biscuit box on the window. Poppy saw that and opened the box. It was a box of old photographs. Poppy showed me the photos he had sent to Mary; on the back it was written “Love you forever”.  He also showed me a photograph of the two of them in Darjeeling. Poppy with his iconic Elvis side locks and Mary with her lovely long hair, both of them in their large framed goggles and bell bottom pants. The photographs were black and white but it had all the colors of love in there. They made a handsome couple.

Poppy was off to the beautiful hill city of Darjeeling, to pursue his dreams of becoming a teacher. Mary had just got a new job with a German company and was enjoying learning the language. Poppy worked very hard and not before long, he became a name they would remember for ages to come. Poppy told me how he and his friends would go hiking on the weekends to catch a glimpse of the sunrise on Tiger Hill. It was picnic time once they reached the top and the view was totally worth it. Sheepishly he tells me he picked up smoking there to keep warm, I just nod. Then he tells me about a time when he and his friends had gone out for a party and were returning late at night. All of them were exhausted and asleep in the back; it was a two hour drive uphill. The boys had had one too many and were out cold. All huddled up in their jackets and caps and they were snoring away till one of them needed to relieve themselves and opened his eyes only to see their driver dozing behind the wheel. The roads of Darjeeling are narrow, dark and beautiful with sharp curves. One false move and you disappear forever. It was just at the nick of time that he turned the wheel and saved the whole lot of them. Shocked they stopped the car and sat there for a bit. None of them were drunk any longer. 

Poppy loved playing basketball too and had acquired the nickname “laal baal” – which meant red head, by the local children who played with him. At this point he laughed and touched his head. Poppy was almost bald now. A stark contrast to the pictures he showed me. I smiled.

A year had gone by already. Poppy was elected student President. It was yet another feather in his cap. He hadn’t seen Mary in a while. “We would write a lot of letters to each other”, he said referring to Mary. They would send each other recent photos of each other. Then she decided to visit him during his term break. He couldn’t wait to see her. He went to pick her up at the bus station and over the next few days they visited all the tourist places in this beautiful hill city. Hand in hand they went making beautiful memories together. A week flew by and it was time for her to leave. They went out to dinner that night. Over dinner they spoke about their dreams and hopes from life and over a quiet bowl of soup, Poppy asked her if she would marry him. “Hmmm” she answered. She had already made up her mind. In those days there was no need for big gestures, just simple love and commitment. That night of July,1977, the stars were witness to their smiles.

That night as I lay in bed, I wondered where Mary was. Anyway, I thought Poppy was really lucky to live in an age where love was so much more than it is today. A true heart and a simple life, two beautiful gifts that somehow seemed misplaced in today’s world. I can’t wait to hear the next part of Poppy’s life and I am so relieved the audit is over!!