Laltu

There has always been this difference between the privileged and the not so. 

"Laltu, can you send me a katla fish today?"

"Yeah yeah 8 pieces will be fine."

"Yeah decent cut."

"What 300 rupees? Okay!"

"Yes I'll lower the bag down at 10am. Make sure you put it neatly inside and I'll pull it up."

Year 2020. A year that would go down in history as one that affected India and the rest of the world in ways unimaginable. 

Rajiv and his wife Sunidhi had been at home for months already. Both of them had their own jobs in Kolkata and neither of them had to go out. With smart apps and all, life had not been too difficult either. And of course, there were people like Laltu ready to provide items not usually covered by apps. 

That day, however, Laltu was late. It was 11am already.

"Rajiv, this is getting difficult. I have a meeting coming up in 30 minutes. I had thought about finishing the cooking and all. But Laltu has delayed this."

"Yeah, I mean, normally he is not late. Not sure what happened today."

"Well you know what, I suggest you do the cooking today. I wouldn't have time with back to back meetings!"

This is exactly what Rajiv was most scared about, being told to cook. Usually the power couple shared every responsibility, but when it came to cooking, he was always found wanting.

"Well, umm, no problem. I mean, if you can eat my preparation, then fine. I mean last time you threw up, though I still don't think I had messed up the 'aloo dum'".

"See, I just have 2 mins left, I really don't have time. So prepare whatever you can. Watch YouTube videos for recipes if you must. But please don't mess it up like last time!"

Ah! At least YouTube was not impacted by pandemic, Rajiv thought.

Just then, his cell phone beeped. It was Laltu, the culprit. 

Rajiv picked up the call and didn't waste any time.

"Hello Laltu! What is it, man! Don't you know how tough it gets if you delay delivery?"

"Sir, umm, unfortunately, I got stuck somewhere!"

"Okay, I don't have time to listen. Where are you now?"

"Sir, downstairs. Please lower your bag."

Rajiv quickly went outside and without looking at Laltu, lowered the bag. 

"Sir you can pull it up now."

"Okay!"

As he started pulling it up he casually glanced at Laltu and something didn't look right. His apartment was on the 10th floor and while it gave him a great view for his photographic taste, he could not see people's faces too clearly. His eyesight had degraded over the years and he didn't have specs always. That compounded the problem. But he could make out clearly, that Laltu was limping, as he went away.

Anyway, he didn't give much thought to this and went about his daily chores, cooking included.

Two days later, he gave a call again to Laltu. The fish had been consumed and a new set was needed. 

The phone rang for 30 seconds. No one picked up.

He called again.

This time, however, a lady picked up.

"Is Laltu there?"

"Sir, I am Laltu's wife Roza!"

"Okay, where is Laltu?"

"Sir he is bedridden since last couple of days!"

"Oh why?"

"Couple of days back a bike hit him when he went out for fish delivery. He fell down on the road and suffered bleeding and a haemorrhage in his left leg."

"Oh!"

"But he refused to see a doctor right away as he had some deliveries to make that day. In the evening we forced him to see a doctor."

"Oh! How is he now?"

(In the background, Laltu's voice could be heard asking his wife to hand over the phone.)

"Sir, I am okay. Sorry I could not call you today. But I hope I can deliver tomorrow. Is that okay, sir?"

"It's okay, Laltu. See, take care of your health. Did you get medicines?"

"Yes sir, I got some. It's the month end, so... But I am already feeling better, sir."

"It's okay. Why didn't you tell me yesterday that you had an accident? I could have cancelled the order."

Laltu was silent for a while.

"Yes sir, I could have. But sir, the problem was, you could have lived without fish yesterday, but my family didn't have rice to cook. Your payment helped me to procure some rice and essentials."

Rajiv had really not thought through. The response struck him somehow. After a moment of silence he replied:

"Take care Laltu. Tell me when you feel better. I would like to see what else I can order from you, in addition to fish."

"Sure sir. Thanks a lot."