Remembering Anna, the frailest protector of Pampa Society

This crow perches periodically on the ledge & is not connected to the post in any way!

The word ‘security’ is loosely used in the context of security guards of buildings. And recently with an increase in crimes & cars their demand has gone up.  Their presence probably acts as a deterrent to criminals and also helps lazy bums maneuver their cars in & out buildings at the push of a horn. Anyways, we are known to create employment opportunities out of odd jobs, like the concept of ‘liftmen’, so atleast this seems more deserved.

I, for one, live in a building that is about 40 years old. For the longest time the buildings' so called ‘security guy’ was a man we fondly called ‘Anna’. Ever since I knew him he was frail but had tremendous stamina. Anna would wash cars, mind the gate, crack dumb jokes with the building kids, ensure the water was pumped, run petty errands…basically the works. He also dropped by to give the sad news of some members death or ask for Diwali bakshees or simply to say ‘gaadi pe bahut kachra phenka uppar waale ne’.  And in the night like any good family man would do he would go home to sleep.  Despite the discrepancies in the process we never felt unsafe or there weren’t any so called incidents to complain about.

And when Anna was gone, his son moved in. Younger, more energy and more flesh on the bones. And as tradition would have it he too does exactly what his late dad did. Except that I figured that the man like most Govinda movies has two wives and two families. “Kya karega madam, pehla shaadi mein mera marji nahin tha” bolke, he has three kids of it! And two kids of the second. Sunday’s are when cleans the car ‘barabar se’. This is when he actually opens the car. And I like to be present at this ritual so he regales me with stories of his life, village and kids. Most of it is lost in his thick South Indian accent, some lost in his poor Hindi skills and then the critical parts are generally narrated in Telugu. So yeah, basically I’m imagining what he’s trying to say by his expression, body language and also cause he keeps saying “samjha na madam?” at the end of every sentence. Yeah, I agree the process is hardly professional. :-)

Contrast this with the watchmen in the adjacent building – Shubhangan. Now, I digress to mention that this building came up on a lovely playground we used as kids. Crushing the soul of the locality and felling the lovely gulmohar trees that lined the walls! Sad. But one tiny glimmer of hope here is that the structure doesn’t have municipal permits & hence irregular water supply. Yaay. 

Now their security guys wear this crisp uniform, sit by the gate with a stern look, ensuring the muster is filled by ‘vijhitors’ and that nothing unintended enters the building. In fact the other day the kids in my building were playing cricket and the ball happened to bounce across the wall. They deftly flicked the ball and hid it where the little boys couldn’t find it. I’m not a big fan of the naughty Gujju brats either so I chose not to rat. One other time they abruptly stopped their building kids itself play since it hindered the smooth entry & exit of cars. Eeeks. 

I hangout a lot by the window with my headphones plugged so I see a lot of this and it makes me feel grateful I had Anna when i grew up. We had our ample play time while he stood by the gate ensuring we didn’t run on to the road. I’m sure he’s hanging around some gate up there too seeing to it that little children get their well-deserved play time. R.I.P Anna.