"Madam, I promise you that I shall sell only good quality fish from now on and shall never try to cheat you or any other customer." Chameli said to me, her voice shaking as she tried to persuade me to forgive her. I wasn't angry with the fisherwoman nor I was so much concerned about it anyway, but she still had an urgency in her voice that I felt was truthful and so, I smiled at her.
I said, "If you really promise to be honest, I shall not only always buy fish from you, but also consider you as my friend."
My name is Sumita and I am a newly married housewife living with my husband Raja in a suburb somewhere in West Bengal. Raja works in a bank about five kilometers away from our residence. We stay in a one BHK flat nearby a daily market. We both love having fish and since he works in a relatively busy branch and generally doesn't get the time to go to the market, I take this daily responsibility to buy vegetables as well as fish.
In the fish market most of the sellers were males and so, one day in the month of May when I saw Chameli sitting at the corner trying to attract customers I thought of giving a try at her shop. She wasn't a regular seller there and I out of curiosity thought about buying from her that day. The regular sellers from whom I bought generally called me but I ignored them to go to Chameli. She was a middle aged woman, about 40 or 45 years of age with a slender body. She had a dark complexion and a few gray hairs on one side of her head, not more than two or three however. Her hair wasn't well maintained and also wasn't clean enough. As I approached her she looked at me in anticipation and said, "Madam, take fish from me, they are very good and they are relatively cheap as well."
She was sweating profusely in the heat and patches of sweat were visible on her blouse. Her saree was torn in some places too. As I looked at the fish that Chameli had I felt they weren't up to the mark in quality but Chameli insisted that they were really good and I should definitely buy them. On her insistence I agreed to buy the fish from her. But that night both my husband and I had to eat something else since the fish wasn't good at all.
Next day in the same fish market Chameli was calling me again, "Madam o madam, please come here and take fish from me."
I gave her a slightly stern look and said, "No way, the fish that I took from you yesterday wasn't good at all. You cheated me and I won't buy from you again."
Chameli's facial expressions showed that she was very disheartened by my remark. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and pleaded to me, "Please madam don't say so. I am a very poor woman and my fisherman husband died a few months back. In order to make ends meet I am trying to continue his business. I am inexperienced and hence committed the mistake. You know you were the only one who bought from me yesterday. I am not going to survive if I lose a valuable customer like you."
Her sadness and her story moved me very much and I readily said, "It's okay, don't be sad. If you don't cheat anyone else and work harder to acquire and sell good quality fish you would definitely survive."
"Madam, I promise you that I shall sell only good quality fish from now on and shall never try to cheat you or any other customer." She said, I could see tears forming near the corner of her eyes. I felt very sorry for her. I wasn't very angry with her since it's natural to find one or two sellers in any market who would try to sell you things that might not be of the best quality. But as I listened to her story and her struggle I felt pity for the middle aged fisherwoman.
I said, "If you really promise to be honest, I shall not only always buy fish from you, but also consider you as my friend."
Chameli smiled at me and said, "Madam, how can we be friends? You are from a rich family and I am a poor fisherwoman, besides you are probably about 27 or 28 years old while I am 44."
I replied, "Friends can be of any age or status, they just need to be honest in their relationship. So Chameli, consider yourself as my friend from now on, just be honest and truthful. My name is Sumita and I live in Ajanta society flat. Now give me some good quality fish."
Chameli nodded and gave me the fish. I could understand that today the fish was actually better than yesterday and I thanked her. From then on I regularly bought fish from her. We also talked about each other. I came to know that she didn't have any children and stays alone now in the 'Machchi Colony' the slum area where the fishermen community people live. I noticed that most of her clothes were worn out and torn, and gave her a few of my old clothes. She was really grateful to me and always sold me good quality fish.
Once while taking the fish from her hand I slipped accidentally and went forward. I was about to fall on the piled fish that was kept on the plastic mat on the ground. But by sheer reflex action Chameli caught my body and helped me stand up. As I breathed heavily she kept holding my hand and said, "Are you alright?"
I could smell her again, a mixture of dirt, sweat and fish odor that was generated from her body. Her hands that were holding me were wet due to repeated touching of fish and water and they felt really sticky on my skin. Her breath that felt directly on my face due to standing close to each other was hot and a bit stale due to improper hygiene. I replied in the affirmative, waiting for her to leave me, but she kept holding me and looking into my eyes. Other fishermen and customers had gathered around us by then and Chameli suddenly seemed to come back to reality and let me free.
"Thank you Chameli." I remarked, still unable to breathe properly.
"You're welcome, but please don't thank me. I am your friend." She replied with a smile.
One day I had already taken a large amount of vegetables in addition to the fish that I bought from Chameli. That day there was a strike by E-rickshaw drivers and hence I was in a dilemma how I would carry the load to my home. Seeing my concern Chameli said, "Don't worry Sumita madam, I shall accompany you to your flat. We can share the load."
"But how could you leave your shop unattended?" I asked.
-"It is a temporary sitting place so why worry? I shall keep the remaining fish concealed in the ice box."
-"Okay, thank you so much."
-"Ah I told you once don't thank me, I am your friend, Sumita madam."
-"Yes right, call me just Sumita then, no madam."
We talked as we walked out of the market towards our flat, Chameli was carrying more than half of my load but was doing it with ease. I understood that inspite of her lean figure she was actually quite strong. The main road was blocked by the drivers and we had to take a narrow by-lane. I was walking very close to Chameli and I could feel the weird smell from her body again. The smell was of sweat and dirt accumulated in her body in addition to the smell of fish that naturally existed in her clothes. Chameli was walking ahead of me and once she had to suddenly stop due to a dog running towards her. I was just behind her and couldn't stop in time. My face brushed at her back, on the hair and the body part that was exposed by the opening of the blouse behind. The stench of the sweaty odor along with the fishy smell made me dizzy even if it was for a split second. "Sorry Sumita, did I hurt you?" She enquired.
"No, not at all Chameli, don't worry, I am alright." I replied.
After walking a few yards there was a big ox in the middle of the road walking towards us. I was very frightened on seeing it but Chameli once again came to my rescue. She pushed me against the wall of a nearby house and stood ahead of me, with her face towards the road. Her back was once again on my face, this time not for a second but for a longer duration. The rough skin was brushing on my nose and mouth, her smell was overpowering me and I just couldn't gather the strength to turn my face away. As time passed I could feel Chameli's body was slowly but surely pressing onto my body. The sweat of her body along with the fishy odor was getting into mine due to the closeness and rubbing. As I tried to open my mouth for better breathing I could feel her salty sweat on my lips coming into my mouth. For about five minutes we stayed in that position when finally I could hear her voice, "The ox is gone Sumita, don't worry, let's go now."
I was relieved and we started walking again. With every breath I took I could smell her in the air, I was feeling like I was in a fish market again with the smell of fish coming repeatedly. Chameli talked quite a lot as we walked while I listened in silence.
We soon reached our flat and Chameli really liked it. After we had the vegetables and fish properly kept in appropriate place I asked Chameli to stay for a while since it was a very hot and humid day and she was sweating very much. She sat on the floor under the revolving fan but I insisted she sat on the sofa. I could still feel the smell, a weird mixture of sweat and fishy odor that was generated from her body even though she was some distance away now. "May I have a glass of water?" She asked me.