Chapter 1

It was the summers of 1994 when I took up a job with an NGO called “Solution”(name changed) working on mental disability. I had spent a year at home cooking cleaning and housekeeping and this job was a godsend for my lazy self. The job did not give me as much pleasure as the thought, that now my husband will have an equal share of household chores to do as me. In the early years of our marriage we spent most of our energies and creative thinking on how to get the other to do household chores and we resorted to the most cunning and devious ways of doing this.

“Solution” was a fantastic NGO run by a single lady Parvathi Balachandran (name changed). She had her office in her small old fashioned house in defence colony (place changed). The school for the differently abled children was in a slum in west Delhi. Parvathi was 60 plus but she functioned like a 35 year old with full gusto and zeal. I was engaged for fund raising.

Parvathi owned the house , where the ground floor was let out to tenants and she lived alone with her pet lab Daaku (name changed) on the first floor . On the same floor there was a room with a separate entrance from outside. When you climbed the stairs access to this room would come first and then the residential space. This one room which was separate was called the office room and Parvathi and myself operated from there. She fed me lunch everyday and we used to have it in her dining space.

On an August morning I started work with Parvathi. I was eagerly waiting for lunch as there was not much to do in the beginning. Phoolmala Parvathi’s help had made simple baingan jhol with rice and roti. The phone rang while we were having lunch and I stood up to pick the call from the landline. Parvathi stopped me and she had to do it at least 5 times because the phone rang that many times.

When we went up back to the office room Parvathi said – “Don’t be scared with what I am going to tell you”. There is a man who calls up regularly even at night and tries to engage me in an obscene conversation. I am tired of him and I have even thought of reporting it but haven’t had the energy and time to do it. So I simply pick up the phone and hang for some time. Being in the prime of youth I had encountered several such Romeo’s and I did not think much of it as he was only on the other end of a phone.

In the next few days we ignored the phone many times and we worked continuously on the desktop. I never bothered to pick the phone and let Parvathi deal with it. I started enjoying as this was the first time I had a desktop to myself at work. Parvathi and I shared a lot with each other. One afternoon content and happy with our new plans for fund raising, we both got up for lunch.

As we were moving towards the dining space ,Parvathi picked up a small envelope which had been slipped from under the door. Post I queried? No we have a mail box downstairs she responded and started opening the envelope. I could see her expression changing as she read the white piece of paper. She quietly handed it over to me and beckoned me for lunch.

I read the paper and almost vomited in disgust with the obscene language and filth written on the paper. It was distressing to know that a 60 year old lady was being sexually harassed on phone and now the person had the cheek to come over in broad daylight and slip a paper under the specific room in which we were working. When asked Phoolmala had heard nothing and Daaku woke up from deep slumber denying all sounds except his own snoring. The situation was going to become worse in the coming days.

Chapter 2

The next few days/weeks was a lot of work as we started our fund raising work on the ground. It was lovely working with Parvathi in a non- formal environment. We lunched and even napped together. Phoolmala was our Annapurna (goddess of food) and Daaku joined us eagerly in short naps with loud snores. The phone calls continued, but Parvathi would promptly pick up and hang up. Two other obscene notes turned up in the mailbox downstairs but they were torn without even going through.

One day Parvathi had gone to the bank and the phone rang. It could be official , so I picked up. A very soft voice said hello so I responded with my hello. Immediately I knew that there was something wrong as without any warning the voice at the other end started an obscene conversation. Disgusted, I hung up the phone and then it suddenly hit me that the accent of the caller was a pronounced Malayali accent. I hugged Daaku and waited for the phone to ring again. It did and here is the first conversation.

I said Hello and the voice asked are you new out there?

Me – yes

Voice – what is your name

Me – Jayanthi

Voice – you are a malayali

Me – yes and you

Voice – No

Me – what do you do

Voice – I am talking to you

I put the phone down as I had run out of conversation and I needed to think. I downloaded the whole conversation to Parvathi. She was annoyed that I engaged in a conversation with him. She wanted to protect me. By now I determined to get hold of this guy as he was a real stink.

For a whole week we got numerous phone calls and Parvathi hung up the phone each time. This resulted in an increase in the number of notes coming into the mailbox. We were just two of us so could not monitor the front gate and I suspect the notes were put in late evening. We stood in the balcony many times to watch out for anyone suspicious but never found anything.

Once when we were leaving office for an event we found a note slipped in through the office door. The note was from the voice which said that he will be coming same night to visit Parvathi and Jayanthi. The person was getting desperate .This gave us a scare and the same evening we reported it to the police. The police said it is very difficult to track such people because they never called from one place . That night police guarded Parvathi’s house but found nothing.

I consulted my husband and my maternal uncle who was in Delhi. We went together to the police again who suggested a way forward but it was too adventurous. They suggested that we should lay a trap for him by engaging him in a conversation and call him home. And I was nominated to do the job.

I had played a lot of pranks in my college life but that was all in good humour. I was not prepared for this dangerous game. The police inspector said I just had to lure him home and they will handle the rest. The question was whether I wanted to or could I do it?

Chapter 3

The next day the Police Inspector visited our office in plain clothes and he tried to coax Parvathi and me to trap this guy. They wanted me to get him into the office and that is all. The rest they would take charge off and my Uncle (a young chap those days) assured me that he will be in the house.

The problem was that I am not capable of holding a plan till the end . I never had any patience for this kind of manipulative conversations and besides getting a person like him into the office room with no one there was too scary.

However what I forgot to mention in the first chapter was that the office had a seperate access but was connected to the main house from the balcony but the connection was not easy to make out . What really demotivated me was Parvathi’s emphasis on – “And Daaku is there, he will ensure no harm done to you”. This carried no weight as Daaku only got up now and then to sleep again , rest or cuddle to us. He was least bothered about anything else in the world. The first dog in the world who was deaf to the word – Walk.

The next day was Tuesday. I was given two days to win his trust on phone and lure him into the house on Thursday

The plan was as follows. I will somehow get him to come into office on Thursday. My Uncle would come very early into the house and stay . Uncle, Parvathi , Phoolmala and Daaku will remain hidden in the house while two policemen in plain clothes would loiter around the house downstairs.

It was easy to keep him engaged on phone. I talked to him about Parvathi and that she was my boss and that she was suspicious that I was talking to the stranger on phone etc . He stopped obscene talk but got very personal asking my marital status , age , complexion etc. I crafted an imaginary Jayanthi and I cant remember for the life of me what I said.

On Wednesday I told him that I want to see him but will have to look for a time when Parvathi was not there. I asked for his phone but he said he will call. Clever guy! Just before 5 pm the same day he called and I said Parvathi will go to a centre in West Delhi on Thursday at around 11 am. If he wants he can come or else I would accompany her . He asked if there was anyone else in the house and I said no. I asked him if he knows where to come and he gave himself away by saying yes he has been several times. I questioned no further.

Will Thursday come? Will he come? At that time I was as doubtful as you probably are now.

Chapter 4

My Uncle reached my office at 8 am on Thursday. Parvathi was very excited and ready when I reached at 9 am. And then began our long wait . We could not work that day. We kept planning and strategizing. At 10 am the police called saying that they will reach by 10:30 but will not ring the bell or come near the house . But they will be around keeping a close watch.

I was prepared and then the phone rang at around 10:30 . The voice man said he is busy and will come by 12pm. I hesitated not knowing what to say but he said don’t worry if she is going to West Delhi then she will not come back before 4 hours. I agreed and asked if he could give me a number where I could alert him if she comes back earlier . He was too smart for me – said don’t worry.

I went to the balcony and I could see the inspector under a tree looking directly at me. I was assured. I went back to see my otherwise brave Uncle smoking endlessly while Parvathi became incoherent and Daaku slept. At 11:30 the phone rang and the voice man asked if Parvathi had gone . I replied yes to which he said he is coming and will reach in 10 minutes.

I suddenly got panicky. He was somewhere close by and was not giving me time to prepare. We all got alert and then I chickened out in Parvathi’s arms crying that I cant do it. My Uncle coaxed me and Parvathi said it is just a matter of minutes and he cant do a thing to you. Just the thought of being in proximity with such a devil gave me the scare. I was in tears and extremely nervous.

I walked to the balcony and saw this fairly tall slender man walking towards our office with his eyes focussed on his target. He looked very plain in a pink shirt and brown trousers. He reached the house and from below beckoned me to open the door.

I went into the office holding my breath and opened the door. He had bloodshot eyes but a very kind look. Ghosh he was drunk . He asked- Jayanthi? I nodded and asked him to seat . He said he was okay standing and without a sense of what I was doing locked the door of the office entrance behind him. He asked me why was I doing it and I said – we don’t want to be caught by surprise .

I had barely finished locking when a continuous loud thud on the door scared the life out of me . The voice man ran to the balcony and entered the house. I opened the door of the office and the two policemen entered rushing to the balcony and into the house.

What a sight it was – my Uncle and the two policeman pounding the man while Daaku caught offguard ran around barking at nothing. I waited to catch my breath while Parvathi hugged me tight to her bosom like a mother. The Inspector chided me for locking the office door saying he could have harmed you. Frankly I was so scared that I did not know what I was doing. Both the policeman then commended me for a good job done but I was completely lost . Everything happened so suddenly.

The voice man was taken to the police station and we rested . Later the police gave us a number asking us to contact and tell his wife. What followed was really sad and pathetic and till today I have not been able to understand the man.

Chapter 5

I called up the voice man’s wife and asked her to meet us urgently, without giving her any details. She was hesitant but came over to Parvathi’s house at around 6 pm after her work. Binny Thomas was one of the most pious looking woman I had seen. Very simple and ordinary person. Parvathi started the conversation and told her about the sexual harassment and the incident earlier in the day. Binny stared with her mouth open in disbelief. She insisted that we were not talking about her husband and that we had got it all wrong.

Binny admitted that her husband worked very close by , in a private company but said he was a missionary and a very pious person. What followed was unbelievable. She said Albert Thomas (voice man) was a very pious man and he never had liquor.

She said he never raised her voice and vouched that he has no abnormal sexual behaviours known to her.

She asked if she could make a call and put us through to her parish priest. I spoke to the priest and he said that Albert was a committed parishioner and that he used to lead Bible classes.

Binny was in complete denial and she brought out a picture of her husband from her purse. Yes he was our voice man and he was behind bars. She insisted that her husband did not even speak to any woman in the parish unnecessarily and never even engaged in pleasantries . This I thought could be abnormal and very suppressive of oneself?

That night I could not sleep and the next day I asked my Uncle to take back our case and get the man out. I was heartbroken remembering Binny’s face and her tears. She kept saying there was some mistake and kept asking us how will she break this news to her two children (at the threshold of teenage) . Parvathi did not agree to take back the case . The next day my uncle on my insistence assured me that he had taken back the case while Parvathi went mum. I chose to believe my Uncle because it gave me comfort.

Slowly life went back to normal but till today I wonder what was the truth – Mine and Parvathi’s or Binney’s? How could a man like this show no such abnormalities at all, when at home where people are most relaxed. When he was being taken away by the police from Parvathi’s house he looked at me as if asking – why did I do it? Did he think he was normal and right? Don’t know but to date, I have never been able to crack this.