Today was like most other days in India, but it ended with a special twist. As I was working upstairs the gardeners came to whipper snipper our roof. Yes, you read correctly, our roof. We live in an eco-friendly community where the villa's are all covered in earth and grass to keep the houses cool, and every month or so a couple of men come to cut the grass up there with a whipper snipper. There is also a small patch of grass just outside my office, sort of overlooking the lounge area. Yes, the ceilings are very very high.
Anyway, I was just finishing some work and went downstairs to fill my water bottle when I heard a large bang and then the crackling of glass. You guessed it, the guy had hit a stone and it had shattered the window. As it turned out, I was standing directly under that window and was very lucky that it was 'very Indian glass' and it didn't shatter. It did have some small fragments come down on me but not too bad but the noise was eerie. It just kept creaking and I was sure it would explode or collapse at any moment.
I moved away to get a better look and the 2 guys were just staring at me in shock. I got them to come downstairs and we called the office. No English, so it was the blind leading the blind. Sure enough after 4 phone calls, another 2 men arrived, then another 2, then another 2…….. you get the picture. I ended up with 15 men at the house 'looking' at the window.
I was a bit concerned for the poor gardener - I haven't seen him before, so assume he is new. I know what he did was fairly stupid but he didn't do it on purpose. I stayed upstairs so the more senior men knew I was watching, because it was starting to get a bit nasty and I thought they might hit him. It is just the sort of thing that could happen, and as I said, stupid but not on purpose.
So, eventually a large ladder arrives and they ask me for a tarp…… yep, they asked me ! Then they asked for a hammer. They always have a screwdriver, so that wasn't needed. They then proceeded to 'discuss/argue' on the best approach to the situation. They all stood there in flip-flops with no protection as one guy goes up the ladder and hits it with a tree branch………. Thinking/hoping it would not fall inside the house but outside (that was never going to happen) they started pulling at it with no gloves but a hessian bag and a plastic dustpan. What every glazier/handyman needs !!
They made the biggest mess of the house and glass was flying everywhere. After about 2 hours of hitting, pulling, scraping and sweeping, the 15 men left me with a massive hole in the wall above the lounge. "We will be back soon to cover, madam". Lots of apologies and no definitive timeline for when a permanent fix would be in place, I went back to cooking dinner.
Two men returned with a tarp, some nails and some sticky tape. More expert tools of the trade !! They have managed to patch us up with the tarp and tape but I am terrified the cobra I saw yesterday on my walk will come visit, the dengue mosquitoes will join our family, the stray cats will make themselves at home or the friendly neighbourhood monkey will make his presence known through our blue tarp repair.
As I write this now, the sprinklers on the roof have just come on, so I am sure we will be leaking very shortly……
What an end to the day………. never a dull moment !
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| what I looked up to see |
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| hmmmm, staring at it won't fix it !! |
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| anyone else have better tools than a hessian bag, plastic dustpan and a the every faithful screwdriver |
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| yes, he is using a hessian bag as a glove |
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| and more men……. |
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| just a handful of the men 'helping' |
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| nothing a little sticky tape won't fix ! |
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| Voila, we are done ! |
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