Money plant- 1% story

The dusk was setting in as we entered home. Last few days had been very hectic. We were in the process of winding up from our home of last fifteen years to move back to our home town in Kolkata. Besides the emotional upheaval of leaving our familiar zone, selling unwanted furniture, packing and shipping the rest of the stuff, planning other important aspects of the move and to top it all the regular dinner invitations from friends had taken a toll on us.
As our taxi stopped in front of the house we saw Baba's frail frame waiting in the balcony. He came down quickly to welcome us, made an attempt to help us with the extremely heavy luggage. He had already ordered the dinner for us and hot tempting tea was waiting in the kettle to relieve us of the strained over night journey. After tea I just strolled around, looking out for familiar objects, the newly constructed portion of the house that I had just gotten done few months back in anticipation of our quitting nomadic life and moving back to our permanent abode. The beautiful round verandah was ornated by plants and some garden furniture. Suddenly my eyes fell on the Money-plant placed on the dining table just below Ma's framed picture in a very familiar bottle.
It took me down the memory lane to that rainy evening when we hosted a surprise guest. We were on vacation in our family house in Kolkata, the rain and thunder was deafening. We were just about to pounce on hot serving of bhajiya when the bell rang unexpectedly. My husband Swapan went out to open the door and was majorly surprised to see a long forgotten cousin who had settled down in Uk never to return. He was drenching in the rain carrying a small suitcase and a shoulder bag.
Swapan immediately brought him in and Ma asked me to get a towel and dry clothes for him. After changing in to Swapan's kurta which was quite tight and short for him considering the size difference, he seemed to relax a little bit. His eyes were on the bhajiya plate. Ma asked him to be comfortable and have some bhajiyas and tea to sustain till dinner time. He readily took the plate but did not want tea, instead started fishing for something in his bag. The object of his engrossed search soon came out, a Chivas Regal bottle! Although we were a little embarrassed, we did not say anything and provided him with glass and ice. He invited Swapan to join him. The drinking session started and each time I tried to get him on the dinner table he said - a little later please. Slowly the draining of the bottle was visible and his emotional convulsion filled the atmosphere with a melancholic gloom. He started telling us his story about how he was ditched by his wife who after getting UK citizenship through him had dumped him for some one else and his own avenging affairs with other women. After a couple of hours he was not even in a position to get up and go to bed. It was almost impossible for us to carry his heavy body to the bedroom so we just made him comfortable on the sofa and went to sleep. Our evening snack, dinner and sleep all had been ruined.
We woke up in the morning to find him gone. His wet clothes were nowhere to be seen and Swapan's clothes were lying on the sofa. He had just left a thank you note saying that he wanted to quit drinking and was off to some unknown Himalayan destination in search of self realisation! We could not help but laugh out aloud. I started cleaning up the mess, picked up the whiskey bottle, the culprit from last night, was about to throw it in the garbage bin when Ma walked in. She took it from me and said - such a shapely bottle but what a waste! I kept wondering if her statement meant more than what was obvious while she cleaned it thoroughly, filled it with clean water and put some Money-plant branches in it. It looked nice, we placed it on the dining table as a reminder of that evening.
My next visit to Kolkata came very soon as suddenly Ma had passed away in her sleep, just as a calm person like her should go on her final journey. After going through all the rituals and seeing off all the relatives it was time for us to go back. We had framed Ma's picture and put on the dining wall above the chair she used to keep sitting on till each one of us finished our food. I glanced at the room before leaving and suddenly my eyes fell on the money-plant bottle. It had been carefully nurtured all these months. I took it to the kitchen sink with moistened eyes, changed the water and placed it on the table again instructing our cook to take good care of it.
After a year or so we decided to renovate and construct the remaining portion of the house. I stayed in Kolkata for long spans twice and got the work done. During all this, the bottle was displaced to many odd places. Sometimes the workers put it under some shade, sometimes some family member tried to get rid of it, but still the creeper survived in all it's glory. When I was ready to leave to prepare for my final shifting back home I looked at the Money-plant. The leaves had grown pale due to lack of care and sunlight. By now the plant had become like a good luck charm from Ma and I did not want to lose it.
Now after coming back to Kolkata, seeing it again in that familiar bottle, flourishing green leaves, sparkling clear water, I looked thankfully at the cook who smiled in return. I had no words to express the positivity it generated, I felt truly blessed by Ma for the new phase of our life!