Sorry! I Did Not Recognise You...

This is based on a real life story I heard at an office party. I was young and working in my first job in India. I and my peers were sitting with a group of engineers who were senior to us. We, the fresh graduates looked up to them. Many of them had travelled abroad, studied or lived overseas in various countries and often regaled us with often interesting or memorable stories about life overseas - in the USA, Germany, Japan and Europe. We youngsters listened to these stories with interest, hoping one day to also visit far away places atleast on a valid excuse of work or study. Stories and descriptions of the places, people, lifestyles and food found in foreign nations were always of great interest to all and office parties or gatherings were very fun and entertaining. Looking back after all these years, this story was a classic that I can never forget. I hope I can do justice in re-telling this.

The original storytellers, A and S, did a fabulous job! They were both electronics engineers who had gone to The Netherlands to train with the famous company 'Philips' as part of an internship program from their universities on a scholarship. They had been classmates selected to go together, had flown together, rented an apartment together. They managed a kitchen, cooked and shopped together. They stayed there about an year. The two Indians would get ready and set out to work together each morning and return together.  Apparently, they arrived in autumn while it was cool in the evenings and night, but pleasantly warm in the afternoon if the sun was out.

"I remember the first time we met our next door neighbours - a  young Dutch couple, they both had no clothes on! " said A.
That immediately caught the attention of all us listening.

"We had rented a town-house in a duplex, with a small lawn in the front and backyard with a hedge running around it. We had not seen very much of our next door neighbours who were not in for the first few weeks. Moreover, we worked different hours. One weekend afternoon, as we went to put out some clothes to dry in the afternoon sun in the backyard, we heard someone calling and greeting us across the hedge we shared with the house next door," said S.

"We did not see them initially, and both went over to the hedged and looked over. We saw this couple who were sunning themselves on reclining lawn chairs, facing the sun, not a stitch of clothing on them. They each wore just a wide brimmed hat and sunglasses and had some drinks set next to them. They turned their head towards us smiled and waved Hello," said A.

"We strived to keep our jaws from dropping and regain our composure but managed to greet them - "Nice to meet you!"" I managed to say," said S.

"They invited us over for a drink and we were not sure if we should go over dressed or undressed," joked A.

"They were a friendly couple and the woman was definitely very good looking and shapely too!" remembered S, smiling.

"Its not big deal there in Europe. They go nude in the sun in summer or winter. It is perfectly normal in many places. Grown-ups and kids alike," said S.

Some of  the senior managers in our group who had also been there nodded, smiling. For a moment, it seemed like that was the end of the story.

"What happened then?" blurted out one of my peers.

Everyone laughed. A sudden gleam came over A's eyes. He and S exchanged glances.

"Well, we did go over, they offered us a drink. We had our drinks and chatted a bit carefully making eye-contact and maintaining it!" said A.

"They were curious about India and had planned to visit the Taj Mahal sometime and visit a few places of interest. And that was that!" said S still smiling.

We all laughed again and then as it quietened down, A and S continued to smile at each other.

"Should we tell them more?" A asked.

We were all ears, immediately. There surely must be something more interesting to this story.

S looked at us, then over at A and nodded, "Yes, all the way to the end!"

 We saw a couple of the senior managers look at each other and wink and suppress smiles. These two had apparently told this story a few times before and they had all of us hooked now.

"Well, we used to regularly see each and greet each other across the hedge most sunny days. We both made sure our clothes were sun-dried whenever possible. Sometimes we were asked over for a drink and other times, we took over something we had cooked. They enjoyed eating our Indian food and attempts at cooking some local recipes too. They were both always together and always naked. Apparently, they worked together at a hospital and they owned just one car between them. They were away most nights," said S.

A continued:

"We two were very busy with our work and learning as well. We made many other friends at work and a few around town. Every weekend we would go shopping for groceries at a market nearby and carry our stuff in big bags. We bought only as much as we could carry and it worked out well as we took the local bus to and from our place. Sometimes we were a bit overladen. One winter weekend, as we stumbled out from the market, I tripped near the exit, one of the bags slipped and fell down near the entrance and in trying to retrieve it, more slipped and fell in a heap. Some of the people around us looked to help. A Dutch couple in their warm winter coats, hats and scarves came over, asked us to stand up. They patiently picked up the fallen stuff, put them back in the bags and handed our bags one by one as we stood like coat racks. The man held the last one as I tried to grab it between my two fingers.

"Thank you very much! We should be OK now!" I said.

Suddenly the man just pulled back still holding the last bag as he looked at the woman and then towards me.

"Can we give you a ride home?" he asked.

"Oh, no! That is kind of you to offer! But we are just headed to the bus stop over there. I think we can manage after that. We live close to our bus stop. Thank you again, very much!" I said.

"But it is really no trouble A. We are headed home too!" said the woman.

Suddenly, it hit us! How did these two know our names?!! It seemed puzzling..

We looked intently and the two laughed, "Oh! Did you not recognise us?!!"

Yes, they were our neighbours!!

Sheepishly, I blurted out,"Oh! Yes! I am sorry. I did not recognise you both with your clothes on!"

Copyright (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2017
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