The SUN-RISE apartment

Satish, an I.T. professional had rented an apartment in a 4-storey building SUN-RISE, having four flats on every floor. He and his wife Vidya who was also an I.T. professional took charge of flat M on the 4^th floor.

On one Saturday, the couple brought all their furniture through a packers and movers company, and after a few days of rearrangement of the furniture, the couple Satish and Vidya were all set to start a new life in Boston.

They would leave for the office early morning and return home late evening. Since both of them were working for the same company Microsoft, they were commuting by the same car. After getting adjusted to the new atmosphere, Satish and Vidya decided to invite all the occupants of the SUN-RISE building on one evening, to get introduced to the members of the building. They went to each flat and extended the invitation on the following Saturday.

Various kinds of reactions were received from the members of the building. Invitation from the new entrant of the building was not a conceivable idea. Some of them put forth an excuse of being not free on that day. A few of them flatly refused to accept the invitation as they did not know each other.

Undeterred by the lukewarm response, they arranged for a grand get-together. Out of 15 members of the building, three had refused the invitation, and three had extended an excuse of prior engagement but the remaining nine members did accept the invite and promised two members of each family would attend the get-together.  

On the day of the get-together, Satish and Vidya excelled with their warm hospitality. A grand choice of drinks, a variety of accompaniments, and a wonderful menu of vegetarian as well as non-veg dishes as the main course followed by a choice of desserts. All the guests were extremely happy to get introduced to the lively couple. It was the first occasion that many of the members of the building had come together. A small thermos was presented to every guest. All the attendees left fully satisfied and developed a sort of bond with the new young couple.

Slowly, the interaction of the members of the building started increasing. Weekdays passed quickly with work but on weekends, members found time to chat with each other.

Satish proposed a half-day picnic amongst the members and it was supported by everyone. On a Sunday, all of them went to Franklyn Park at around 10 a.m. A caravan of ten cars reached the park. All the members got out to enjoy the arrival of the spring. Though the temperature was around 3-4 degrees, the bright Sunshine made the atmosphere adorable. The gaily smiling bright tulips added colour to the garden which was hitherto bland white with biting cold snow. The trees proudly sported uncurled leaves. Birds, which had migrated to some warmer place to avoid the bitter winter, had started returning to their habitats. The atmosphere was gay and cheerful.

The members of the SUN-RISE apartment wandered around in a merrymaking mood.

Satish made an announcement. “Are the members ready for small soft games?”

The young members agreed immediately. Satish further added. “No. These games will not be rigorous games such as football or soccer. These games are all-inclusive. A young John can enjoy it as much as our senior members like Mr and Mrs Munro. This is a slow-speed game. You may be aware of Musical Chair. We are going to play that game,” saying this Satish explained game. “When the music begins playing, everyone will start moving in circles around the chairs which we have kept in a row. Please note, that the adjacent chairs are facing the opposite direction. When the music stops, everyone will occupy the chair close to them without moving the chair. The number of chairs which we have kept is one short of playing members. So, one person, left out without a chair goes out of the game. One chair is also taken out. The remaining members start moving around chairs when the music begins. When the music stops, everyone gets hold of a chair close to him. Again, one member is left out. The game continues till only two players and a chair are in the game. And in the final round, the member holding the lone chair is declared the winner.”

“Oh! Great. We all will play.”

“Yes. Yes. I will also participate,” Mrs Munro said.

Satish took out many folding chairs and arranged them in a row and the game started with Satish playing soft music, he looking looked away from the group moving in a circle. And that was fun. Everyone enjoyed it thoroughly. The winner was a senior member, Mr Jim.

Next Satish introduced another game. The group got together. The conductor looked away from the group and announced some conditions such as all those wearing green colour should drop out. Next, he declared another condition. Those sporting moustaches should drop out. Such funny criteria of elimination finally left a single winner. Then, a few playing cards-based simple and interesting games. Everyone enjoyed them to the fullest.

After some time, refreshments were served.

Again, a few more games were played. Everyone from all the age groups wanted more and more games to be played. The competitive nature made the atmosphere lively.

At around five in the evening, Satish announced the end of the picnic. Everyone reluctantly winded up. There was a brief session for group photos. All of them agreed that the next picnic should be a full day picnic and that should be soon.

When all returned to the apartment, everyone thanked Satish and Vidya wholeheartedly for such a never-before wonderful experience. They felt like a family for a bond was developed among all the members of the apartment.

The days passed by, and after a grand summer, the people of Boston looked forward to the season of fall. But the unpredictable weather showed its fangs. On Sunday, the sky was overcast and it started raining. It started with a shower, and later, it turned into a heavy, incessant downpour. It also coincided with the occurrence of a full moon. The sea was turbulent with high tides rising to a couple of meters. The drainage system had turned ineffective. In addition to the heavy waterfall of torrential rain, the high tide water was coming inside the city. The roads were blocked, and the water level started rising in the city.

Satish and Vidya mulled over the situation. Their experience of the 27^th July 2005 floods in Mumbai, warned them about the worst scenario that may follow. Immediately,  they went to the basement where they had stored their material. They checked packages and only those which would get affected by water, they moved it into their flat. They contacted Mr and Mrs Munro and made them aware of the lurking danger. Satish took Mr Munro to the basement and separated the things that would get affected by water. With his consent, Satish carried the things up to the third floor of Munro’s flat.

When the water level on the ground in the surrounding area was still rising, Satish decided to warn all the members of the building of the imminent danger of water entering the basement. All the youngsters came out and volunteered to help each other move things. No sooner had they finished shifting important material up than the water gushed into the basement. All of them had a sigh of relief to have saved the valuable things.

The rain was still rampant. The water level on the outside ground was still increasing. Satish and Vidya discussed this with the residents of the first floor. They shared their experience of the floods of Mumbai in July 2005. When they observed the water level increasing further, they told the residents of the first floor to move to at least the second floor. They anticipated the danger of the first floor getting submerged. All four residents collected the important material and shifted to the second floor. With the newly developed bond amongst the members, the residents of the second floor helped the residents of the first floor all out. The youngsters of the entire building came forward to give their hands to move the heavy material from the first floor to the second floor.

Soon the increasing water level entered the first floor. With no signs of receding the rains, the water on the ground was still rising. Then, the electric power supply was disconnected. The electric gadgets became non-operational. The air conditioners and water heaters stopped functioning, small children needed milk. Satish and Vidya were prompt enough to replenish their stocks on Friday. They opened out their fridge for the needy and Vidya gave milk bottles to the families having children.

The rains started receding, and everyone had a sigh of relief. The water after damaging the first floor was seen going down. When the water was completely out of the house, the residents of the first floor ventured into their houses. An ankle-deep mud greeted them, the immovable furniture was coated with a layer of silt and the cars had thick layers of sludge.

Even after 24 hours, the electricity was not yet restored. The stores were still closed. The situation was very grave. Satish and Vidya sensed the seriousness of the situation. They took out their ready-to-eat packed food and distributed it. A few other members of the building also shared many items with the neighbourhood.

The entire SUN-RISE Apartment faced the calamity as a united family.

Slowly, the services were restored. To pump out the mud, the Municipal Corporation provided the services. The city returned to normalcy soon.

On Sunday, Mr and Mrs Munro arranged for a get-together to thank all the members, in particular, Satish and Vidya. Then the residents of the first floor threw a small party thanking members of the building for their help during the floods.

The Sun-rise apartment became a well-knit family.

But then after spending three years in Boston, Satish and Vidya had to shift to Palo Alto, California. All the members of the SUN-RISE apartment felt deep remorse, a family member was going away from them.  They got together and arranged for a send-off party. Every member opened out his heart and spoke about how Satish and Vidya were instrumental in bringing all the members of the SUN-RISE apartment together.

Mr Munro stood up and said,  “Satish and Vidya were like our children. They are leaving our building but they cannot leave the place they have occupied in our hearts. We will never forget the joy, happiness and love that you shared with SUN-RISE members.”

Mr Munro was choked with emotions and could not say a word further. He sat down and used his paper napkin to wipe his tears. Then one after another members opened out their hearts.

Mr Peters got up. He said, “When Satish first came to my flat to invite us for the evening with him, I doubted his invitation and suspected some ulterior motive behind it. I found, in every social activity,  their involvement was always generous. Satish and Vidya, I concede that you have enlightened me on how to get immense pleasure by working selflessly for society. I will never forget you both.” With a heavy heart, Peters sat down.

Then Mr Smith stood up and had his turn to open out his heart. “All the members have expressed themselves so wonderfully that there is nothing for me to add. The only thing I can say is that this energetic, compassionate couple has shared their love with us all and showed us the way to live a social life to the fullest.

To Satish and Vidya,  we are presenting a Mayflower sapling which is the state flower of Massachusetts. This plant bears flowers having a strong fragrance. It does not have the glamour of the rose but also it does not have the resentful thorns too. This unassuming, ungrudging couple has a lot to share without any mean qualities. As Mr Peters admitted to learning about acquiring immense pleasure by working selfless for society, I also have learnt from this couple that sharing happiness with others multiplies your happiness. Satish and Vidya, I am thankful to you for making my life worth living.”

After receiving this uncommon gift, Satish and Vidya were presented a grand picture of the group framed exquisitely. They wanted to share their feelings.

Satish said, “We are overwhelmed with your kind gesture. This sapling of Mayflower is suggesting a lot of things to us. We promise we will continue sharing happiness with others. We would carry the immense affection we received from the SUN-RISE apartment during our stay. We will treasure our memories with SUN-RISE. Thanks again for all the cooperation.”

Vidya in her choked voice said, “The parental affection received from seniors like Mr and Mrs Munro we will carry with us.  We will never forget our relationship developed with all the members. We value it. We will keep in touch with you all through video calls. Bye.”

They carried the sapling of Mayflower and the group photo and the sentiments associated with it. With heavy hearts, they all dispersed.

The next day, the Packers and Movers arrived with a truck and all the furniture was loaded into it. Flat M was empty.  Satish and Vidya boarded the plane after bidding bye to the crowd of members of SUN-RISE.              

Vijay Likhite