Dobie and Me - Chapter 6

Click here for Chapter 5

The service guys took a couple of days to get the car cleaned, and at a hefty cost. I offered to share a part of the payment at least, but Gautam wouldn’t hear of it, thankfully. With Dobie’s treatment and two sons in college, it wasn’t easy though I was not hard up.

Gautam dropped in once in a while to see Dobie, and normally stayed back for breakfast – if he came before leaving for work - or had dinner if he came after work. We mostly discussed books – I had a big shelf with books - and travel. But I also gathered that he was divorced, he was in his early forties, he liked to travel but couldn’t because his mother was unwell.

The more I spent time with him, the less I wanted to share with my friends – even long standing ones. I was sure they would tease me about him, or warn me, or be sceptical. And I was too embarrassed. Dobie was the only one I could trust, I thought indulgently. Not only nonjudgemental, he even seemed to like having Gautam around.

As the December vacations neared, a new problem cropped up. My sons would be visiting, and I wondered how to explain Gautam’s presence to them.

He resolved my dilemma by saying, “I am traveling in December,” he said.

“On work?” I asked, handing him a cup of coffee made just the way he liked – low sugar, low milk.

“No, break. Since most of our clients are also on leave at that time, we get a week off,” he said.

“And your mother?”

“I will pick her up from my sister’s place once I return. Then my sister will take her vacation,” he replied.

“Oh, you take turns? Do you also go together? Somewhere where your mother can also enjoy?” I asked, trying to picture their lives.

He was quiet for a minute. “We can’t take my mother. She has Alzheimer’s,” he said in a heavy voice.

“Oh, I am sorry to hear that…” I said, slightly taken aback. “Has she been ill for long?” I was not sure what Alzheimer’s was or what it did to a person.

He nodded. “Almost seven years.” I waited, not knowing what to ask. “Initially we couldn’t see it coming. My wife and she would have massive fights. It seemed like my mother was being malicious and nit picking all the time.” Mentally, an eyebrow shot up at the mention of the wife. “I couldn’t believe it was my mother behaving like this and I was also very harsh with her. My wife and I even moved out, leaving my mother alone.”

His gaze turned inwards, his fingers tickled Dobie behind the ears absent-mindedly. “My sister also used to stay with us. She was working in a newspaper and had crazy hours. She couldn’t deal with my mother either. They both seemed to be going through the same problems that Shivani and my mom had – every day fights, accusations, forgetfulness, twisting meanings out of context…” He sighed. “She even stayed away for a couple of days. But thankfully she informed me. I went to see my mother, more out of courtesy, and was shocked to see the state she was in. That was not my mother at all. She was totally depressed and the house was worse than a pigsty. I don’t remember a day when it had looked like that before. I persuaded my sister to return, guessing there was a deeper problem, but unable to figure out. Work had me tied down. The problems between my sis and mom continued. I knew I could not ignore it any longer. After many false starts, she was finally diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Early stages… I decided to move back and Shivani agreed reluctantly… We used to have a Labrador back then, Vicky. He was young, an adolescent, very frisky... My mother was bothered by him too and complained all day. It was getting on Shivani’s nerves. Then, one day, Vicky ran out when the door was open and got killed by a speeding vehicle. My mother and he had been alone at home at that time. Shivani was distraught and suspected my mother of having driven him away. My mother herself was indifferent and unable or unwilling to explain what had happened.”

Dobie seemed to sense the heaviness in the air and looked at Gautam alertly.

“That was the last straw for Shivani. I can’t blame her, really… I had to choose between my mother and her…”

He looked down, not meeting my eyes which were fixed on him. I knew the answer even before he said it, “I chose my mother…”

(Click here for Chapter 7)