driving ms crazy

remember manthara? remember those mythological, small, influential voices? more importantly, remember the effect on keikeyi? turned the course of the story, didn't it? well, i cannot pretend that there is any story to be turned here, but the intrigue and deception gets more insidious and potent as the days roll on. and wary tho i am, about believing everyone (and ironically, noone), the seeds of suspicion are sown. well, actually, the seeds of suspicion (sown by observation) have developed into saplings by feeding on the small voices. yes, these might be rumours but no smoke without fire, es verdad?

turns out the driver is far from innocent. and is even further away from being non-interfering and "minding his own business." if the voices are to be believed, he has a long list of complaints in the building from residents and workers. chatting up young servant girls, driving rashly, being impatient behind residents' cars and flashing the high-beams incessantly, debasing our live-in, propositioning her, even sending his cell phone number to be given to her after she left, etc. isn't this the guy who eloped to get married to his love? yikes. we know he is no saint, but this puts a different color on the whole situation. remember my post about trust? why is it so difficult to trust? no no, why is it so difficult for these people to be trustworthy?

well, now what do i do? the live-in is gone, the driver is of dubious character. this must be signalling the end of the honeymoon phase. one thing about india is that while (or since) there are tons of people to do things for you, you tend to become dependent on them and when they lack integrity -- and they often do -- your artificially propped up faery-tale pedestal crashes into unrecognizable pieces. and so it has happened with this driver. but first i have to do some sleuthing and checking up on my "sources." the driver is so sharp, he can smell and hear things without effort and i need to be discreet. so for now i am saying nothing to the driver (until sanat gets back) and then we'll see what to do.

while it might be fairly straightforward to put the pedestal back together, the cracks of betrayed trust and peace of mind will probably show through only too plainly.