When I was small and lived in Alaknanda, a little away from my house there lived an old, tall, well-built woman who we kids, for some strange reason, referred to as Huge Lady. Her house was one of the last houses in that row and was a empty looking ground floor house. Remember that scene in Home Alone when Kevin sees that pigeon feeder and gets terrified of her but she turns out to be really nice? Huge Lady looked a lot like her with the short salt and pepper hair but a more crinkled face and the story also went on similar lines.
We heard a lot of rumours about Huge Lady. That she was crazy so she had to be locked up and the police would come to check on her sometimes. Or that her husband had died and she was so sad that she never came out and spoke to anybody and was always locked inside. We never heard these stories from others. It was one of us who would usually be the story teller. I still have no idea why we were so scared of her. We used to be scared to go near her house and if in case we saw her, we would run away. Maybe it was just our childhood imagination, finding a way to add excitement to our otherwise usual park times.
We were terrified of her. We saw her at a distance and went and hid. I think I remember telling our parents about her also but I cannot seem to remember what they told us. or whether they reassured us that she was not a scary person. This fear went on for years. When we got slightly older, that would be about 7-8 years old, she used to try to call us inside her home. That scared us even more. But actually, the curiosity to know who she was and what was inside her house kept growing. Again I do not remember how or why, but Puja and me agreed to go see her. Maybe she had asked us directly and it would be rude just running off, so we went in.
Puja and me, of course, nervous and excited were asked to wait on her dining table while she went inside to bring something to give us. She got out this box full of old junk jewelery which she wanted us to have. I’m not sure why. Those days we were very culturally active in our colony, with annual plays and dances during Pujo times so getting costume jewelery was always welcome. I still remember Puja and me sitting and choosing what we wanted and feeling that rush of excitement to go back and show our mothers what Huge Lady gave us. The earrings, beaded malas, ghungroos. She was really nice to us. Even being really nice can be scary, though. And since she was “Huge Lady” and was giving us so much, maybe she was just trying to lure us and then trap us or something.
After that day, I think we slowly started showing more respect towards her and realising that she was probably just really lonely and wanted some young company. I don’t remember if we ever went back inside her house but I do know that we would talk to her occasionally and not run away, but smile at her. We continue to call her Huge Lady till this day and that weird curiosity about her still hasn’t left me. I think she told us her name also but I do not remember!
I don’t know why I remembered her all of a sudden. I went to that GK2, South Delhi homely area today and for some reason I started thinking about her. I don’t know where she is now, whether she is alive or not. I am talking about some 15-20 years back and she was pretty old back then.
There was also a “Haunted House” over there. An abandoned ground floor apartment with creepers growing inside. We would look from the windows to see if we could see any creepy things inside. Today, it has been redone and made into a fancy looking apartment, but for me, it’s still the haunted house outside which we’d play all our stupid little games.
I miss you Love
