The Upholsterers

The past three days I've had the pleasure of sharing our living room/dining room with two Indian upholsterers.  They arrived each day at 10am and worked until 4pm with a half hour lunch break in between.  The younger of the two spoke very limited English while the older one was like me....didn't even attempt to speak the other person's language.  Well, I did try to say "Pani", which means water, but I think I butchered it so I fell back to English and said "water" or "wuter," which they understood and partook.

After they set up shop and began working in our living/dining room, the place seemed split in two.  I worked in the dining area with my fairly new Macbook Pro while they worked in the living room area with their century old hand-crank sewing machine.   I felt a bit awkward, so I decided to make the situation even more awkward for the three of us.  After a short internal debate, I got up the nerve to ask if I could take pictures of them with my imposingly large camera.  Their response was one that I've grown to know well over the past few months.  It was the classic long blink with simultaneous head bobble...aka wobble, wiggle, or nod.  Expats in India have learned that this can mean yes, no, or maybe.  I felt optimistic, so I chose it to mean "yes."  I could tell they didn't know what to do once I put the camera to my eye, so I just smiled, did a little head bobble of my own and said "Ok."  Immediately, they seemed at ease and went back to work while I crawled around on the floor and took pictures of them from various cramped angles.  I know they thought I was crazy.  I figure they now have a good story to tell their friends and family!  Ten minutes later, to my delight, the younger guy came over to my laptop to take a look at the pictures I just downloaded.  Surprisingly he asked if I had a jump drive!  I told him I will make him a CD as he smiled at the laptop screen displaying their pictures.

Another highlight was watching cricket with them as we all worked.  I am still clueless when it comes to cricket, but it was fun seeing and hearing their passion for the game.  There were mostly sighs however, as India apparently didn't do well against South Africa.

Three days, two couches, two chairs and 4 dining chairs later, they were finished.  The bill was a whopping $77.  Their work was flawless!  We wrote them thank you cards and gave them a tip.  If you are wondering why the guy below has on a puffy jacket and matching hat, our apartment is cold and he's got style!  We have a space heater, but unless you are 3 inches from it, it's still cold.  Since Delhi is cold for only 2 months of the year, most homes are not equipped with heating.

Talented Fella!

During the first day

 

The final product