Quirky Indians 1-5
All Indian people have their own stories and quirks, from Mr. Kavi, who only eats two chapatis to Beena, who is the only female rickshaw driver in Chandni Chowk.
Day 1
Mr. Kavi ate two chapatis at every meal. Neither one more if he was hungry, nor less if he wasn’t.
The reason was simple.
He had been a migrant from village to the big city with no money. Starved, he was looking for work, and almost ready to go back after three days when a man sat beside him on the pavement. A laborer. Sweating from the day’s work. The man didn’t say anything. Just gave Kavi two of his chapatis. When Kavi looked at him with question, he said, “You only need two to go on.” And left.
Thus, Mr. Kavi, now an established businessman with crores in his bank, still stuck to the advise of a friend.
Day 2
Beena was the only female Rickshaw driver in Chandni Chowk.
She loved the idea of wandering around the city the whole day, eating chole kulche for lunch, and meeting new people as she ferried them to and fro.
She had loved the rides with her father to the school and back. But when she told her mother that she wanted to be like her father, the woman laughed at her daughter’s silly dreams.
As she grew up, Beena realized it herself. She wanted to be an accountant now.
Her father died while she was preparing for her boards. With no other option, she picked up his Rickshaw to earn for her home.
She planned to buy more and hire the women around her in coming years.
Day 3
Lakshay went bald at the age of 35.
His mother did his champi everyday with a homemade oil when he was young.
He was famous for his hair in the college times. The only boy who used hair wax to set his wavy mane.
His wife loved running her fingers through them.
And his children tugged on it when they played.
The night he realized there was nothing he could do to stop losing his hair, he laughed his heart out while holding a photo.
When his wife came closer to check, it was one with his own father. The old man was grinning at the camera as Lakshay pretended to knock his bare head.
“He always told me I should enjoy mine while it lasts.”
Day 4
Joy had been working as a sweeper of the Church for three years, the same as he had been sober, when he decided to go back to his village.
He worked as a security guard at the nearby mall. Night shift. He came to the Church first thing in the morning and cleaned it before going home to sleep for the rest of the day.
It was better than the time when he used to lie in drains and get his head injured on a daily basis. Father found him in one such place. Joy had snubbed the old man at first, but he was persistent.
Father never asked Joy to take up the work. He just asked him to come visit him, if in need. And Joy did. When his wife left him after a year of his daily drinking and took their son with her. Joy was glad that his son had not seen him in his worsening state.
But he wished to meet his family now. So, he took father’s blessing, quit his job and left. But not before cleaning the whole building for one last time.
Day 5
Mr. Reddiar had his Chai on a sofa in front of the door everyday at seven in the morning.
He liked to watch his family run around while he sipped the delicious drink.
His children getting late for school. His wife, making last minute changes to their lunch, and their dog running around every family member, getting his hair all over.
He took these ten minutes of morning for himself, and then got up to take over his duties. Drop the children to the bus station, take their dog out for his walk, buy the groceries on his way back and prepare breakfast while his wife got ready for the day. He served it with her favorite filter coffee. She had been trying to get him to try the same for years.
“Why don’t you try this once, and tell me which one is better?”
He shook his head with a smile as they sat, “It is yours.”
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Till the next edition,
