THREE BANANAS AND THREE CHEERS
I like this kelawala. At 7.45, this morning, I bumped into his gaadi . He came towards me with his folded hands. When he reached me, he bent down to touch my feet. “Nahin, bhaisaab, nahin ,” I took his hands away out of embarrassment. “Kaise hain aap?” I enquired , “Kaisa chal raha hai dhandapaani?” “Khuda ki meharbani ,” he pointed at the bananas on his cart. A lot of them were over-ripe, almost spoilt. “Chalana padta hai, saab .” He tucked three good bananas into my hands. I had a bad cough; but, I had no choice but to accept his love-offering’! Three years ago, he had brought his young son to me to be taught in TY B’Com. When I saw this man’s enthusiasm and vision for his son – also, on seeing the sincerity of the young son (Every evening, from 5 to 10, this young man would relieve his father by selling bananas, parking their cart in the busy market) – I took the young man in. Obviously, there was an acute problem of ...