He often strolls the streets to
sell his prized possessions and timely cleans them up with an aim that he can
meet his next customer anytime and anywhere.
His diminutive structure is a
stark reminder of the life times he has lived – well accentuated with the fact
that his hair has turned salt and pepper, the ‘Toy Man’ has certainly lived the
test of his lifetime. I can spot him every now and then in the by lanes of the
commercial mart and his prawning eyes looks towards all and sundry. Sometimes
he sits on the pavement and takes out a goodie ( a pack of biscuit or a cake
rusk) and cherishes it to its hearts content sipping a bottle of water afterwards
to mellow down his gulp.
He is particular familiar with
children and sometimes bestows her magnanimity by offering them gifts free of
cost – can’t imagine a man in penury with such a golden heart. He himself struggles
to make ends meet but still gives himself a leverage to bestow such gifts to
his own pacification.
Asking about his genre and from
where he hails – his eyes lighten up and he tells you his journey to this city
of his dreams and aspirations. He claims to be a 12th pass from
Gorakhpur and has been in Delhi for almost 2 decades now, living in nearby LIG
flats with his family. Interestingly so, in the night Shambu turns a night
watchman for an ATM kiosk and also steals some sleep to be ready for the next day’s
grill. He leaves the marketplace by 6 pm daily and takes some rest before his
next duty by 8 p.m which continues till 7 a.m. next morning.
Talking of his family, he proudly
mentions his two star kids – Gopi (his son) is described as a student prodigy –
as per him he always secures first position in his class and Jaya- his daughter
is also good in studies and helps her mother doing household chores, both study
in class 8 and 6 respectively in a nearby government aided school.
His main aim is to see his kids
settle down in government jobs and then he aims to get retired and sit with his
wife and spend time.
Suddenly, a toddler fancies his
sell and prods his mother to buy him a toy which Shambu is so eagerly waiting
to sell, the negotiation begins and Shambu in his art of selling wins and
passes on the toy ( a small plastic car) to the kid whose eyes just glitters
with excitement.
When asked as to where he gets
his daily to be sold articles, he gives a bleak answer – “Sir , I have to buy
them myself from wholesale market out of money that I have saved and this is
how I buy them.”
The cycle of buy and Sell thus
resumes significance as as In between he economizes his household expenses, I
guess he is a perfect balancer – be it switching between his jobs and also
managing his household in perfect balance.
The Dusk has befallen and it’s time for our Toy man to go back to his home to prepare and dawn on a new jersey – that of a night watchman and thereby taking intermittent sleep before meeting all of us next morning with his new articles to be sold.
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