The mirror was filled with hot water fog . It was a small mirror with a golden border that was dented at the corners . A brownish hand filled with grey hairs and a little bit of wrinkles rested itself on the mirror and moved from one side to the other clearing the fog on it. The reflection on the mirror showed a middle aged man’s face . Salt and pepper short hair on head, deep black eyes and thick eyebrows (Almost a unibrow ). The face had an innocent smile and 3 waves of wrinkles on forehead. The steam of hot water too was visible behind his face.
“Why are you getting ready so early ? and why are you looking so happy ?” asked Kamla
Kamla was Sonu Prasad’s wife . She was busy blowing ferociously through her black blow pipe while smoke was erupting from all 3 sides of the mud chullah. The chapati that was placed on the Tawa (Frying Pan ) slowing started dancing while ballooning itself until Kamla swirled it into a circle twice before picking it up and placing it on a plate. As it cooled it started mellowing down unwillingly while losing its beautiful brown belly.
” Did you forget ? Today Rajesh is coming to close the account ?” said Sonu while combing his hair and looking at Kamla through the mirror with a broadest smile on his face.
His enthusiasm was not reciprocated by his wife.
“I have been hearing this for a long long time . What so special today. ”
” Are I am telling you , Rajesh met me yesterday . He asked for the entire calculation of the credit he owes to me. He took a note and said he will withdraw the money tomorrow and pay me. ” said Sonu almost jumping as he could not hide his excitement.
Kamla’s face brightened a bit but she quickly held herself back as such fake moments of happiness had occurred earlier which never saw the light of the day.
“I will bring your favorite Chinese today while coming . Don’t cook anything ” said Sonu who was unfazed by his wife’s reservation and was ecstatic .
He opened the blue colored shutter dragging it upwards . It was his small Pan Shop. Sonu was a Pan shop owner . It was hardly 50 ft in size and only one person could accommodate inside . It had two walls with compartments that were filled with cigarette packets , lighters, match boxes, Beedis etc and rest two were open . One facing customer side and other was the entry point to the shop. Sonu was basically from a small village of UP and had migrated to Pune 15 years back . Initially working in a hotel , construction , mills, he opened the Pan shop 5 years back . Although business was good for sometime , the last 2 years were not that great. Sonu being a kind hearted person had given a line of credit to a lot a people, hoping they will pay back and he too will have a steady customer base. But all his calculations went for a toss when slowly customers started defaulting in payments and stopped coming to the Pan Shop. Sonu was disappointed to say the least but he learnt his lesson the hard way. Although he stopped lending anyone , he still had to recover a lot of money from previous customers.
But out of all his customers Rajesh owed the biggest amount .. INR 10,000/-Â
This amount was equal to a month of Sonu’s business and if we consider his net profit , then it was 6 months. The amount was so staggering that Sonu could fill his home grocery for 3 months or he could buy a small piece of land in his native village.
Rajesh the customer, too belonged to North India ( Bihar to be specific ). He came from a good family who belonged to upper middle class. He had come to Pune to do his mechanical engineering. Although he used to get good pocket money from his family, his chain smoking habit cost him a lot ( 2 Packets every day which meant 300/- every day just for smoke ) . So that’s how Sonu came into the picture.
Rajesh needed a line of credit and Sonu needed a regular customer. The kind of deal that’s bound to go sour .
“Sonu ji … How come so early ?” asked one Raju , an old friend of Sonu’s who lived just beside his Pan shop. His voice was muffled as he was talking while brushing his teeth, wearing a white vest that had turned loose and yellowish in color.
“Nothing bhai , just had some work ”
“You look very happy. Any good news ? ” asked Raju the paste foam filling his mouth and almost on the verge of dripping outside.
” Rajesh is closing his account today ” Said Sonu almost blushing .
“Ohoo … So you will give us party then … ha ? ”
“Sure Bhai ”
Sonu cleaned his small pan shop almost making it look new . While cleaning, he started dreaming about what will he do with the 10,000/-
A saree to KamlaÂ
A new phone that has touch screen .. the one he saw on tv some days back
Good quality grocery .. again for beloved Kamla
Money sent to his village .. to his mom . How happy she will feel when she will see 1000/- in her hand.Â
“Aur Sonuji .. Give me a cigarette … the regular one . . Classic one ”
” Ye lijiye ” Said Sonu and passed on the cigarette to his customer.
” Sonuji .. my outstanding was 800/- , right ? ”
” Yes ”
“Here ” the customer handed over 3 notes of 100rs and a note of 500rs to Sonu
“Wow , today is a very good day I guess. ”
“Why Sonuji ?”
“Aree…. you cleared your account. Even Rajesh is going to clear his account today. ”
“Rajesh Singh ?” asked the customer with a question mark on his face
“Yes ”
“Seriously ?”
“Yes. Why , what happened bhaiji ”
“I just saw Rajesh at the Railway Station with all his bags. Yesterday was his last exam. He is going back to his home town . It was his final year of Engineering ”
The awkward and uncomfortable silence filled the atmosphere and Sonu’s dream once died a scream less death.
