Photo by Mehmet Turgut Kirkgoz: Pexels

During my office coming or going time; I see a juice selling shop under a bough of a pipal tree. Either a sunny day or a cloudy day would be; he seems to deal with his customers. Swaying pipal leaves sometimes allow sunlight to come on his face sometimes they obstruct it to come on his face. A stream of sweat-water seems to flow on his face in many rows. While that julep seller tells his apprentice to rotate the sugarcane crusher wheel like a whirligig.

On the other side; that wheel operator makes some meaningless sound and tries his best to rotate as fast as he can. The vein under his leg skin seems that it would crack the skin and come out. At the next moment; squeezed juice comes out of the machine. I also sip sugarcane julep from that wheelbarrow driver usually along with my colleagues. He feels that I watch him attentively often. That boy would not be more than 15 or 16 years old. But due to standing in sunlight every day his skin colour seems sombre. His blonde neck seems from the torn collar. His stitched buttons seem to dangle along the niches. His eyes gleam watery.

That boy says with an esteemed tone; just now Sir; it will come out; fresh julep I shall give you. However; his esteemed way of talking I do not like. One day I could not control myself. I asked him, "Why has he been using an esteemed tone with others? Who are in a hurry; let them go; they do not do any leniency with you." His face was enveloped with a seller's smile; he wiped his face with a red-coloured serviette and flew the house flies and said; " Sir if everyone would be like you then at once I will start running a hotel. This is a wheelbarrow; which is made by a carpenter somehow due to my economical condition so that I could earn some money. I am not talking about 5 Rs Sir; I tell you that if a customer of mine goes away from here then behind him others will also depart. As for a wall if one brick is taken out then the other will become weak and would come out of place quickly as a result; that wall becomes weak and might fall at any time. Then to whom I will sell this juice, Sir?

I went away from there but I felt that this boy had a seasoned mindset. In his adulthood only he got a lot of experience in life. While we the office goers remain only there where we were. He knows to fight and does fighting also; while we have brought a stalemate along our way. He is too young but day by day he is growing while we are? Although; one day I decided that I would talk with him but on that day; that vendor was not there. I saw both the boys behind a funeral procession as pallbearers. One boy saw me when I swerved along my way; he nudged another boy with his elbow as if saying that today their Sir could not get their julep. Often when I come from my office; then the atmosphere becomes blurry; while for me dealing with files is necessary. One day; again my view fixed on that tree when I was coming from my office. I saw that; those boys were counting their earnings. When he saw my shadow then he would think about any customer and his hand automatically moved towards a tumbler. He said; " Fresh juice it is Sir; just now I have taken it out, Sir". As soon as I reached beside him then he was startled and said; "Hey Sir! You are; I thought any customer would be. I am accustomed to this Sir that my hand moves towards Tumbler abruptly when I feel any customer has come".

I spread my hanky beside him on the ground and sat on it; light from a lantern was flickering there. As soon as I sat down I asked to him "Why does he do such hard and tiresome work every day in this warm sunlight? I do not know with which emotional sense I asked questions to him like pattering raindrops on a corrugated roof. I noticed that his eyes filled with tears. Instantly I was amazed; with a generous tone I said; "Hey brother! Why are you weeping; if you felt hurt due to my statement then forgive me". " No Sir; no;" with a moaning tone he said; " I am not weeping for it that you have asked such questions; in fact Sir in this metropolitan city only you are such person who asked me about such questions". By finishing this statement he started weeping.

Later on; he said; "Sir I was reading in std 9 at my town school. Neither I was too intelligent nor too dull. Some teachers knew about my poverty. I understood my father's economic condition; which was miserable. In my class, some students of higher class families were also. The teachers were teasing them often. The cause of teasing to get their tuition". I thought; why did these teachers tease them; they get their emolument on time every month. Have they been doing business in the name of imparting education? Might be this tuition a bribe in the name of imparting education nowadays? "Knowingly I could not get the answer". In the meanwhile; a teacher started chasing me because I was playing and spending too much time with those higher-class family boys. The teacher who was in my favour was transferred from there. My father was working in a factory. I have a younger brother sister and mother in my family. With father's emolument; somehow we were maintaining ourselves. My economic condition that the teacher could not understand. Even my father also went there to talk with him but he did not get ready to deal with me without tuition. When my father came back to the house then he seemed too worried. Due to the effect of that situation, he felt body pain the whole night. In the morning he could not lift his body from his bed. He suffered from paralysis. I stopped my school-going action; my mother started working in other's houses as a housemaid. Then I came to know that here a new factory will be opened. We felt a hope of earning; I left my town and settled here; by telling this he drank a tumbler of water and said; I told my mother that I should do a small-scale business here; she accepted it while my father is still on his bed to be recuperated. Some medical treatment now we give him; due to it, he is well now at some scale. I do not go every day to my house Sir; I go there in a fortnight. Whatever I do Sir from this action of mine I want to provide a good education to my brother and sister so that they can become a good person in the forthcoming time, Sir. This point of view was said by that vendor instinctively.

I departed from there and all the way I remained thinking that my lord! if that teacher would not do such an act then this boy would not have such self-confidence; whatever he has now. He is struggling for his family only. He welcomes the Police personality warmly and gives them a fresh julep to sip so that his wheelbarrow will not get any disturbance otherwise his earning place will be destroyed within a moment. He does business and knows how to deal with the situation. On many occasions, I asked him why he used his tone too calmly. He said that he talks with others loyally otherwise the customers who come here; stop coming; then to whom he will sell his julep?

When I went to my bed to sleep then I thought that the julep seller boy was getting perfection by bearing sun heat every day in the open sky.

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