The time machine people
Just finished watching and sniffling over Pursuit of Happyness. And the "I know It's a Time Machine" man in the movie inspired me to write this post. Somehow this crazy homeless man in the subway made me think of all the unimportant but unforgetable people I just happened to pass by in the past 28 (ahem) years of my life
1. The man on the street in Kerala who drew an amazing charcoal sketch of me on the pavement. He was unimportant, unfamous and I was six.
2. The old ragged woman at the Ranikhet club who desperately wanted my pretty golden-haired dolls (Julian and Joan!). I didn't give it to her but the boy doll disappeared and till date I think she was a witch with some powers who made Julian walk upto her at night.
3. The shephard near Chandratal lake who gave me a long philosophical lecture on the perils of city life and the evil nature of city dwellers versus the purity in being a shephard. Very alchemist style but so not-contrived.
4. The little man with his red cap, baggy pants, big glasses and dick in hand (yes you read that right) who chased me down the narrow deserted streets of Nainital. There is no dearth of such creeps in North India but the reason why I remember this one is that he seemed so wrong for that role - like he was some shy old man playing the role of a creep. In case you are interested in knowing how it ended, I kept running till I came upon this group of brick-laying women who all saw my distressed face, his creepy one and without saying much, picked up a brick each and started throwing it at him... Happy ending. In a way. Though none of the bricks hit him.
5. Babaji in the tea stall behind Hindu College, who gave us tea, snacks and lots more. He was our late night supplier of conversation (and other stuff) after our 1 am play rehearsals. He was one of the most philosophical yet fun man I had come across. He died a few years after we left college - murdered by one of his disgruntled customers.
6. Tingoo the resident uneployed at KMC. This short candy man with his baseball cap, and endless list of stories has been around since I was 7. I refuse to beleive he makes his living out of selling the handful of candy and cigarette to students. He has to have some story behind him I just don't know what. Tingoo says he has hobnobbed with Amitabh Bachchan. I think he is a givernnment spy or some such crazy cool thing!
1. The man on the street in Kerala who drew an amazing charcoal sketch of me on the pavement. He was unimportant, unfamous and I was six.
2. The old ragged woman at the Ranikhet club who desperately wanted my pretty golden-haired dolls (Julian and Joan!). I didn't give it to her but the boy doll disappeared and till date I think she was a witch with some powers who made Julian walk upto her at night.
3. The shephard near Chandratal lake who gave me a long philosophical lecture on the perils of city life and the evil nature of city dwellers versus the purity in being a shephard. Very alchemist style but so not-contrived.
4. The little man with his red cap, baggy pants, big glasses and dick in hand (yes you read that right) who chased me down the narrow deserted streets of Nainital. There is no dearth of such creeps in North India but the reason why I remember this one is that he seemed so wrong for that role - like he was some shy old man playing the role of a creep. In case you are interested in knowing how it ended, I kept running till I came upon this group of brick-laying women who all saw my distressed face, his creepy one and without saying much, picked up a brick each and started throwing it at him... Happy ending. In a way. Though none of the bricks hit him.
5. Babaji in the tea stall behind Hindu College, who gave us tea, snacks and lots more. He was our late night supplier of conversation (and other stuff) after our 1 am play rehearsals. He was one of the most philosophical yet fun man I had come across. He died a few years after we left college - murdered by one of his disgruntled customers.
6. Tingoo the resident uneployed at KMC. This short candy man with his baseball cap, and endless list of stories has been around since I was 7. I refuse to beleive he makes his living out of selling the handful of candy and cigarette to students. He has to have some story behind him I just don't know what. Tingoo says he has hobnobbed with Amitabh Bachchan. I think he is a givernnment spy or some such crazy cool thing!
posted by Amrita Pande at 4:42 PM
1 Comments:
are u from KMC? Which batch> I remember Tingoo, is he still around??
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