RIP Achu Bhai

Achu Bhai passed away today, RIP.

I hail from a quaint little town, a village...but It is my own, my Mangan. It has its own very different set of people who live by their own rules and hence its charm, Achu Bhai was one such person.

My first memory of him was of him sitting on the dais of his cute shop with a small railing and offering me a lollipop with a sweet smile and his famous lines, 'Bainila lallipop', which became his habit every time he saw me in the market. He never failed.

He was a bachelor a teetotaler and a vegetarian, which was rare in a community which stored and dried meat before they bought groceries. He never ate cooked outside his home and while travelling he compensated by chewing on digestive digene tablets. His attire was also different. He was the only mongoloid featured person in our town who wore white cotton Pyjamas only and no other colour, strange outfit you would say for a cold place tucked in the hills. but that was him.

I remember he was an enthusiastic volley ball fan. In the olden days our sleepy market place also used to serve as a make shift volley ball court. With very less traffic and even lesser customers a net used to be strung beside our resident peepal tree and all and sundry used to take part in the community volley ball matches. Every evening I used to go to watch my father play. Play less, laugh more.

However with the increase of population and traffic somehow these ways faded away with everyone getting busy in their own worlds.

Two years back some iron benches were placed facing the peepal tree and slowly it has again become the evening haunt of our senior citizens.They do not play ball anymore but they are happy to be, just to be.

Achu Bhai passed away today, he will be missed...he will be.