The Old Man of Defence Colony Market

I started going to the Defence Colony around a year and a half back. I was trying to make myself agreeable to a girl who lived there. It didn't happen. But in that process I often ended up at the market there. Long coffees, elaborate suppers and almost ceremonial dinners (The things we do).

And after every beverage or meal, I would come across this really old man, wheeling his bicycle around. The bicycle had a wooden box mounted on the carrier and a brass bell hanging from the handlebars. The bell he would ring intermittently, trying to get the attention of the passers by. Everytime I saw him I was filled with rapt curiosity. And admiration at his persistence. Tinged with despair at his probably lack of choice.

Now Defence Colony is in South Delhi. And it has a fairly upscale market. That's why this old man stuck out. I'd seen one else like him. And I know for a fact that he came with his bicycle in the morning when the market opened and left after it closed at night.

I'd often wondered why he came here. I'd never actually seen him make a sale. He probably got three or four customers a day. I doubted the shoppers at DefCol Market wanted to buy. He probably thought this was a place where people had money and would buy his stuff. But I couldn't see the those people buying. I still can't. Shouldn't he have gone to a less upmarket market, so to speak? He'd probably have found a lot more customers next to the Jalebi thelas at a cheaper market.

He's still there. I saw him the other day. Ringing his bell. Selling Ghanta Chaap Churan. I just don't see it selling in DefCol Market.