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The Silent Companion

My mother was the only person in the family who could and would tolerate P. The rest of us would acknowledge his presence and then, go about our ways.

P, in his early 20s then, belonged to my parents' hometown near Kasargod. He had come to B'lore in search of employment. He ended up as a peddler - of different products at different times. If it was pure honey at one time, it was banana chips, kokum products, tickets to cultural events (that nobody would attend),.... at other times. Since he would refuse to leave until she bought, my mother ended up being P's permanent customer :(

It was when P was selling leather bags that my mother bought this brown bag.


I thought that it looked more like a bus conductor's bag than a college girl's! And so, for a long time, the bag stayed in a corner, unused.

I don't remember when & why I used the bag for the first time, but, once I discovered the convenience of the multi compartments, the bag became my permanent accessory! If I had to change bags, I'd have had to transfer such a lot of 'must have' things that I simply stopped changing bags. Anyway, it would go with most of my clothes.....

After many years of regular use, the bag began to look a little haggard & dog-eared at the edges. I would feel embarassed if caught in its company (feeling a little bad about admitting this one!). I finally stopped taking it out about 6-7 years ago. And, I don't have the inclination to throw it away..... it now serves as a container for trivia & stuff that mean a lot to me.

Recently, I was sorting out some papers and came across some of my kid's earliest scribblings. While keeping them safely in my brown bag, I couldn't help thinking that, by silently sharing so much of my life, this bag was also doubling up as a close companion!!

Comments

  1. When I lost my handbag a month back, I felt lost. It really was a close companion, holding all my “IMPORTANT” things! It took me some time to put together another bag.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hope you have a life-long association with your new companion :)

    ReplyDelete

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