The Hawker -more coffee stories

The Hawker -more coffee stories

Steel drum filled with piping hot liquid
Brown , with cream , sugar
Shut tight, pick up firmly by the handle
It swung with a familiar burning sensation by the calves
Ignore, pick up the paper cups
Game face , alert

Incoming train announced its own presence
By a long, shrill whistle
Mumbai-Chennai express
Two hours late, as usual
A good time , nearly tea time

Long green engine pulled in
Car, after car of rusty red
A mad scramble by the porters
To the few figures with luggage
Allow them to descend

Then the cries rent the air
Chai , chai, chaiyya
Vada, vada , vada , vada
Sandwich ,saandweech

He raised his voice
Coffee, coffee, coffee bolo
Hot coffee , 10 Rs a cup
Running down the platform

Hey coffee , here, came a voice
Two cups , said a plump man waving change
Balance the scalding drum on his thigh
Pour out two cups , pass it carefully
Through the window bars

Hey, you want some coffee
A young man in the next seat
Asked his friend ,lazily
Sure said one , then two more
Two cups ,no no make it four,no six

Signal had turned yellow
He hurried
Pouring out cup after cup
Counting under his breath
Last one passed, lurched with the train

Ouch ! You oaf ! You burnt my hand
Sorry !Sorry ! It was ten cups sir
Ten cups ! it was only six
You burn me and then demand money
Please sir.. It was ten cups
I am a fair man , I will pay for six
Not a paisa more

He was jogging to keep up now
The boy dipped slowly in his fat wallet
The bills fluttered tantalizingly
He put on a spurt of speed
Reaching , reaching

The platform ended abruptly
Train chugged on unfazed
The note bills withdrawn

Left behind
A steel drum considerably lighter
A stitch in his side
Residual bitterness
Of coffee he had not drunk

--shubha