“Bhaiya, Tamatar kaise diya (How much for the tomatoes)?” . If Chhuttan ever had someone write a biography of him, this line would perhaps have a dedicated chapter to itself. But then why would anyone write a biography his life?An ordinary vegetable hawker, Chhuttan had spent his entire life on the streets of Meerut city. Perhaps even the title of his biography would be “Nothing Special Here”. But then, why would any person in his senses want to write about on the ordinary life of the ordinary Mr Chhuttan. Even his name was not meticulously thought of ,like the ones chosen for the rich kids down the streets.

No ‘Karan’ or ‘Abhimanyu’ to acknowledge the valour of the mythical figures in Mahabharata; no ‘Nirvan’ or ‘Namish’ , names handpicked from the Internet. Just plain old Chhuttan, because of the small limb size of this ordinary 22 year old. And why should he be different? After all this was the nomenclature that had been followed uptil now for naming the 7 siblings that had come before him – all of ‘Shamu'(dark skin),’Chhoti'(limb size),’Nakki'(perpetual nose picker),Shammi (no reference here,he was the first born, the father was a huge fan of the actor Shammi Kapoor),Silky(hair quality) and I can’t seem to remember the last two names.

Anyways, Chhuttan had two special talents – Killing flies and rolling dice. He would swoosh his ‘gamcha’ (sweat cloth) like nunchucks and wave an old newspaper like a samurai sword to remove those ghastly creatures that God created just to test Man’s patience. His stance was so perfect he could have been cast in the next Bruce Lee movie as the Protagonist’s able sidekick! But then why would Bruce Lee come a dilapidated neighborhood just to see an ordinary 22 year old guy swinging newspapers.

As far as rolling dice is concerned, Chhuttan was such an expert that he was considered unbeatable by anyone who had ever played in any of those tournaments organized inside that rusted car in the abandoned park. His wrist movement was so perfect he could have been a spin bowler for India if only he was discovered by a BCCI selector. But then why would………???

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