He was a Chinese and his assistant was a Muslim

Here is the twenty fifth unforgettable character in my life …

I knew him in my school days – he was the in-charge of a Chinese laundry that had rented a space on the main road in the same building in which my family and I stayed on rent. It was in Shyambazar – the time was in the mid-fifties. There was a shooting by the police on agitators who were protesting the hike in the price of tram tickets by one paisa. One of the bullets lodged in the wooden frame of our flat and, the next day, police came to retrieve the bullet and checkup for other damages.

The Chinese laundry was huge – it catered to special clothes and garments especially woolen ones. The in-charge had regular customers and did a reasonably good business. The clothes ready for delivery would be hung in closets that were located overhead. When someone came to take delivery, the in-charge would see the number on the receipt and with a long wooden rod move the sliding closet door to search for the respective item.
Once he found it, he would use the same wooden rod to lower it – the rod had a hook at one end. Some of the clothes would be in glass cases behind the large table that separated the business area. The clothes meant for washing would be taken in a van to the central agency – the van was a modified version of the cycle rickshaw with the enclosed box positioned in front of the cyclist. The cyclist was a Muslim.
The dry cleaners were well known in the locality and, in order to attract more customers, the in-charge had a novel idea. He installed a huge aquarium in the front show case – there would be a flock of young and old watching the fish in the evenings when he would switch on the illumination. After some months, he added another attraction – a stuffed mongoose fighting with a snake. Even though he was much older than me, we were good friends and he was a helpful neighbor as well. We lost contact when my family shifted over to our own house. However, after the Chinese aggression, the cleaners closed down and I lost track of him.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

New nesting sites for crocodiles in Gahirmatha Wildlife Sanctuary

Patna-Delhi Rajdhani Express to get a new look

Goa expects a flood of tourists


The teacher who taught me Bengali

He taught me to ride a scooter

He was one of the wittiest persons I have ever met


'Spider-Man: Homecoming' brings back the teenage crime fighter

Adele calls a halt to her tour, London will be her final stop

Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk set for release in India in July


Six Afghanistan policemen killed in Taliban attack

Cable car kills seven tourists in Gulmarg

More than 150 killed in explosion of oil tanker in Pakistan