My Samosawallah

A man sells samosas near my house. Every evening, he opens his shop on his thela in front of Zest Restora and Sri Guru Repair Shop. He sells very tasty samosas. People come from far and wide to buy his samosas. His wife sits behind him and makes the samosas. First she makes the raw samosas with maida and alu and spices. Then she deep-fries the raw samosas in a big black pot half-full of oil. She is very fat. She is also very loyal to her husband. My samosawallah is very abrasive. Once I asked him, "Are your samosas hot?" He got angry and replied, "Nobody dares to ask me that question." From then onwards, I didn't dare either. Another time, a man asked him, "Dada, how long will it take me to walk to the bridge?" The samosawallah got angry and replied, "That is a stupid question. How can I tell how long it will take you to walk to the bridge if I don't know your speed of walking? If your speed of walking is fast, it will take less time. If your speed of walking is slow, it will take more time. If your speed of walking is fast for a part of the way and if your speed of walking is slow for the rest of the way ..." He puts some of his abrasiveness in his samosas as well. Which is why his samosas are so teekha. The prices of his samosas have kept pace with inflation. Eight years ago, I purchased samosas from him at a price of one rupee per piece. Now they come for Rs.2.50 and their sizes have become smaller. Still he does roaring business. Sometimes he doesn't open his shop for many days. People joke that he has made so much money by selling samosas that he goes on holiday to Hawaii. On many days, I buy his samosas on my way back from office. I then smash them and sprinkle kaala namak on them and dip them in my mother's home-made chilli sauce and eat. The samosas taste very nice that way. The chai I drink after that also tastes very nice. My samosawallah is very good. I like my samosawallah very much.

This one is for Richa. Yes, the girl who jumps off planes on whim. A little bit of a glutton that she is, she had been craving for samosas with teekha mirchi ki chutney in Dubai, and that inspired this profound little post. Richa, if you ever happen to jump off a plane over Kolkata, do drop in at Tank no. 8. If my samosawallah isn't holidaying in Hawaii at that time, I'm sure he won't disappoint you.