This is Akshay Kumar Sha from Buxar, Bihar. Those who grew up in and around Lamphel will know him as Lambu or Amitabh. He has been selling sugarcane juice since 1986. He left his village Nenua for an unknown state in search of better life.
Since his arrival, he has been staying at the same rented room in Ragailong. He told me “tab kamra ka kiraya 100 rupay tha, ab 1500 rupay ho gaya. Malik achha hai isliye ab 36 saal hone ko hai” (The rent in the past was just Rs 100, nowadays I pay Rs 1500. The landlord is a nice person, so I have been living here for the last 36 years)”.
Akshay Kumar is a father of four (three boys and one girl). His daughter got married recently and the boys are back in their hometown since the pandemic.
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Lambu is a part of a memoir for many like me. Someone that takes us back to our childhood days. We would always see him around CRPF camp and near EBC church. It used to be Rs 2 per glass back then, now it’s Rs 20.
Individuals and places completes our memories. We often ignore people like Lambu around whom we grew up and not even bother to ask their names. My friends will remember the other sugarcane juice seller who used to frequent our lane. He still sells it, but now, sits at BRTF gate. Whenever he sees me he greets me and treats me as a kid even now. (His story will be for another post).
Also while writing this, I remember that small guy who used to deliver milk in a cycle. As kids, many of us were not fond of him.
Am sure we all have such people around us that we are not conscious of though we keep seeing them everyday and have become part of our memories.
Courtesy: Tera Varethan Vashim