Apr 26, 2011

The Man with the Piggy Face

On Easter day, when the Writing Pro, who has been mentioned in the cryptic story of the ruined house, visited Cochin with his photographer friend from Bihar, I was also asked to accompany, to help them with my knowledge of the local areas in the process of collecting beautiful colonial visuals of Fort Cochin. Delighted of having an easy Sunday evening ride through the otherwise crowded areas, I enthusiastically rode my ‘sincere bike’ with ease, singing to myself a tune which I found melodious.

Seeing a petrol bunk at side, I immediately thought of my bike’s decreasing fuel level, and thus straightly rushed towards the staff there and asked him to add some fuel.

“How many kilometers from here to Fort Cochin?,” I inquired pretending to be a first time visitor of the place, while he poured petrol to my fuel tank.

Petrol BunkIt was at this juncture, this particular person, with a familiar face and with a friendly smile approached me in a sudden as if he was appeared from nowhere! With a sociable tap on my shoulder, he asked me, with no introduction, or even without an excuse-me, some money; ten rupees exactly.

I could’nt say ‘no’, at least for some seconds, because his smile was so friendly and convincing. Ten rupee is not a big amount, how many rupee notes had I burnt in smokes and how much money had I spent for buying worthless fried junk items, I thought.

While trying to reach for my wallet at back pocket, I asked him, ‘why do you want money? Just ten rupees? What is the urgent need?’

He murmured and tried to give me some vague answers, like, ‘it is urgent,”, “they are fined” and he even said, “he has no time to explain why he wants money”.

I raised my head and suddenly looked at his face, and I noticed curiously that with the clean shaven appearance, his face almost looked like that of a fully grown swine.

I questioned him, “I don’t understand? Why do you want money? And in what way I am bound to give you money?”

“Sir, we are law college students and we are penalized. Just give me rupees ten,” he pleaded but without losing his friendly charm.

“Law college student? An aged one like you?” I didn’t ask. That was my soliloquy.

Since he said ‘we’, I looked around him to see the rest of the gang, but with no success. What I saw was a car parked at a distance close to the air-filling machine. In the car, I saw a woman and a small child. In front of the car, a gentleman was giving instructions to the staff at the pump to fill up the tyres.

Curiously I saw, all those people were keenly watching me. Did that woman show some gestures?

I looked again and she again said me secretively using gestures, “don’t give him money”.

The piggy faced man asked me again about giving him what he asked.

I smiled and said, “No man, no money. I am also a penniless one just like you,” and drove my bike away.

I am thinking about closing this post with a typical Chandrika Shubham style of question regarding the person’s identity.

But, my inherent curious mindset urges me to fill the missing links using my own intellect.

JeremyHere is my salute to the master of deductions, Guruji Mr. Sherlock Holmes, and let me start my conclusions.

The piggy faced man is a dependent of the couple in the car. From the woman’s close resemblance to the man, what I deduce is that they are siblings. (and of course, her face was not swine like).

The pseudo law college student is a good for nothing guy, he earns nothing, but spends lavishly.

I seriously suspect that he asked his sister some money for a cigarette or some refreshments, (cigarette is more likely, because he asked me ten rupee). Evidently, she might have denied his request.

He wanted to revenge them and wanted to make them feel humiliated. If her brother begs for small amounts of money at the street, it would indeed bring shame to the family.

So, he approached the first simpleton he met on the street, and asked money.

Though initially persuaded, later when I proved myself not a simpleton, contrary to my common appearance, the curtain falls, and the story comes to an end.

The title is the result of a fruitless attempt to imitate the way the ever green Sherlock Holmes tales were titled.

In Last Picture: Actor Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes.

22 comments:

  1. Could it be that he was off mentally? I am still wondering why someone would do that...

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  2. That Rs 10/- could have given you a better ending to the story! Simpletons are of no use, adventure produces results- at times bad though!

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  3. hhmmm......well, you may be right in ur assumptions n the conclusions....

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  4. Very strange the way he behaved.

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  5. Good one... well scripted.
    I think he have some small mental prob...

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  6. Sad to read about this! Someone forced to beg! :(

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  7. I face this situation almost on a regular basis.When I go for shopping at weekends,the parking lot would be crowded.When I open the door to get in,someone would appear out of nowhere asking for help. They all have some stories to say,like losing the job or not getting paid and so on.
    But yours is a different story.Your guesswork is probably right.

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  8. I like your title, and, no, you are not a simpleton. You were very perceptive to notice the woman gesturing to you. A simpleton would have been absolutely clueless. Great detective work!

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  9. Strange! I thought of commenting bcoz I had a similar experience as well in a Petrol Pump in Kollam. We were filling up a tank and someone just came over and whispered into my ear to give him Rs.10 if I had, and he'd be so thankful.

    I said I had no change and I'm using the card, he just shrugged and left. Wonder...

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  10. scorpio's comment...what a coincidence na? good one buddy

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  11. Dear Tomz,
    what an interesting deduction! Well told! (By the way, I think Jeremy Brett is THE perfect incarnation of Sherlock Holmes!)
    Yes, you might be right with your deduction. Or the brother and sister might have betted - will he be able to get 10 rupees in 10 minutes? (Of course she must give you the sign of 'No') Maybe he tested - as a very old law student - whether he will be able as a lawyer to convince a judge? We will never know - so it remains "The Secret of the omnious 10 Rupees" :-)

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  12. Hmm... Strange incident. Nice deductions. I love the style. Sherlock Holmes is my fav too.

    Guess who!

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  13. strange things do happen many time in life

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  14. yea,quite disturbing,

    hey tomz,hope all is well in your world,thanks for kind words,it is really appreciating,
    have a safe journey god bless you.

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  15. A really good tale...Sherlock would have been proud....I would go with your conclusions...though There are people who use this form of excuse while begging...come across "the my mom is unwell"..."I can't speak placard holding boy"....and many others....

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  16. @NRi Girl

    That's a possibility, my deductions could be wrong

    @joms72

    Sometimes I do that. To make my posts better, I behave sometimes very different

    @Mama Zen

    True Mama

    @Irfan

    Perhaps I could be right, perhaps I could be wrong

    @Rachna

    Yes, truly strange..But many people often find the same kind f people

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  17. @itsmahesh

    Thanks, thats a possibilty

    @Nona

    Forced to beg..?No he created his own destiny

    @doc

    Do you meet begger type people or gentlemen? The one who approached me was a well behaving well dressed one

    @harish

    Did it disturb you..I find it funny :)

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  18. @Walk2write

    Thank you Walk2write..People who know me better know that I'm no simpleton..But often my first impression is that of a simpleton

    @Poornima

    Thanku

    @Scorpy

    The situation was same in my case. But what made me to write it into a post was probably the brother-sister guess work

    @Ramesh

    yes yes..I'm also surprised

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  19. @britta

    hello britta, and thats a great title..How do you instantly suggest intriguing titles for detective kind f tales? yes, I also think jeremy Brett is the best Holmes

    And thats a wonderful guess w0rk..I never thoguh about a bet.someone in my offcie also suggested the same just the day before u posted the comment. what a coincidence? But still I 'm on the brother-sister arguent's side

    @Juxtaposition

    Happy to see u here Jyothi Happy to know that we have something in common

    @Thommy

    Yes..true. Btw thanks fr the visit and comment

    @Baili

    Thanku Baili

    @rekha

    Thanks rekha. SO u also have same kind f experiences?

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