Accomodation

There once was a cobbler named Raju. He occupied a small patch of sidewalk on the corner of an intersection close to our home at "Happy Valley." I got to know Raju from our occassional needs to have a shoe repaired or an umbrella fixed. One day he came to us for advice because his child was bitten by a stray dog. We chatted on and off over the months.

Then Raju fell ill. He came back to work after some time, but we started seeing less of him.

Today Raju is in the village. In his stead, his younger brother Suresh mans the stall. From 10 am to 8 pm, Suresh sits and repairs shoes, chappals, bags, umbrellas - anything that needs the skill and problem-solving of a cobbler. Raju was drinking too much - and got ill too often. According to Suresh, Raju is now plying his trade in the village.

The big shopping centre behind where Suresh sat went out of business but the humble cobbler survived. The whole place was empty for some months. Then the central portion was rented out to new tenants. Workers got busy, fixing it up - a big sweet and savory snack was opening. The new business paved the place in front of their establishment to be a food court. They certainly did not want a cobbler sitting there next to their patrons munching on gulab jamuns and pani-puris. So the new establishment made another spot for Suresh - in front of an unused part of the building. A small brick platform was built for him - and Suresh willingly moved to another part of the pavement.

Then in January, that part of the building was leased out to a bank. The bank too renovated, painted and spruced up their part of the building. But had a cobbler - our Suresh - sitting on the pavement in front of their branch.

So what did they do?

They could have turfed him out - using a bit of muscle power from a local goon or two.

Instead they gave him a sun-shield proudly sporting the colours of the bank. Instead of an eye-sore, Suresh the cobbler has become a mini-mascot for the bank.

The new branch manager is a friendly fellow from Kerala who got our name from a friend of his. He came over to the Jeevan Sahara Kendra and invited us for the grand opening of his branch. Late last week he also attended the weekly Bible study we hold in different people's homes.

I am pretty sure that Suresh was not turfed out because of this friendly Christ-follower who is managing the bank.

We met Suresh the day before yesterday. A small job - to get a zipper repaired on a small bag. He did it immediately. He repaired it with a smile. He performed the job before a fascinated audience of the younger Eichers.

Suresh the cobbler - with a potential apprentice