The Tramp

 I wonder how many old timers from our time can recall the presence of Benny in our Campus at RIMC. Benny was a typical tramp, dark complexioned, matted hair, scraggy beard, sunken eyes, clothed in tatters carrying an empty can for food, a stick in hand, in short the perfect tramp. He was a mysterious figure as no one knew how did he land up in our campus, some speculated that he was a world war veteran who had fallen in bad times and lost his mind. Some felt he was an intelligence operative in disguise, most others would just mock him and in the bargain be showered with choicest expletives which somehow amused a few amongst us. Come to think of it, I am not sure if his presence in the Campus then was a routine kind of affair. I would actually call it a grave security hazard, especially with young cadets around.

Tramp reminds most of us of the much loved Charlie Chaplin's character in the silent film of the same name.Charlie Chaplin as the tramp was childlike bumbling romantic attired in funny baggy pants and a derby hat trying to be gentleman was so endearing that we all fall in love with the character. In real life tramps aren't jovial by nature normally, they seem bedraggled, unkempt, generally mad at the world for having landed them in such a state. This morning I encountered one such person during my morning walk, he was actually a rag picker with quite an intriguing face. His face reminded me immediately of Benny from my school days,  similar gait, knitted brows in sort of a perpetual frown which had also engraved itself on the face in the form of wrinkles, sporting a watch as also a ring, all in all an interesting character.  I started to observe him closely from a distance, as is usual for these modern day scavengers, if we can call them that, looking for items from the garbage bins which can either be consumed or collected in a sack for subsequent sale to their bosses who pay them for all the waste material which they collect from the roadside. Most modern  Indian cities have a network of such ragpickers, which is quite an organised affair. Although Indore boasts of being the cleanest city of the country for the last six years on the trot with a highly meticulous garbage collection system in place and roads are by and large are quite spick and span, but these tramps still manage to find something or the other for their collected treasures.

Back home when I was still contemplating about this individual, I was reminded of "Peepli Live", a satirical black comedy movie some of you may recall and its chief protagonist,  Omkardas Manikpuri, I am sure you will notice a remarkable resemblance. He got into a jam not of his own making where the media circus wanted him to commit suicide and he chose to run away to Mumbai rather than succumb to the pressures. I just hope this tramp is not any such quagmire himself.