Page 52 - January 2021: Hustle Mama Magazine

Although they had a frightening look, colossal build, and red eyes, the man never showed any irritation towards me. He kept taking out the pens from the behind the glass cases and sometimes also from his hidden stocks.
After seeing and scribbling with almost all the cells, I would only take a three or four rupees pen, which at that time were the only ones I could afford with my meager pocket-money. I sometimes felt a little afraid that he would shout at me for wasting so much of his time. But throughout the two years I stayed there, he never spoke a crossword to me.
One day, it was raining heavily, and I forgot to bring an umbrella. I had just got down from a bus and had to walk a short distance back to my hostel. I started walking in that direction when I heard somebody shouting, "sister," "sister." I looked around and saw the stationery shopkeeper. I went to him and asked what the matter was.
He said that since it was pouring heavily, I could sit in his shop, check-out the new stock of pens, and go back to the hostel when the rain stops. For a moment, I hesitated, but the prospect of getting to have a look at the pens made me respond in the affirmative. To my surprise, I found out that the shop was more extensive than I thought and had a small lobby behind it.
He offered me a chair and took out the pens for me. Once I was scribbling with one of them, I glanced at the man and found him smiling at me. I quickly kept the pen aside and put up a poised look on my face. But then he suddenly left, and I was sitting all alone with my eyes wandering here and there when I caught sight of a parker pen. After a little while, he came back with a steaming cup of tea and offered it to me with such a gracious gesture that I couldn't deny, although I felt odd. I asked him to show me the parker pen. It looked so elegant and wrote so smoothly that I wanted to buy it with all my heart, but it was costly as expected.
I think I was holding on to the price tag for more than a minute when the shopkeeper said; I can give you the pen for rupees ninety-five instead of a hundred. I looked up and thanked him for the offer but declined as it was still quite costly for me. By that time, the rain had stopped, and after appreciating his kindness, I briskly walked back to my hostel.