I grew up in the old parts of the city. Back in nineties, there were not more than a couple of stationary shops in a locality where I stayed. ‘A K Traders’ is one I distinctly remember, one because I bought most my school-paraphernalia from there and second for its owner.

Its owner, ‘a man with grey hair resting on his forehead, usually wearing a half sleeves chequered shirt and thick glasses’ would rise from that dusty wooden stool as soon as he spotted a customer. My best friend Vedang and I were amongst his most regular ones. We’d been visiting the shop right since the time we were in 2^nd grade.

“Hold that rupee coin carefully in your hand” an instruction my mother gave every time I tucked my shirt in my shorts and left for A K Traders to buy Apsara pencils. I never failed to notice how he always asked for money first even before making an attempt to move a muscle to remove pencils out of the box. Why did he maintain that fix order of ‘money first and then pencil’ an 8 year old kid always used to wonder.
Then there came 4^th grade. I must have been 10 years old or so. Now Vedang, I and rest of my classmates were allowed to use Ink pens. And first time when I bought one from A K Traders, I was accompanied by my father. “Oh he’s a big boy now” he had said handing over the shiny black Camlin ink pen to him. I was surprised as to how he did so when my father had not even touched his wallet yet. He then offered a big smile to both of us as I left the shop with a newly bought Ink pen.

In fact he smiled at Vedang and me only when we were accompanied by our Parents. I had figured out quiet early that the reason was I did not have enough money at that moment to buy his smile. I decided that when I grow up and become a writer like my father, I will make him hand over the pen to me first and only then pay him for the same. I often felt sad at times when he asked me to go back home and return with money which I had forgotten to carry. Why couldn’t he just give me the pen and take the money later? Such a big shop he had. I was sure he could afford that.

By the time I went to 8^th grade, few more stationary shops had opened up near my house. I noticed those shopkeepers offering me a smile although I had not even bought a pen or two from their shop. They must have thought I have money. Anyway I decided to buy stationary from those shops instead of A K Traders from the next time. I did. And soon I could see other kids in my locality following the suit. In a couple of years, I could see that A K Traders had started wearing a deserted look on its face. God had punished him for sending me back home so many times and not smiling at us. I knew it.

Few more years later, I could see him sitting outside the shop waiting for someone to buy things from him. He had grown old and moved slowly. He even smiled at me whenever I passed from there. Yes I had money in my pocket now. I wondered as to why our class teacher said, ‘Money cannot buy everything’. It had just bought me a smile. That day, in fact I learnt something from him that probably our teacher skipped teaching us – A smile can buy a lot of things.

Even today I see him sitting outside his shop, with a fading hope to see a customer for his shop. Now I wonder if he is even doing well financially and whether his kids look after him. After all we’re all good human beings at the end of the day. Now a day, whenever I visit that part of town; I make sure I buy a chocolate or something from his shop. He feels genuinely happy to see me after a long time and says “Oh you’re a big man now”.

And I simply ‘smile’. I think the 10 year old kid has forgiven him a long time back.