Thread by @dharmeshba

I moved to Bangalore in 2015 and stayed in a studio apartment near Koramangala. I started making regular visit to a small tea and condiments shop near on my way home.

The shop was run by a Malayalee who hailed from a small town in Kerala. He was known by the name PM.

Everyday I visited we would share a smile and good morning. We never spoke more than that. Infact I don't even know the name of the shop. It was called the 'Chetta's shop'

When I decided to move homes in 2017, I informed him and promised him to visit him whenever I'm around

I have moved 4 homes since then. But it became my ritual to visit his shop for a tea whenever I was in Koramangala. He was the sort of person I had to catch-up with.

As our visits became infrequent we shared more than good morning. Asked about each other's health and life.

Today when I visited him after many months I saw him standing almost teary eyed with his shop almost empty and him handing over tea to a customer.

He was elated to see me. I enquired and he responded that it was his last day as he is shutting down the shop permanently.

I was almost devastated but he was glad that he could serve me the last cup of tea. He had decided to go back to his village and hopefully to Dubai later for a better job.

I felt a deep sense of sorrow within. As I left, I shook his hand and thanked for being a great company

I wanted to stay in touch and got his number. Informed him to call me for any help and he asked me to give a missed call.

While he received the call to save the contact, for the first time ever in the lastn 6 years he asked, 'Whats your name?'

I couldn't find a name for the relationship we shared but I will definitely miss a friend and companion who made me happy and feel home in Bangalore. Hope PM has a great life ahead.

Bangalore is all about these relationships I earned over time 🙂