Chakraborty’s World Peace Mission

No one can miss the colourfully clad Chakraborty!

By Maitreyee B Chowdhury

I was walking down 80 feet Road in Indiranagar Bangalore, when I saw this man. His yellow pants and rainbow colored shirt of course made sure no one missed him on the road, indeed even a Macaw was a poor cousin! Besides if you needed any more inspiration he had a hat to boast for.

Of course we see the likes of him from time to time, running or cycling for world peace, etc. But curiosity got the better of me when I spotted a picture of MGR on his bicycle. I decided to talk to him and find out about his MGR plus world peace combo! (For those who even dare to not know who MGR  is, he was an extremely popular actor, politician and the only actor to become a chief minister (Tamil Nadu of the country).

My man in question had stopped to grab a bite, when I decided to talk to him. I first approached his cycle, which curiously was painted with the colors of the National flag and upheld the photographs of Mother Teresa and MGR.

I asked him what his name was, he replied, “I am called Chakraborty, I’m a Bengali”. To my query of ‘Was he on a special trip’, he answered that he was out to celebrate the birthday of MGR which was on the 17 th of January. He added that in order to mark the occasion he was cycling from Bangalore to Chennai ( An approximate six hour drive by car).

I smiled and asked him why, he had added the picture of Mother Teresa, he said, ‘because he was cycling to celebrate MGR, he might as well celebrate world peace and Mother Teresa too’. While I nodded wisely in agreement and acknowledged his multi tasking potentials, I asked him if he would pose for me.

He replied, “Of course Madam, anything for the mission”. I always knew Bengalis had a great sense of humor.

Maitreyee B Chowdhury is a Bangalore based creative writer and poet. Apart from being a professional web content writer, she is the author of two books on poetry and regional films in India. People watching is a compulsion for her. She is fascinated by ‘ The man on the road’.

The idea of writing about ‘The man on the road’ came naturally, says Maitreyee. “Some of the most compelling, beautiful and bizarre stories unfold on the road. The everyday man’s struggle for existence, his tenacity and the beauty of the stark is what is absolutely fascinating”, she says.

Maitreyee writes for us every month her column, The Man on the Road. She can be contacted at maitreyee@thesipoflife.com