He used to sell a formulation designed to exterminate vermin. Standing at the town’s most crowded street corner, he’d bawl his guts out, “Maro, Maro” which literally translates to “kill, kill”. This intonation of his would go on for hours at a stretch, be it the most inclement of weathers, which came with annoying regularity. The toughest season was summer, which lasted for more than nine months in a year. The proximity to the sea made his white polyester shirt cling to his frail frame so much so that his clenched nerves, throbbing with his screams, would seem on the verge of exploding, leaving just a frame of bones still yelling ‘Maro, Maro’.
He was pitch black, emaciated, not very tall, and bespectacled, having long smooth hair, oiled to an extent that they would appear thoroughly wet. The hair themselves were a remarkable color, the blackest black imaginable; the kind of black you would show a kid to define black. He had a huge cyst on his neck, which used to wriggle with each superhuman effort of his to bring out the loudest amplitude, exhorting everyone to turn into murderers. The pain and discomfort would be there for everyone to see, but it somehow seemed that this remarkably strong willed persona was always destined to pursue this grotesque profession.
People stumbling over him, giving probing, amused or shocked glances would turn away with a sentiment akin to guilt, as though they were collectively responsible for the misery heaped upon him. The usual progression of emotions on coming across this hideous outcome of human civilization was amazement, amusement, sympathy, guilt and finally, an accusing indifference. For some, the indifference could even turn into hatred. They would feel indignant, blaming him for having roused their apathetic interest just like a blazing curio among the inconsequential trinkets at an amusement park. They would hate him for flaunting his pathos, his misery and the absolute lack of emotion he showed, his apparent indifference to derisive glances, his unconcern with the fruits of his labor and his tenacity which gave them a measure of their own vulnerability.
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