The Pink Cake

"How much is this cake for?" a rugged, semi-nervous voice caught our attention as we were biting into our cream rolls & wondering if we had done the right thing by ordering these half dry, half stale sweets.
The shop in North Kolkata wasnt anything to write home about, one of those roadside pastry & cake shops which offered good looking but pathetic to taste food, but me & kausik were so hungry after buying his medical equipments & walking for quite a while, that we didnt think twice before going in.

Until then, we were the only buyers & as we looked backwards to figure out who was buying one of those sugar laden cakes, we saw a short, thin man, dressed in a shirt & trousers just above what we call rags, a big sack like bag hanging over his shoulders, pointing at a 2 pound birthday cake which was while & yellow in color.
"180/-"...the young man in charge of the counter replied. His tone already reflected a sense of disrespect towards the person, as if, the potential of this man as a buyer seemed remote to him. Watching the man for a few seconds, he asked, "should I pack it?"

"180/-" he mumbled, as if to himself...then he pushed his dirty right hand inside his half torn trouser pocket. I watched in sympathy as he pulled out a crumpled 100/- rupee note & bundled it up in his fingers. A little aloud, he said, "No...no...I want a pink cake....a pink cake"....

"This one is pink"...the young man said, his tone a little softer upon seeing the money. He was pointing at a smaller cake, 120/- rupees worth, strawberry flavored so it was pink in color. The man kept crumpling the note in his sweaty hand, & looked carefully at the second option. Before he could react, I pointed out at another cake, which was 98/- rupees worth, pink & white in color, & said, "that one is pink too!"
I felt happy that he could buy a pink cake well within his budget....or so it seemed.

He didnt react. He kept on looking at all the cakes, kept on thinking, all the while toying with the 100/- rupee note. And then he looked at all three of us, who were waiting with bated breath to see which one he would pick. Looking very confident, he said to no one in particular, "I will ask & come back!"
Before we could even flip an eyelid, he had turned & left the shop.
A brief silence followed, & then the young counter boy said, "he will never come back!"

We were in that shop for another few minutes, until we finished the cream rolls & paid for them, & each second I hoped he would come back. I secretly made up my mind about giving him 20 bucks so he could buy the cake that was totally pink, & I also began worrying he wouldnt accept that.
But he didnt come back till the time we left.

To date, when I have few blank moments, that half nervous voice rings in my ears. If I cross paths with him ever again, I will not recognise him at all. But his body language, the crumpling of the money in his right hand fingers, his half torn clohes, his oversized sack....keep coming back to me & I keep wondering if he really came back for the pink cake?

Was his son or daughter...I like to think it is a girl since pink is by far a girly choice....unhappy on her birthday? Did she weep a lot when she saw her father came home without the pink cake she wanted to cut? Did he make up an excuse or tell her the blatant truth? What did they eat for her birthday dinner? Could he buy her a new dress?

I wish...oh how I wish he did come back to get the cake.
And yes, I pray to God, that I am able buy the pink cake when my baby wants one....and if I can...I thank God much more than I would ever do otherwise......
THANK GOD.....