The Roti Man

What a great Thursday it's been for me. The whole first half of the morning was extremely free for me, which was a relief compared to the past two weeks crazy schedule. And the second half of the day was even better cos I was not working at all :D I took the day off after lunch cos wifey and me had some stuff to do which surprisingly was completed pretty fast and left me the rest of the day to just laze around with wifey.

After coming back from our errand, we just lazed around in bed (and don't get any dirty ideas, ok? LOL!) and just chit chatted until we both dozed off for an hour or so. Now, that's what you call life ... hehehe ... It's not often I take leave and enjoy the day at home on a working day. It's really a very different feeling and atmosphere compared to being home on a holiday or the weekends.

Somehow, the neighbourhood seems all that much quieter, no kids playing outside, most of the neighbours have gone to work and it gives a really deserted feel to the neighbourhood which is a nice change for me to experience. But lying there in bed enjoying the tranquility of the moment, I was aware of a different kind of noise that permeates through the neighbourhood.

Every half an hour or so, I'll hear the 'old newspaper' guy in his small little lorry going 'old newpaper (and it's 'new' paper not newspaper), suratkhabar lama, old battery, bateri lama' over and over again. Then it's followed by the gas lorry honking away trying to sell his gas cylinders. Not to be outdone, another lorry will soon pass by blaring away 'tilam, tilam' (mattress, mattress or something like that, wifey says our younger boy knows the exact words. LOL!) bringing mattresses right to your doorstep for those who actually buy mattresses from these people.

I look at wifey and she's not really bothered by all the noise cos she says it's a daily thing and she's grown accustomed to it that she hardly hears them anymore. For me, even though I know these 'entrepreneurs' do go around daily, it was like a new experience for me. I don't remember having people like these going around back when I was growing up. Back then we didn't have people like these driving around every day bringing goods to your doorstep. How the times have changed.

Back in the old neighbourhood that I lived while I grew up, if we needed things like a new gas cylinder, we'd just walk over to the sundry shop which really wasn't too far away from my house and order the cylinders and they'd send it over in bit. There was no such a thing as anyone driving around trying to buy your old newspapers back then. In fact, I don't even know what happened to all our old newspapers, maybe my grandpa burned them or something.

But one thing I do remember back then very fondly which they don't really have these days anymore is the old 'roti man' (bread man) on his small motor cycle with this huge storage cabinet, for want of a better word, attached to his small motor cycle which will be adorned with all types of breads, buns, snacks and junk food.

Sometimes it amazes me at how he actually balances the motorcycle! These 'roti men' were normally Indian Muslims and they were such nice people. I actually remember our 'roti man'. He serviced our neighbourhood for as long as I could remember and all the kids just loved it when he came by every evening, honking away his air horn.


Every time he came over to our place, me and my cousins would always rush out and grab all kinds of things from his motorbike and one of my favorites was this huge square kinda bread with sugar and raisins on it. It was about 12 inches by 12 inches and about 2 inches thick. Any of you guys know of this bread I'm talking about? I don't know how else to describe it but it was huge and that would be the first thing I'd grab every evening and not share a single crumb with my cousins ... LOL!

Another one of my favourite items would be this coconut bun that he'd have. I'd grab as many as 3-4 buns (I was a big eater back then, ok!) and armed with my square sugar and raisin bread and these coconut buns, I'd gleefully run in and sit in front of the TV and proceed to ruin my appetite for dinner ... LOL!

And through the years, this 'roti man' fellow would become a family friend who would see us grow from small little brats to grown up adults. I still remember my 'roti man' to this very day. He always had a smile on his face and never failed to turn up, come rain or shine.

There was a time when he met with an accident and had his son took over his route for a time until he recovered. We were all so worried about him and was so relieved to see him again when he finally recovered. Life was so much easier and people were so much more friendlier and concerned about each other even though you were practically a stranger back then.

Sadly, these days I don't see them anymore. I suppose they are still around but they don't come anywhere near my neighbourhood. These days, you get this Gardenia sponsored van going around blaring it's Gardenia tunes selling nothing but bread. How boring! No character at all unlike the old 'roti man'.

And somehow you can never relate or build a friendship with these new breed of bread men like the one I did with my 'roti man'. I guess the times really have changed and in a way I sometimes feel sorry for my kids at not being able to enjoy the things I did when I was growing up. I wouldn't trust my kids with anyone out there and strangers will just remain strangers unlike the old days.

All this reminiscing has made me long for the old days in my old neighbourhood. The carefree times I had, the friendships I made, the experiences I went through, the ups, the downs, all of it. Some were bad, some were good but one thing is for certain. They were all such fun times. And I'm glad I was able to experience and cherish all those times. It will never ever come around these parts again.

But then, these days, I have a whole new set of experiences to live through with wifey and the boys and that will be something to cherish and remember years down the road :D
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