News in a flash

The crispy, colourful pages, although indistinct in the darkness, were enticing enough to flip through. But my boss for the morning, Jairaj Hawa, a newspaper seller, asked me to pick up copies from the vendors. I had to move from one stack of papers to the other. 8220;Just pick up 50 pieces,8221; he said sternly. I hurried to get the required number of copies of a particular daily and stack them properly. At the same time I had to pick up 50 more copies of the other dailies.

I diligently calculated the number of both English and Marathi newspapers that we had gathered. Taking several rounds collecting and dumping the extra copies, while the payment was being made to the vendors I was let in on the pricing details. 8220;The difference between the cover price of a newspaper and what the vendor paid is around Re 1 for each copy,8221; said a fellow delivery boy.

As the earliest light of the day touched the bold headlines scattered on the floor, Hawa signalled me to arrange the piles neatly. Six boys who regularly work with Hawa helped us arrange the stock. They would later help deliver the papers door to door. The isolated supplements had to be placed in the main publication to complete the editions. Some dailies were heavy and some were too slight without any advertisements. In the haste to get the papers arranged I had missed the enchanting sunrise8212;just as Hawa has been ignoring it for the last 15 years.

It was 6 am now and we were ready to depart. The 600 copies that we had bought from the vendors had to be distributed to lanes, buildings and the homes that Hawa usually delivered to 8212; Koregaon Park, Mangaldas Road and Bund Garden Road. Numbering them corresponding to the flat numbers and marking the different newspapers according to the particular place and colony was the most important task.

I jotted down the flat numbers on the corners of the dailies. As I mixed the newspapers in my own order of preference, Hawa got irritated. 8220;I know which paper sells more on Bundgarden Road, don8217;t change the order,8221; he said sharply. After sufficient toil, the organised news stock was stacked on six bicycles.
Racing on the empty road and against the chilly wind, we rushed anticipating the eager wait of our readers.

I arrived at a society in Koregaon Park holding heaps of newsprint. I paced on the steps tossing and hurling the papers sometimes on the steps, other times on the door latches. I waited at every door to check the house number with the ones on the paper and then rapidly threw them as instructed.

Moving from one floor and one building to the other was a bizarre race. It was some relief as the bundle I held got lighter. The best part was when I had reached the topmost floor as I could use the lift to get down the building.

It was close to 7 in the morning and a working day had ended for a small group who had aided the rest to start theirs. It was worth the wake- up call.