A paean for paperboys

I am not surprised even when my well-meaning friends declare that they have stopped subscribing to newspapers as they have access to e-editions and myriad other information avenues. As a dyed-in-the-wool print-edition addict, I begin my day with a cup of tea in one hand and a newspaper in the other.

Let me devote this ‘Middle’ for a well-deserved paean for our paperboys who adapt themselves to different weather conditions with undimmed tenacity and reach to us our favourite dailies on time. They all sit in the sprawling courtyard of a temple deftly inserting the fliers, leaflets and handouts. Only the paper boys’ fingers know how to impose the slippery advertisements nimbly between the pages.

A sample or two would give us an idea of these adverts’ effusive eloquence. For example, one of them says. ‘You should own a plot right away at a premium budgeted residential layout because it is a confluence of connectivity, convenience and comfort that makes you a true urban!’ The most alluring of them all is the advert of an educational institution for the new generation, ‘Modernised mindful curriculum; Robotics, Science and Technology; Digital education; Creative sports, etc’.

The paper boys’ lives are not drab, dull and an endless saga of sadness. Some of them are highly qualified and have great tales of compassion and kindness to share. Some are showered with various gifts by the aged parents whose wards have moved away in search of greener pastures. Some are given umbrellas during rainy seasons. Some gift them with thick water-proof bags to put the papers in. But it is the milkmen who always look for opportunities to pull the legs of our boys in a friendly banter: “Hey, you do all kinds of circus to protect the papers from rain; look at us: we distribute the milk sachets without any worry!” Of course, these early morning companions know very well that both of them work in tandem to wake up the community from slumber.

The paperboys have to be extremely attentive of their task since they have to memorise the mohalla, the street and the door numbers to distribute papers and magazines accordingly. Therefore, they suspend their pranks and jests temporarily between 4 am and 8 am. So, when the paperboy tosses the newspaper from the gate next time, catch it sportively like an IPL cricketer and give a smile. The boy will surely reciprocate it and you can even hear his muffled apology ‘Sorry, sir!’.