He walked into the supermarket, excited and awed as always, as if he was stepping in for the first time. He behaved the way a teen would on his first encounter with porn. His eyes all wide and eager.

“Hallo, I am Jay, you?” he would say to every shopper in his heavy, odd Indian accent and nod at them. The polite ones nodded back, the others just ignored, but that didn’t deter him from greeting the other customers. I am Natasha by the way, and work at the cash counter. You could tell by the way he dressed that he has just arrived in Australia. He wore shorts that were either too big or too short. Jay was his name, which I learnt two weeks back when he chatted with me. He was married he’d said and had a kid as well. His wife was doing some course in architecture at the University of New South Wales.

His hair was at all times combed sideways, smelling heavily of coconut oil. He had a mole on top of left eyebrow and wore thick spectacles. To say the least, he was out of place in a country that was known to be highly fashion conscious. He was heavy on top of that. His belly showed through his t-shirt, poking out like a soft fluffy pillow, resting on the top of his shorts. His walk reminded me of seals, walking with a funny sideway movement. Since I casually spoke to him once, he always came to my counter, no matter how big a queue it was and gave me a toothy grin every time I looked up. Every time!

He knew exactly what he wanted, but would get tempted into picking up other things sometimes. Once he picked up a dozen bananas which are always kept right at the entrance and went straight to the bread section. Each time he pulled out the $1.29 one, 12-pack eggs – the $2.50 ones, and 3 litre milk can – the $3.79 one, but not before going through every other brand kept on the respective shelves. When he was in section 2, which is almost near the exit, I think he did a little mental calculation and felt that he was going overboard. He came all the way back to the entrance, replaced the bananas, looked them sadly for a split second and went back to section 2 to look at whatever he was looking at.

He would mull for eternity in the quick meal section over the local 89¢ spaghetti in tomato sauce can (400 gms) and the $1.29 Oliver’s Super big meal, ‘spaghetti with extra cheese (600 gms).’ He would hold both of them in his hands, weighing them for their authenticity, and quickly gauging the pros and cons of both. He would replace them, walk a bit further, look at some other brands and then come back to the shelf again, as if taking some time off to think. Eventually, he would pick the 89¢ and put it in his basket, happy and satisfied at his decision.

He would spend quite some time at the noodles section as well. He was quite pleased with the tagline of the in-house brands. “Why pay more for everyday basics?” it said and he seemed to be in complete agreement with it. He would linger for a bit in the dessert section, fighting it out with himself over grabbing a pack of dark chocolate with almonds and raisins. There seem to be this constant tussle between the “budgeting” guy and the “self-indulgent” guy. The former always won and Jay would walk away, promising to get the bar when he had some more money.             
   
It took a lot of effort on his part to shake his head in disapproval whenever his temptations got the better of him in the snacks section. All those enticing wafers, finger chips, chocolate chip cookies, and other such little pleasures of life tried to seduce him. He would shut his eyes tight and sigh. His shoulders would drop, his head would tilt slightly, and he would drag himself, halfheartedly toward the billing section. And while he stood in the queue he would look into other people’s cart or basket and then compare his items with theirs. Theirs always beat his by a mile. But he would beam when his turn came, as if it was a ‘Kodak’ moment and I was clicking his photo. He would say a “hi” before I could even open my mouth.

“Good day Jay” I would say.

“Great Day! Natasha,” he would say and off he would go.

He is a bit quirky, a bit of an oddball, but his heart is pure and that’s why I like him.