My route to the office in Koratty takes me past the Aluva area. 3 days last week, Thursday to Saturday, on my way to the office I have seen this guy in a Barcelona FC  jersey (a replica of this jersey of a few seasons ago). The fellow is a cook in a small hotel in Aluva. We have these small hotels where part of the cooking is done on a section that is located at the front of the hotel, so each customer can see the cooking being done. Every time I pass by, roughly at the 9:20-9:30am time slot, he seems to be preparing dough for either the day’s porotta or chappthy.

Each of those days he wore this same jersey and it looked like it was stained with grease and sweat. Now I am assuming that it is the same jersey that he is wearing but he doesn’t look like the sort of guy who would have 3 of the same jerseys in his wardrobe. Neither did he look like he was endorsing the football club or employed by the club! He was just a guy wearing a jersey that looked like it had seen better days…..during the 90s! Anyway, so I saw this guy 3 days in a row while passing by in a bus.

Yesterday & today, I saw another guy wearing the same kind of jersey at the Kacheripady bus stop. Two days in a row! Same jersey! And I also saw him last evening walking along in the same jersey. When he passed me by, the stench of stale sweat hit me like a ton of bricks. Just what is it with the case of the grime & sweat fueled Barcelona FC jersey. Where does it say that this jersey should be worn days at a stretch and must smell & stink? And why is it following me around?