Dollah

Dollah sat sullenly at the counter. Endless lines of people, day in and day out. All wanting to register their babies’ births. And many who came could not read or write, and he had to fill in all the details himself.
He looked up at the shabbily dressed young man. The man smiled proudly. “Tuan. Mau dapat surat branak untuk anak saya”.
“Nama?”
“Gunasekaran”.
Dollah started writing. Then he looked up. “Itu nama anak kah?”
“Oh, he he, bukan tuan. Itu nama saya”,
“Aiyah, bodoh. Saya tanya nama anak la”,
“Manimekala. Anak pompuan tuan.”
“Che, Cakap pelan pelan la”
“Mani Mekala”
“ Money May Kalah a/p Guna Sekarang”, Abdullah wrote on the form.