The Teacher
There is this place that I frequent for getting my xeroxes and printouts. Its a small alley, wide enough for only 2 people to walk side by side. The whole lane is cluttered with shops that all do xeroxes etc, meaning cut-throat competition. Add to this the chairs laid out on the street, it seems like a bee hive. People squatting right on the main alleyway, some more yelling, and the heat within the place, it's hell. It's a place you must not go to if you have claustrophobia.
Located in this melee, is a shop owned by an old man who sells basic stationery. Hes quite an elderly gentleman. The shop must be around 5 feet long and around 3 feet wide. But then located inside the shop is a shelf that measures aroung one and a half feet in thickness. That gives him around a foot to stand considering there is one more shelf also. Also present are lot of other stationary and a solitary stool. Io the corner of the room there is a solitary fan whirring away. It barely blows some wisps of air. He is surrounded by all kinds of stationery.
Seated on that stool, with an omnipresent smile is that gentleman.Quite regal, he looks, with his shirt worn full(without rolling up his sleeves) and a bright crimson mark adorning his forehead. I really admire him. Despite the unplesant circumstances he works in the smile never retards. Always polite, always giving you a gamut of choices to the customers. The other day, I realized that I would be needing somse stationery and made mind up to buy it only from him. So over to his shop I went.
I am someone who simply has to compliment a person if I think it is worth. And I did. Telling him that his dressing sense was good spawned the most enjoyable reaction. He gave me the most wonderful smile and the humblest of Thank-yous. I could not help but ask if he was from my state, down south. This snowballed into a conversation of which I recollect little but cherish deeply. All i do recollect is him lamenting about how neither companies like Moser Baer nor the Indian Government care for smal shop owners like himseslf and hes forced to charge his customers extra. That has led to a decling in his patronage. Despite all this, he would give me a few things free despitethe fact that I had hardly puchased anything. And as he handed over my purchase to me he gave me that thing very thing that had brought mw to his shop: his wonderful smile.
I realized then that life teaches you many things, and it is such people who actually are real teachers.
Located in this melee, is a shop owned by an old man who sells basic stationery. Hes quite an elderly gentleman. The shop must be around 5 feet long and around 3 feet wide. But then located inside the shop is a shelf that measures aroung one and a half feet in thickness. That gives him around a foot to stand considering there is one more shelf also. Also present are lot of other stationary and a solitary stool. Io the corner of the room there is a solitary fan whirring away. It barely blows some wisps of air. He is surrounded by all kinds of stationery.
Seated on that stool, with an omnipresent smile is that gentleman.Quite regal, he looks, with his shirt worn full(without rolling up his sleeves) and a bright crimson mark adorning his forehead. I really admire him. Despite the unplesant circumstances he works in the smile never retards. Always polite, always giving you a gamut of choices to the customers. The other day, I realized that I would be needing somse stationery and made mind up to buy it only from him. So over to his shop I went.
I am someone who simply has to compliment a person if I think it is worth. And I did. Telling him that his dressing sense was good spawned the most enjoyable reaction. He gave me the most wonderful smile and the humblest of Thank-yous. I could not help but ask if he was from my state, down south. This snowballed into a conversation of which I recollect little but cherish deeply. All i do recollect is him lamenting about how neither companies like Moser Baer nor the Indian Government care for smal shop owners like himseslf and hes forced to charge his customers extra. That has led to a decling in his patronage. Despite all this, he would give me a few things free despitethe fact that I had hardly puchased anything. And as he handed over my purchase to me he gave me that thing very thing that had brought mw to his shop: his wonderful smile.
I realized then that life teaches you many things, and it is such people who actually are real teachers.
posted by Sunil Natraj at 5/12/2005 07:55:00 AM
1 Comments:
Wonderful post Sunil. I enjoyed that story very much. India has always fascinated me, in part because it is the largest democracy in the world. Our politics may differ, but we are both human. Don't be a stranger to my blog.
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