What
happens when you decide upon a deadline and don't meet it? In some cases, you
might even die or cause deaths and destructions. Fortunately, a little
punishment would be enough in this case.
It is the
fourth day from the last blog post. I did what I am best at doing. Procrastinating!
But I cannot abandon this thread. It is way more personal than any of you can
imagine. In fact, it is way more personal than I would ever mention aloud.
Twist in
the story is, this particularly incident is not what I witnessed, but in my defence,
I heard it straight from horse's mouth. It took place in Jodhpur, my very own sun
city. It resurfaced day before while working in kitchen on an omlette.
In the year
1999, The Lonely Planet listed a small shop from Jodhpur as the "The
omlette shop". Cheap price, quality and the element of surprise made the
man behind the counter a superstar and his business boomed after it. So much
so, that he scrapped everything else off his menu and started cracking open
around 1000 eggs a day. Not many of us get stricken by that kind of luck. God
alone knows I can do with a pinch of that at the moment!
My brother with
a friend of his from college went to the famous Clock Tower in search of this
place. Now if you have not been to this place, it is more like a blast from
past. There is this famous arch and in the middle of the market stands the
clock tower. There are shops everywhere, for almost everything imaginable.
There are many more shops than meet the eyes, tucked in every corner possible. And
it is crowded. To some it is tourist place, to others it is more like a
business district.
Now, my
brother and his friend turned left after entering the arch (or was it right?).
They found an omlette shop as described, and ordered for the same. My brother
mentioned to his friend about the history of the shop, overhearing which, the
shopkeeper told them that this was not the shop they were looking for. He
pointed into the direction to another Omlette shop located on the other side.
He said "If you are in for the famous one, it's that one".
My friends
with a better business sense would consider this guy a fool. What did he just
do? He just sent away a customer to a competitor. Are not we used to the fact that everyone
around gets a share when something from a city attracts tourists? How many
shops have you seen claiming to be oldest, famous or "the authentic"
one? Does not the whole city starts selling the same thing and try to fool the traveler
with stories about their own place?
And here is
this fellow, willingly losing business, in a place where if he simply had
ignored the conversation, never said a word and served what they asked for
would technically be honest. He never lied, never boasted, never deceived. He
just happened to be situated just opposite to "the shop" and yet he
wanted none of its glory. It was an innocent mistake on the part of the
customer, for which he need not suffer.
What he
chose instead was a simple seven letter word. Something we demand from our
politicians, our officers, even from our vegetable vendors. Yet very
conveniently ignore it when it comes down to us. I see every third person
around blaming the system, cursing the government for the lack of it. And I am
not exaggerating. It's been the same experience across the globe. However, I don't
see people practising honesty as much as they demand it from everyone else.
Needless to say, this man was an exception. He is the kind of hero we need.
Sure Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr. to be specific) would be good. But we need
more of the "honest Omllete valas" around the corner. Even better, we
need to be the honest "omlette vala". I am not serious about the
omlette part, but honest part is still valid.
I hope I can capture a photograph of this man
and his shop to feature here, along with the article, on my next visit home.
P.S. In the
predictable turn of events, this guy touched the hearts of my brother and his
friend. And they decided to ditch the "original" one for the
"honest" one. I am sure The Lonely Planet would understand!
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