Self-Realization

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"Kiran, the wife of HCL Chairman Shiv Nadar, recently realized that her jeweler had been selling her fake gems for the last 15 years"

....DC Hyderabad Chronicle

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In the beginning, say till I was 20, I was always on my guard lest I am cheated. And to the best of my knowledge I was...I mean in the market place mostly...I was suspicious that the vendor is overcharging me, shoving inferior stuff, shortchanging me, and laughing behind my back.

Pretty soon I realized I was not smart enough to outsmart others.

Then on I decided that the wisest policy for me would be to take it for granted that I would be cheated, overcharged, shortchanged and stuff. I stopped bargaining, asked the vegetable seller to pick and choose the best of the lot for me, stopped counting the change but pocket whatever he dumps on me...In short trust the chap across the counter.

I didn't know nor care if he betrayed my trust, but then on I was free in my mind to think of other more interesting things...like the import of the Claussius-Mossoti Relation. That policy did and still does a lot of good to me...my folks are aghast that I don't bargain and count...but I don't think they are any better off in worldly matters except that they enjoy their shopping...good!

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Hyderabad is special. It is known all over the world for its pearls. And whoever visits Hyderabad would like to buy some pearls to show off back home. Legend has it that not long ago, in the Old City around Charminar, push-carts filled with pearls like peanuts were sold by the measure.

The first time I took a cab from Secunderabad Station to Punjagutta, and as is my wont, sat beside the cabbie, the chap stopped midway, opened the glove compartment and took out a pearl necklace and asked me to buy it...it is THE original stuff, not the fake plastic ones from the Old City but from the posh area of Banjara Hills and he gets a small commission. I said, another time. He gave me the card of the outlet from Banjara Hills.

When I went to the Banjara Hills outlet and showed the Boss the card the cabbie gave me, he laughed and said that not only the card but the pearls the cabbie tried to shove on me were pure plastic...and he showed me the REAL pearl necklace he had just got from the deep sea; and when I was moving way, he offered a discount of 30% specially for a senior citizen like me since it was the festival season.

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When my son applied for the BSNL broadband, the clerk took down his home address and phone number and told him that there is a shortage of modems and he is in the queue and as soon as modems arrive, he would fit one at our home.

A week later there was a phone call asking if we registered for the BSNL broadband, since the modems have arrived and asking for driving directions to our home. Our joy knew no bounds and within an hour, a chap came down, rang the bell, and delivered a packaged modem, collected Rs 1000, gave a receipt and said that we would get the amount adjusted in our next BSNL bill.

When after another week my son phoned the BSNL counter and asked why no one is coming to fix the internet connection, he was told that BSNL modems have not yet arrived and cautioned us against buying modems from outside vendors, since they are not recognized by BSNL...

And after a month the BSNL chap did deliver HIS modem and connection. But Hyderabad is not 100% spurious...the other day, the BSNL modem conked off and my son took down the Rs 1000 modem from the attic and it is working better than the 'official' one...

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My policy of taking it for granted that I will be cheated has some pleasant surprises.

When I bought an Inverter costing Rs 12,000 from the shop, I asked the shopkeeper to send me an Electrician who would fix it up at my home for a fees.

After a couple of days, a chap with typical beard and skull cap arrived and started fixing it up. I asked his name and got it confirmed from the shopkeeper on phone if he was the same chap that he sent. It was the month of Ramzan and the electrician refused tea, biscuits and even water for the couple of hours he was on the job.

And when I asked him how much is his fees, he asked me to ring up the shopkeeper and he would abide by whatever he says. And the chap said: "Give him Rs 500"; which I did happily. He left pocketing the money, but arrived back at my doorstep in half an hour. I thought that he wanted more money, but I was stunned when he took out a hundred rupee note from his pocket and returned it to me.

When I asked him what was the matter, he bent his head down and muttered that his wife scolded him for overcharging a customer in the month of Ramzan and ordered that he return the hundred rupees.

I embraced him and said: "we will split half and half" and pushed a Rs 50 note into his pocket and said: "Let us keep both our wives out of our secret deal."

He smiled and went away happily...


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