A good salesman who failed .
We went to purchase dress for myself to Rymonds show room in Coimbatore. There was not many people in the store. A polite salesman attended us in a sincere and professional way. On seeing him i remembered seeing him in the same store several years back. I asked him, "i've seen you many years back in this store". He proudly said, "Ya , I'm working in this store for the last 25 years" . I was really surprised on hearing that, a person working in a private firm for a such a long time. I was thinking he must he really used to that place and satisfied with the job. We finished selecting our dress and went for billing. After billing , i took the bill and just had a look at what is what. I was little doubtful about one of the entry in the bill. I asked another person who do the billing in the counter about this excess amount. He verified and said , you are right sir, the rate for trouser material is entered for shirt material as well. The salesman made the mistake he said. He called the salesman to bring the items back and correct it. The salesman and the billing person apologized for the mistake. But still the image of the salesman, the experienced sales man in me was damaged.
After finishing this, we were looking for a shop to buy inner garments for me. We were just looking around standing near our car. There was a shop in one of the by-lanes, small one. We decided to go there and buy, we went and asked for a particular size . He gave me one from a brand which i'm aware of. I saw the piece just like that and asked him the price. He told me the price. I said, "ok, pack it" and took my purse to pay. The salesman said, "sir, can you please open and verify the size and length and check whether it suits you " . I opened the piece and checked the same. Then paid the bill amount. When we turned out to leave, he said , "sir please do come if you want anything else" . I was really impressed by this salesman , "His professional approach, his sincerity towards giving the customer the right product so that they will come back the next time. Even thou i decided to take the item without doing the basic check , he insisted me to do so.
lessons for life 1.
This is not just peeling a Beetroot , Many things flashed in my mind when i was peeling off some beetroots from preparing my lunch. If you have ever tried peeling a beetroot with a kitchen knife you will know how difficult its to work with a sphere shaped object , holding it and using the knife delicately to remove the skin without removing much of the stuff under that. The important thing here is the ups and downs hills and valleys in the sphere which makes it difficult to make a even peeling. Since i only purchased them , i remember picking the good ones by JUST verifying they are not damaged or rotten .At that time i was not thinking about the peeling task involved . If i would have picked slightly bigger ones and ones which have a even surface , it would have been easy for me to peel it properly and faster to cook. The important thing here is while purchasing something which is of low monitory value, we don't think much of it, which keeps life easy and even if gives a monitory loss it will not hurt.
But some times we will do the same mistake in expensive purchases and in things which we might be using for long time . I remember how i purchased my motorbike .When i purchased, the particular bike was newly introduced in the market , look wise its very stylish .I read a few reviews in the internet about the bike. That's all i've decided, i purchased it. Now after an year , it gives very low average (mileage) and the pickup is not that great , the style is old now after the arrival of new models.. the resale value is very minimal. So the only factor i considerd "STYLE" is over , all other factor come front now. So its always important that we need to think about what we expect out of the thing which we are planning to buy . The wooing advt will promote what is there in the product and not what we want in that. For features you may never use you might be paying a premium . So look for what you want instead of what and all is there in that.
A man to look at, one who deserve the higest honour
I come across the following news paper news 2 days back. I could not stop from thinking about this for the whole day. A man who can be looked up at. A man who deserve the highest honour . An eg., to what service to society and sacrifice is. Read the article below.
Publication:Times Of India Bangalore; |
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| Date:Jan 7, 2007; | Section:India Poised; |
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Man who moved a mountain Radhika D Srivastava | TNN
HOW HE BROKE NEW GROUND
The challenge for Manjhi was formidable — a 300-feet-high hill stood between his village and development. With no faith in the government, he chose to go it alone. He sold his goats to buy chisel, hammer and rope. Hammered constantly at the rock-face for 22 years, to create a 16-feet-wide passage.Gahlor Ghati (Gaya): Over four decades ago, a frail, landless farmer got hold of a chisel and a hammer and decided to change the face of his village nestled in the rocky hills of Gaya. Dashrath Manjhi tore open a 300-feet-high hill to create a one-km passage.
Manjhi knew it would he easier to move a mountain than an apathetic government. He knew writing to the powers-that-be would only leave the hill tied in red tape. Instead, Manjhi, then in his early 20s, took up a chisel and hammered at the rocks for 22 years.
This feat, part of local folklore now, stemmed from Manjhi’s love for his wife. For, when she slipped off the rocks while getting food for him as he worked in a field beyond the hill and broke her ankle, it became a burning passion to tame the formidable hills that virtually cut his village off from civilisation.
And he completed the Herculean task — creating a short-cut which reduced a long and arduous journey from his village Gahlor Ghati to Wazirganj to a walkable distance.
Manjhi hasn’t forgotten the public ridicule when he began hammering at the hill. “They called me a pagal but that steeled my resolve,” he says.
Even his wife and parents were against this “adventure,” especially when he sold his goats to buy a chisel, a hammer and rope. But, by then, Manjhi was a man possessed. He shifted his hut close to the hill so he could work all day and night, chipping away, little by little. “I did not even bother to eat,” he says.
With most of the cultivable land and shops across the hill, villagers had to cross it many times a day, braving dangers.
It was after 10 years that people began to notice a change in the shape of the hill. Instead of a defiant rockface, the hill seemed to have a depression in the middle. Climbing it became a little easier. “All those who had called me mad began to quietly watch me work. Some even chipped in,” he recollects.
In 1982, twenty-two years after he had started out, Manjhi walked through a clear flat passage — about 16-feet wide — to the other side of the hill. But his victory was tinged with sadness. His wife, who inspired him to take on this task, was not by his side. “She died of illness. We could not take her to a hospital on time,” says Manjhi.
But, the villagers were there. They got him sweets, fruits and all that they could afford. Says Ram Avatar Yadav of Bhitra village: “We grew up hearing stories of the man who wants to move a mountain. Today, it’s a reality and a boon for me.”
But, his family members are sore. “He hasn't done anything for us. We are still struggling to make ends meet,” says his daughter Laongi Devi. But, Manjhi wouldn’t agree. “My hard work should benefit thousands,” he says.
This hand-carved passage through the hill remains the only sustainable change the village has ever chanced upon. Tubewells were installed, but they ran dry. Electric poles were put up, but the cables never came. And a five-acre plot given by former CM Lalu Prasad to Manjhi for a hospital still lies barren.
Septuagenarian Manjhi hasn’t given up. “I met CM Nitish Kumar recently. He has promised to develop the passage so that even a car can pass and will connect my village to Gaya. And, he told me that I will lay the foundation stone,” he says.
Funny local body elections
The elections for the Tamilnadu local bodies happened 2 days back. There is one person doing cloth Ironing service near (in front of) my house. He belongs to Tamilnadu. Few days back he said , " I'm going to native place to vote in election ". I was really wondering about his commitment to cast his vote, inspite of he missing 2 days work which might cost him a loss of 400-500 Rs . Even thou i too come from TamilNadu i dont even think about going to my hometown just to cast my vote. I felt little ashamed.
Today morning i saw him preparing to start work. I asked him , " How was the elections in home" . With smile he said , " It was ok ,i gained 1000/- Rs for 2 votes , cash 500Rs and gold worth 500Rs." He further said , " the person contesting in the election came here a week back to offer me the money to come and vote, but i denied and told him that i will come there and collect ".
Now i understood his interest in casting his vote , sorry selling his vote. The local body where he cast his vote , some ward in Ranipet Tamilnadu got around 550-560 votes altogether. So it would have cost the contestant around 300000 Rs . I dont know how much income the contestant if wins will gain out of his post.
Since all the voters who sold their vote dont have the right to talk about their RIGHT in that ward.The corporater can do whatever he want for his personal benefits. Let god save the people.
Interesting and funny beleifs
I came across this funny belief during one of our trips to Kodaikannal (a beautiful hill station) . myself , Anand (a friend of mine) and an other local person were going around , i felt thirsty and we don’t have water in hand. So I asked the local person to show a natural spring nearby. In kodai other than summer season you can find springs and streams everywhere , the water also tastes good because its fresh and cool. The local person told immediately that there is one very close by . When we reached the spring I asked Anand whether he want to have water , he said " No, I will get cold if I drink this water " . Immediately the local person told , " No No , if you wash your face three times with the water and drink the water after that you will not get cold " . He started washing his face and drinking the water. Anand and myself where smiling at him , I had the water collected in a bottle for me to drink. But Anand was not convinced by this so he didn’t drink the water. We didn’t show any disagreement to the local person on his belief . We continued our journey. I had the complete 2 liter water from the bottle on that day.
I neither wash my face nor got cold the next day.
Broomstick treatment
Our 10 months old kid got cold and fever. That day myself and my wife were sitting with our kid, our maid came to finish her morning duties in our house. Normally my kid used to talk to her (in his oun language ..) when she comes in the morning. Since he was sick he didn't reacted anything towards her. So she reached to him and asked whether he’s not feeling well. We said, " Ya , he got cold and fever ". Our maid used to talk kannada language(different from our mother tongue) but we don’t understand much of it. Same way she too don’t understand us fully.
She started telling some home remedy to us, which we really didn’t understood. But I’m better than my wife in kannada language , but I understood only one thing that she asked for turmeric powder, which is readily available in our kitchen. The other things she collected from our landlords house. Now the remedy is ready. She came with a jug of water mixed with all the items . she stood in front of the kid and rotated the jug clock wise three times and anti-clock wise three times. I thought ok , no harm even it doesn't make any sense to us. Its her good wishes that matters and she is concerned to do something what she knows. But the next thing what she did is important and funny.
She went out and brought the "Broom stick" which we use to clean our house. And in a flash she started brushing the tip of it slightly from head to body of our kid. I was little shocked , puzzled thinking what to do now. Before that she completed the ritual 3 times . No the treatment is over. My wife is also in the same state. We don’t know how to react to this act, since she is concerned on our kids well being we cant suddenly behave rudely to her about her act. We started worring whether the infection will get worse because of the dirt from the broomstick.That was the maximum we could do at that time.
Finally she went back to continue her tasks leaving us thinking about that, about how we should have reacted to that incident. But the cold and fever continued .. for the next several days .
Karthik
Watching your thoughts
I'm reading a book called 'The monk who sold his ferrarie' written by Robin Sharma. It will be good to share a few interesting things mentioned in the book which grabbed my attention. I'll try to put only the idea what the author is trying to convey , " anything which happens in your life is first blue printed in your mind" , so while preparing the blueprint one should be careful . That is , screeing your thoughts when it happen in your mind. Everybody will have a positive as well as negative thoughts happening in their minds as a continous process at their will or not. The positive thougts leads to good things and the negative ones might lead to destructive things. So screeing our thoughts while they happen will enable us to remove/replace the negative ones with a positive one. If this is practised for a period of time , one will get control of his/her mind.
I was actually practising this even before reading this book . The net result is , i'm less worried about silly mistakes happening around you eg., like somebody entering before you in a queue or rough driver siding you on the road. More composed and streamlined in thinking. Because i remove a unwanted thougt at the movement it starts in my mind, instead spending a considerable amount of time thinking about it and feeling frustrated at the end.
Finally , a useful book to read which I borrowed from a friend .. ;-)
