Gone are the days when the children in our village used to await ice-cream vendors on their bicycles sounding musical horns to attract them while their mom tried hard to rein them from running to them.. There were sweet vendors as well carrying different varieties of colourful sweets on their heads in bamboo trays calling out " sweet items just for a penny". Mothers called them to their houses and they displayed mouth watering sweets in front of their children who were given the options to select what they wanted but with in the limits of budget they had . The price was paid from the savings made by their moms in the name of their children in small round clay pots called Kayikkudukka which had the size and shape of normal grape fruit had a narrow opening through which coins were put . When the pot was full it was broken and the sound of copper and silver coins falling on the ground tickled the minds of children and aroused hopes in their minds.
Once I heard a neighbour of ours and a friend of my mom confessing to my mom how she had got rid of an invalid coin (not fake one since was the coin of some other country) given to her from some shops saying that she had purchased sweets from a vendor known to us who had taken the coin without checking it. The same vendor passed by our house after a couple of days and I asked my mom to buy me a particular sweet made of cane jaggery. When my mom paid him the price ,the vendor who was looking for a chance to get rid of the invalid coin, took it out from his pocket claiming that it was one of the coins given by mom and asked her to give him another coin. My mom who knew the story did not tell him who the culprit was but smiled and told him to look for the one who had cheated him and not her who had given him the genuine coin.The vendor shouted using obscene language whereas my mom, in spite of being infuriated used polite words. The vendor could not take back the candy since I had consumed half of it in the meantime. I still remember how he went away using all the bad words in his stock. Today when I read reports of innocent people being accused and even convicted on false charges for crimes and offences they had never committed, I remember that sweet vendor.
The man I see these days selling peanuts in cone shaped paper packets in front of some shopping centers in Doha reminded me of my first and last attempt to be a "business man". When I was schooling, it occurred to me to purchase some raw peanut , get it roasted by mom and sell it at a profits as done by some children in our village in those days . I calculated the profit comparing the purchase price with the selling price and found that it was indeed a profitable business. Since I could not afford to buy one kilogram of raw peanuts , I bought half a kilogram and got it roasted by my mom.But the problem was that people would not come to me asking for peanut and I had to market it roaming in the village shouting " peanuts, peanuts". This was something I could not even dream of since every one knew that I was a shy and timid boy very stingy even while talking to my parents.More over lethargy was an in born trait in me which I refuse to part with even today. Therefore a close frined of mine was entrusted with the tals of marketing the peanuts on commission basis . He was very talkative and hence fit for this type of trade and I was sure that he could do the job very easily. When he went away with peanuts, I waited eagerly for his return. But my friend came to me in the evening with the empty metal can in which he had carried the peanut saying that he could not sell anything and confessing that he could not resist the temptation of roasted peanuts and had to consume the peanuts to compensate for the energy he had lost while roaming in the hot sun . To justify his stand he also told me how the cashew nut was known in Kerala as Kappalandi (meaning shipnut) as captain of a ship visiting Kerala once could not stop when he began to eat cashew nuts and had to sell his ship for this purpose .
That was the inglorious end of the business man in me as if the idea was nipped by God in the bud itself as He knows that business is not my cup of tea as I am unfit for such a task. One very often wonders whether morality can go hand in hand with a business mind which always looks for profit. An honest friend of mine who ran a shop in Doha for about 30 years still find it difficult to make both ends meets where as his friend running similar shop next door has amassed a lot of wealth. The difference is the the former does not cheat or lie to his customers where as the latter does every thing to sell his merchandise.
Once I heard a neighbour of ours and a friend of my mom confessing to my mom how she had got rid of an invalid coin (not fake one since was the coin of some other country) given to her from some shops saying that she had purchased sweets from a vendor known to us who had taken the coin without checking it. The same vendor passed by our house after a couple of days and I asked my mom to buy me a particular sweet made of cane jaggery. When my mom paid him the price ,the vendor who was looking for a chance to get rid of the invalid coin, took it out from his pocket claiming that it was one of the coins given by mom and asked her to give him another coin. My mom who knew the story did not tell him who the culprit was but smiled and told him to look for the one who had cheated him and not her who had given him the genuine coin.The vendor shouted using obscene language whereas my mom, in spite of being infuriated used polite words. The vendor could not take back the candy since I had consumed half of it in the meantime. I still remember how he went away using all the bad words in his stock. Today when I read reports of innocent people being accused and even convicted on false charges for crimes and offences they had never committed, I remember that sweet vendor.
The man I see these days selling peanuts in cone shaped paper packets in front of some shopping centers in Doha reminded me of my first and last attempt to be a "business man". When I was schooling, it occurred to me to purchase some raw peanut , get it roasted by mom and sell it at a profits as done by some children in our village in those days . I calculated the profit comparing the purchase price with the selling price and found that it was indeed a profitable business. Since I could not afford to buy one kilogram of raw peanuts , I bought half a kilogram and got it roasted by my mom.But the problem was that people would not come to me asking for peanut and I had to market it roaming in the village shouting " peanuts, peanuts". This was something I could not even dream of since every one knew that I was a shy and timid boy very stingy even while talking to my parents.More over lethargy was an in born trait in me which I refuse to part with even today. Therefore a close frined of mine was entrusted with the tals of marketing the peanuts on commission basis . He was very talkative and hence fit for this type of trade and I was sure that he could do the job very easily. When he went away with peanuts, I waited eagerly for his return. But my friend came to me in the evening with the empty metal can in which he had carried the peanut saying that he could not sell anything and confessing that he could not resist the temptation of roasted peanuts and had to consume the peanuts to compensate for the energy he had lost while roaming in the hot sun . To justify his stand he also told me how the cashew nut was known in Kerala as Kappalandi (meaning shipnut) as captain of a ship visiting Kerala once could not stop when he began to eat cashew nuts and had to sell his ship for this purpose .
That was the inglorious end of the business man in me as if the idea was nipped by God in the bud itself as He knows that business is not my cup of tea as I am unfit for such a task. One very often wonders whether morality can go hand in hand with a business mind which always looks for profit. An honest friend of mine who ran a shop in Doha for about 30 years still find it difficult to make both ends meets where as his friend running similar shop next door has amassed a lot of wealth. The difference is the the former does not cheat or lie to his customers where as the latter does every thing to sell his merchandise.
By the Father
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