Turn the table

For multiple times we had a messy discussion over a cup of tea , lunch and dinner about a piece of furniture which precisely I disliked for long. Almost 90% of the furniture in my parents room are as old as me, if not they are younger. As birthright I pose to rule their fate. With time, have given a farewell to a few of them just to introduce a few new ones. Change is not only inevitable but brings in rejuvenated energy. To exercise my right have stolen sale-sy quotes by Great men (When personal brand fails, borrow from renowned ones - it works!).

All strategies failed when it goes for that particular wooden table that lies at one corner of their room. Seemingly ordinary rectangular wooden table with old model sun-mica - that's all about it. O yes that is the hard and visual part of it. What is seemingly unseen is my mother's deep drawn love for that piece of art and my father's silent support to ensure that the table displacement is zero!
Just like business intelligence, family intelligence is also very interesting. That reveals why certain things happen and often not the predictable way.

Twist of Tale. Change happened but the other way; all because of Sutradhar.

Sutradhar, niche skilled carpenter, had bagged the contract for repairing all the wooden windows for the entire apartment. In the growing high rises of our mega-city, most apartment furniture have contemporary touch, matching the theme based decor, complimenting color shades ..... packaged prescriptions shared by interior decorator. Being in the business Sutradhar keeps himself appraised and engage potential customers in alluring dialouges for sheer business mining. He knows how to trigger the nerves of the influence-rs in domestic landscape.

While on the job he had stepped into our rooms to work out a few corners of the window frames. He had noticed the debatable table.
With great confidence he remarked - " This is rare type of teak wood! "

Prompt came the reply - " Yes, it was a gift from my uncle ! "A short pause and motherly voice continued.

- "It is there ever since we started our family, we have many memories on each inch of it .. "

Sutradhar , took a break from his assignment to nurture the old and odd piece. He made some more appreciative comments on the texture and quality of the wooden piece.

That excited further communication ! -"My daughter took her first step holding on to this table.... " Unprepared Check-mate state. I got disconnected from the reciprocating communication..

Realized how less I knew about my own childhood.

Ever since that event my outlook towards that table changed dramatically. Unknowingly Sutradhar's curiosity helped me mine some data points which moved my table of thoughts. Years of ill-feeling evaporated in few minutes. Debates still continue , but no more about that table. It gave me the support when I needed it most - to begin a journey of long walk...

Gyan #18 - Perception is driven by perspective.

Bargain

My business trip to Hong Kong was all in hurry. From the 24th floor hotel suite the city preview was wonderful. Fast track citizens moving in colorful cars which were taking swift turns on the risky lanes cut out of green mountains. Took the lift to the 2nd floor for the breakfast. Took a table by the glass wall. That increased the clarity. The only one dish that tastes almost same across the world is "Omelet". Wanted to start the business critical day with all confidence.

Sipping orange juice watched out the slim and trim Hong Kong on the road. Almost all the hoarding that was visible on the other lane had language beyond my capacity.

With Cantonese speaking management support and over enthusiastic Marathi sales woman, the day was finally a good one. Purposeless shopping is a challenging job for me yet my sales friend who is settled in that part of the geography had planned a quick visit to Ladies Market. She portrayed this to be a must visit place. No wonder - we took bus, cab , steamer and finally we were on the edge of a market which was popularly known as Ladies Market.

Wondering why Ladies Market? 90% of the shop owners (at least the sales folk) are women. It has max of 3 parallel lanes and each lanes stretching a few KMs. Nothing outstanding about the commodities. But you stand a chance to pay only 50 HKD for an original tag of 500 HKD.

Unwilling I walked the crowded buyers' lane. Briskly stopped over in one shop or the other. No chance of getting lost even though it may be ones first trip by virtue of the simple geometric layout of the market. The visit became memorable for what followed. My sales friend off course a tough deal seller on corporate board was in a tough fight with a Chinese sales lady for a simple suit. I had no clue of the original $$ as by then the the figures in dialogue had cross passed standard deviation. The Chinese lady was speaking so fast and the only English word in that was "No". My Marathi friend looked like Jhansi Ki Rani fighting for her country all in English.

I was feeling very embarrassed. My puzzled look prompted her to throw some quick ones in Hindi ( The Marathi way) to keep me active in the play. At one point I felt like paying the delta amount and settling the odd. While dealing my compressed state of mind, I missed the final deal value but witnessed the moment. The great Marathi buyer was hugging the satisfied Chinese salesperson. I could have never imagined this to be the last scene of the game. This last gesture broke the seller-buyer equation to epitomise relationship of goodwill.

The men who accompanied had by then bought a purse and a toy for their respective wives and kids. It was next day ( I mean clock had past 12 mid-night) when we stepped out for a cab once more.. The neon city was still awake ..

Gyan #17 - A deal is a great one only when it is Win-Win.