Hawker of Greens and
old lady selling Idli
By
P.R.Ramachander
( I had heard of this
old story earlier but yesterday
it was posted by my friend Bhanu
Ravi. My acknowledgement to him and if
only this lesson is learnt by our business people…)
1.Once a very
tired hawker of greens,
Wandered all over
the town,
Without being able
to sell,
Atleast one bundle
of amaranth
2,when she
was about to collapse,
She was
called an old lady ,
Minding her way
side shop,
Selling fluffy idlis and crunchy vadais
2. That old lady asked
the hawker of greens ,
How much do you charge
for this bundle of green,
And the hawker whose
face lit up with expectation,
Replied in a
voice loaded with anxiety “Five rupees per bundle”
3. Then the old
lady laughed loudly and jeeringly,
And told “If it is one rupee per bundle
,
I would definitely
buy two bundles from you .
And the hawker lady told ,” No madam , it is too less.”
4.The haggling went on for more than thirty minutes,
The deal was
struck and the old woman bought
,
Three bundles for
a complete four rupees,
But suddenly saw
the hawker fainting and
falling due to hunger.
5. The old woman rushed
near her , sprinlkled,
Some water on her
face , woke her up ,
And gave her four of her fluffy idlis
,
And one of her crunchy Vada, which the hawker ate.
6.With tears in
her eyes the hawker returned
back,
The four rupees
which she just got and told,
“Madam thank you , this is the only money I have”.
And the old woman
with a smile refused to accept any payment.
7.The old woman’s son , watching all this great drama,
Asked his mother, “Ma , I do not understand you ,
For four rupee
cost you haggled thirty minutes,
But gave her
food that is worth twenty rupees.”
8.The old woman
replied, “True my dear son.
When I am doing business , there is no charity there,
And when I am giving
charity , there is no business there”
This has been the lesson that my life has taught me.”
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