Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Hawker of Greens and old lady selling Idli -a poem

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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