Size Matters!!

 

Damu my childhood friend met me after a decade, while I was going home from Bangalore.  He studied with me for a decade right from 1^st standard. He was a simple guy, always helpful and my great friend.  Although good in studies he never got a chance to go for higher education, but had to drop out by chance.  I believe  he was much  better than me in many respects. I remember him walking almost 2 km from his home .early morning to our government primary school..mostly with his mother.Being from a poor family I  used to see him selling bananas, and “niro” (cashew juice) in summer on the ponda-panjim highway. 

I can’t recall meeting him after our  10^th standard.  I even failed to recognize him when I was sitting just next to him in the bus while going from Ponda to Mardol(my home), but he din’t.  He kept quite for a while, then said “chinmay”,  I stared at him. “valkhata?”, do u recognize me?, he asked.  I must have forgotten his face but not his voice, “Damu” I said. I could even recall his handwriting and the punishment he used to get because of his bad handwriting. Though I felt proud that time because everyone praised me because of my beautiful handwriting..and sometimes laugh at such people for not “writing beautifully”, I think I was  wrong so did the teachers.  Handwriting does not at all reflect the person.. its just inborn..i have never seen someone with more than one handwriting..it comes from birth. Gandhijis handwrting was so bad but that did not deter his progress.

I was one of the brightest kid in my school..but I remember on day when in the maths class he solved the “venn diagram” problem when no one else could!. The day when I felt it was the circumstances which made him belong to the “dull” students in the class, else he must have achieved much more than me.  His father was a farmer and they had a “gado”, petty shop near our school. His mother died when he was 8, he had a younger brother  who was 2 yrs younger to us.

His father had a petty shop near our school.. We used to go there with 25 and 50 paise to buy chocolates during the school interval... Some used to buy biscuits and some “manikchand”. After the school, always he used to be seen sitting in his “gado” selling the petty items.. mostly sitting idle, but still one customer was great for him.

He used to be very simple and humble, never saw him fighting with anyone… May be that was the reason everyone used to make fun of him, when he used to come to play with us, every one used to say “aaj gadyaar vachuna?” , dint u go to the shop today?. or "business kaso challa?", how is your business going? While the other children would play he used to look after his fathers “gado”.  But other children used to make fun of him because of his “gado”, I saw similar attitude in almost 99% of the  people,  I have met or seen so far, that makes me believe that “size does matter”.

When we do something big people will praise you, but when you do same thing at a smaller magnitude people will make fun of you. 

When "Siddhartha" left his palace and the affluence in which be was brought up,  he was said to be a fool, but the same "fool"("Gautam buddha") and his principles has 400million followers("buddhism") today after some 2500yrs the world over!!!(But are not called fools!).

All businessman will be essentially doing the same: “ sell the product”, but when “Damu” sells chocolates on his “gado” people make fun of him, but when the same chocolate is sold in a “Reliance Mall” people call him businessman and praise him.

In olden times and still the “chambhar”(shoe maker) used to be looked down, but when the same shoe is sold under the brand “Bata” its called business. 

Esssentially both do the same thing but the magnitude differs, so does people’s perception!.

Whenver I go to my village, I have a haircut  at “Ramakant’s” shop at bus stand in Mardol, an old fellow who cut my hair from childhood, but his shop now is in a dilapidated state, just like his health in this old age. Ones I showed my college friend the place where I have haircut, the shop without the comfortable chair, no big mirror, no floor tiles, ceiling leaking during rains and no shaving cream(may be he doesn't know  what is shaving cream.. Liril soap has been his shaving cream from the day he started his profession!,). My friend just laughed at me, and asked dint you find any better barber shop? But even  today whenever I go home, I still go to the same “Ramakant’s” shop for a haircut, The world might have changed, people prefer to go to the “posh” saloons…. but Ramakant has not changed so do I.

All these thoughts came to my mind on the way while chatting with damu…and when the bus stopped  near "paatyer", damu got up to get down…when he got down and waved his hand to say goodye.. I asked him what I forgot to ask " kaamak bin khai vata?”, “where r u working”?,  He just smiled and walked away, may be  he remembered those childhood days when children made fun of him..He might have thought  I might make fun of him for his “gado”, so walked away without speaking a word…

*[Later I came to know that his father passed way and he is still running his childhood “gado” after his father(petty shop).]