A fair deal altogether

That morning seemed to be a normal one when i got up from bed. 3 of my beloved friends had gone already. Saturday is no different for them. Office beckons them on Saturdays too. The other lucky souls were still sleeping peacefully. Had plans to go out. How could they still sleep? Hmmm.. as i am awake, they should also not sleep any more. Tried waking them up. Thanks to my excellent efforts, all 3 of them were ready in just a little over 3 hours. We were all set to explore the vast possibilities of mg road and brigade road. :P..

Our excellent skills in jumping into the running bus helped us to catch a BIG 10 and while sitting inside wondering what does 'BIG' stand for, we heard conductor screaming "last stop". Only we 4 were left in the big bus. (Ooohhhh ya.. big might be for the size of the bus? :P) Couldnt thank her more as it dropped us exactly were we wanted it to - infront of Hotel Paramount :D. After having lunch, we started walking through the brigade road.

The bridleway was full of high class business people trying to convince the pedestrians to take their really high-quality commodities. Their sincerity and affection in the profession made me think for once to leave my present job and join them as trainee. One of my friends was stuck with a person selling rayban glasses. That made me think why not just see the watches with his friend. He had some 5-10 watches. Asked for the prices. He said 450 for the rectangular framed one and 550 for the round one. 'Hmmm.. not bad.. but wat to do darling... i dont want a watch now.. jus asked for timepass...' i said to myself. I told him his goods are not worth it (being a business man, i know how heart-breaking that comment could be) and started walking away from that sweet guy.

He came behind me asking how much its worth for. I asked him how much he said for those as if i had forgotten about the prices already. He said just 550 for the rectangular framed one and 650 for the round one. I dont know whether you noticed the price hike but i certainly did. Hmmm.. trying to teach a squirrel how to climb a tree. Thinking he just planned to give a reduction of 100 rs on his MRP, i asked him whether he could sell it off for JUST 200 rs.. yoyo.. he is trapped now.. he cant sell it for that much anyway. soon he will say "gud day sir". Actually i didnt want to stay there any longer as my friend had finished purchasing the chori maal - his priced rayban glasses. So the offer to take it for 200 was actually a trick to get my butt out of there. aint i too brilliant?

Congratulating my friend on his superb skills by which he managed to buy the glasses for just 250 rs (initially quoted price was 800), i started walking away from the watch-salesman. After some time, i realized with a shock that he was beside me offering his valuable piece for my price. Aiyo.. how could he do that? Dont cheat yourself re. It will end up in loss if you allow that business to happen. Its worth more than 200 bey. So go find someone whom you can sell it for much more. "What did you say?" "You can take it for 200". " Oh i see... actually you know what.. i dont want a new one now. Tra la la la. So tata" i told him showing my original casio and started walking off.

He chased me and pleaded to take it. "Its ur price and i am giving it as a gift (because you liked me very much,eh? wah!!) and so you hav to take it". His friend after having done with his goggle business joined him and said " See your smart friend bought a nice glass. Why cant you also buy one?" No need. thanks... But my watch-buddy was still pleading. Sho!!! ab kya karoon? I cursed myself for my bad skills in calculating the profit and loss there. I realized forlornly that my presence in Anuj's maths class for CAT didnt enable me to be excellent in this. He had no plan to leave me. This isn't funny anymore. Struck by a sudden brilliant idea i entered a small textile shop nearby. But he was brilliant enough to make out that i had no business inside and waited patiently for me outside the shop.

Knowing i had no escape from him, I tried recalculating the price and came to a conclusion that 100 will be a decent enough price to drive him away. Hmmm.. i told him boldly that i didnt find it worth more than 100. I noticed a sudden change in his expressions. It was then more like that of pittying himself for spending that much time for a waste and cheap fellow's well-being. But that didnt stop him from proceeding further to make sure his time and effort so far were not wasted.

He changed his tone more to a desperate one. "Its actually worth 500 sir. Just because i didnt eat anything till now i m selling it for 200" he told showing his pocket to me. Its already 3 and he didnt eat anything till now. Poor fellow. That remark calls for sympathy. Oh wait... whats he chewing? Oh ho. pan!! Sympathy disappeared suddenly. "But i said i dont need a watch now. So cant you just leave me alone?" He forced that watch into my hands and said "please take it sir. You can gift it to someone" (...like you are gifting it to me, eh? ).... he tried to change the plate. But i was rock solid in my decision. Not a penny more than 100 my dear. I wasnt sure whether i would hav reduced my price further had he agreed for 100.

"You wont even get stolen watch of this kind for that much sir" - He said so and also was not willing to sell it for that much. Applying some symbolic logic principles i doubted whether he stole it like his friend did with the rayban. "Its worth much more than 200 sir. Just because i did not have anything till now i am giving it off for 200" he repeated. I wanted to say i was in no mood to give anything more than 100 for his lunch. I noticed that we had already reached mg road. My dear friend you were following me from the beginning of brigade road, no? And its mg road. Your customers might be waiting for you there near your usual place.

"Ok. Give me 150 and take away this. I dont mind" Hmmm.. better offer. But still there was no change in my decision. The watch had already been thrust into my hands. Aiyo i cant waste any more time. Friends waiting there for me. But no one had tried to help me out other than our one and only 'kid' who kept telling dont buy if you dont want to. I took a 100 rs note from my purse which was in my back-pocket, gave him the gandhi and said thank you. His face said he was not satisfied with the deal. "Whats this sir? Dont be so cheap"... What the hell? I said i dont want it and he is not leaving me. What can i do?....

I held the watch in my left hand and 100 rs in the right and offered him to choose one not trying to guess which one would he go for. Wah!! smart move. That should end the drama. Did i become an expert in dealing with these people. I could not believe my awesome idea. He did not waste any more time and took the watch and started walking off. I felt guilty for not allowing him to finish his work. I called him and siad "Ok i will take it. But i dont have change. I have just 20 rs. Is that ok? ". "Give me 200 and i will get the change". "Aiyo no need" I said taking out 50 rs without knowing from where did it appear suddenly. I gave it to him and accepted the watch with great satisfaction of helping one guy to get his daily bread.

I went to my friends who were waiting for me till then. I showed them the watch and asked their opinion about it. "Hmmm already wasted some good 1 hour. Now walk fast!! " That was the reply from achayan. Hmmm i happily accepted the command with my heart still overflowing with satisfaction.