15th
of December - was my day out at this
Corner Shop in Trichy!
 |
| A Waiter of Sorts! |
YES!
my favourite hon’ble ‘server’ Sundaram was there to serve me this time.!!! Why
should I be this excited in describing a waiter at a ‘small’ish restaurant? And
why am I tempted to call him ‘hon’ble Server Sundaram? What’s so special about
such an enigmatic ‘server’ [or ‘waiter’!] of sorts?
For
some special things in life, the ‘felt-experience’ is much more profound and
enjoyable than the written, watered-down version! Yet I would love to jot them
down in this post, for posterity sake, and also for celebration-sake!
Hon’ble
‘Sundaram’ might’ve surely forgotten me or my band of ‘happy-go-lucky’ friends
who used to frequent this shop almost every weekend, long long back, pepped up after the filling, and finishing it up with a
cuppa tea and a longggg discussion on any ‘current event’ of our choice! ;-)
Indeed
time has rolled us by like ‘an ever-rolling stream!’
Coming
back, yes! the moment we seated ourselves comfortably in this ‘small yet
contented’ table of ours, he placidly placed a plantain leaf in front of me,
and also poured water into a tumbler (to start with!) Then, a motivating song
from an evergreen ‘MGR hit’ springs from his famed voice – which pauses, when he
proceeds to ask his usual and ‘unique’ enquiries in his own enigmatic style, to
his customer! – a chore that he adored as a celebrated and enjoyable routine!
Now, after getting his order, the ‘MGR number’ resumes, and he also makes sure that your order is right there in front of you in a jiffy! You indeed will be made to feel ‘the luxury of a motivating pep-song to pep-in the parottas’!!!
And
wait! the ‘real’ service from ‘hon’ble server sundaram starts only from now on!
 |
| enthu and verve! |
Once your idlis or parottas or dosas are placed on your banana leaf, [Well, Trichy
traditionally serves her customers with food on banana leaves, and they believe
in the bountiful benefits of eating on banana leaves to such a great extent
that even colleges in Trichy (including Bishop Heber!) have for the past more
than 50 years continued to serve all hostelites food only on banana leaves for
all three meals of the day! Interestingly, Trichy and her suburbs have a chain
of these name-sake and famed restaurants aptly titled ‘Banana Leaf Restaurants’
too!], the
next ‘strategy’ of the ‘hon’ble’ Sundaram is to start his own ritualistic number
tuned to his own music, which goes like this:
‘one
spoonful of chutney, OVER! two spoonfuls of chutney, OVER! three spoonfuls of
chutney, FINISHED-u!
‘one
spoonful of sambhar, OVER! two spoonfuls of sambhar, OVER! three spoonfuls of
sambhar, FINISHED-u!
Anything
else? Brother? he asks!
“Pepper
chicken fry and some kurma”
‘One
plate of hot and spicy and garnished and what not…’ pepper chicken fry for
elder brother, please!
“Here,
brother”! he grins, as he places the pepper chicken fry on your table.
I
called him with a delightful smile, for a second helping of the kurma, to which
he started his scoop-count in a special raga of his own, in his own inimical and inimitably idiosyncratic
style:
one- nu, rendu, moonu… (one, two, three…)
We,
the limited customers at his table couldn’t control our laughter and curiosity
too, and soon i asked him in all eagerness,
"What
is that count for, brother?"
His
reply was equally heart-warming!
"Brother,
you all might have your own problems or burdens with you even as you come here.
I just want to make you feel happy and I want to embrace my customer by serving
them with delight and happiness (apdiye
anaichikuven!) he said.
Seeing
my great admiration and regards for him, he strode over to my side of the table and
specially added, ‘Brother, I've been here since the time I was a kid. Now it’s
25 years since i joined work here and I've learnt all my skills here. I do
everything in a jiffy, he said, smiling his gentle smile with a genial wink on
his bearded visage. He also added that he's got many awards from Rotary and
Lions Club for enthusiastic service, recommended by his unique customers, and
those photos are up on display at the nearby K.A.S he added.
When
I was done, he gave me a neatly cut newspaper as 'tissue paper' and told me the
price: Rs. 95/-
I
gave him the money. He wasn’t particular about being tipped, but when I
handed him down a pretty decent ‘tipping’, a graceful smile adorned his
face and he said his thanks – a thanks of satisfaction, not only for receiving
the tip, but also for doing his work with enthusiasm and verve, to his utmost satisfaction and to the delight of his fan-customers as well!
He
is quite a wonderful lesson in enthusiasm, self motivation and thankfulness and
gratefulness and what not! The joi de
vivre that he exhibited is indeed the need of the hour today in our world.
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