‘Excuse me, hello!’ this time I’d pressed my lungs rather hard to increase my wind power and experienced the effect of sound energy. My NCC (National Cadet Core) day’s memories were green still. Actually I’d taken my friend to a good hotel for snacks, who came to me for the first time. And the waiter had kept us waiting on the table for so long that meanwhile to amuse my friend I even coined meaning for waiter that is ‘one who makes us wait’. Light shuk – shuk, mild hello, and little hard ‘waiter!’ had remained unyielding so far. The waiter seemed in charge of our row of table was conveniently turning blind eye & deaf ear towards us. By passing every minute I was getting restless as it was a matter of my image too since I’d bragged about the quality of food & prompt service of this hotel to my friend. Frenetic reminders from the empty stomach was equally disturbing why deny that even? As normally expected no sooner you sit at the table than the fellow should arrive with a tray of glasses of water & menu card.
With my lungs power at the best, the one who had taken us for ride & other two waiters, man at the cash counter came running to us. And yes the table occupiers of the entire hotel started trying their best to take my glimpse. Also, the sound had percolated through the kitchen it seems as few unseen ‘men in dark’ also started peeping out to search for the source of the sound. There was a glass braking noise I heard from my back. As the girl seated behind me dropped her glass as the sudden noise near to her ear had caught her unnoticed. And I started reining my select few words for the forthcoming incidence. We were served with utmost promptness then onwards, with we having no guilt in our mind for even not paying TIP to the waiter, wiped our palms to the paper napkin, put grains of mouth-fresheners in our mouth & came out of hotel as victorious warriors.
‘Waiters shouldn’t let customers wait at the table, for they get restless & if they stay around more time, we get deprived of more customers’ my hotelier friend was lecturing his men. As I’ve bred my body more on hotel food than on home food my frequent visits has made me endear to many of the hotel owners. I’m sure, it is due to die hard customers like me only those hoteliers have progressed from two centuries old marble & half century old wooden table & unseen yet leaving their presence deeply felt on the normally unseen place nailed wooden bench with unknown origin to posh sun mica covered tables & cushioned chairs. Also, the hoteliers have got rid of those snotty kids in torn half pants & button less shirt who would arrive to you with wiping their ever secreting mucus with the back of left palm, with carrying yellow aluminum glasses with spilling water while dipping his all the five fingers of right hand in them. His glimpse even is enough to kill the hunger otherwise, yet I’ve taken that as the gods’ wish & have eaten missal with double paav along with turry & still living.
‘Yes sir, may I help you’ star waiters from varied star studded hotels too I’ve unfortunately came across. Who put on three piece suit with bow tied to their neck, immaculately dressed with light refreshing perfume sprayed on their coat. Their dress is classes above mine even their manners, language, their well manicured fingers with their style amaze me or rather give me a complex, why lie? They get the same tea yet the worth is multifold that what I’m normally used to pay, on the top it needs to be made. By the time I put in water, tea bags, sugar, lemon drop or milk & stir the whole combination arrives at the room temperature leaving the fun in tasting tea far far behind. I in the last leave the posh place paying hefty tip which itself could quench thirst of my tea for coming three weeks.
I normally do not intend or afford to take enmity with any waiter whether he is the snotty waiter in the roadside shade or better dressed than mine in star hotel. He feeds me after all more than I’m fed at home.
By
Vijay Yelmelwar
No comments:
Post a Comment