The waiter saw in walk in,and veered away from his trajectory to make a beeline towards me. With a grin and a seemed-to-be welcoming gesture guided me to my seat.The maitre d' also took an interest in my service quality. Did I mention that I was in a also-ran sort of restaurant with nothing exemplary about it?
I was quite amused at this fuss being created for a customer,having been at the receiving end of several below par service experiences. Attendants who made you feel as if you are invisible although you became tired of waving your hands- both hands wildly , much like a drowning person hoping to catch to wandering eyes of a lifeguard.
This got me thinking, what is it that brings about such a marked changed in the behavior of an individual in such a short span of time. I roamed my eyes casually , taking in the activities around me. Waiters serving people, people being served, people waving to the waiter, waiter taking orders. I saw the same sort of grin and demeanor at some tables, less so at others, absent from the rest.
So i started to analyse what set apart some tables from the others. At first glance , I couldn't find any difference. Age-no, gender-no, personality-again no. Clothes-Yes.
Better dressed people seemed to be getting better service. I looked down at my attire and verified it. I was in my best shirt and shiny shoes, having just come from a lively Christmas meeting of the Toastmasters club.
Having arrived at the demarcation line of the service quality, I attempted to understand how being better clothed could possibly lead to better service. After all, how one is clothed depends entirely on one's personality. A CEO is comfortable in flip flops and shorts. A bus-driver always wears a tie and impeccable 3 piece suit while driving a bus. A teenager in dhoti and a octogenarian in low waist jeans. What we wear is innately a matter of personal taste and habit.
Something struck me.. a notion... a belief I strongly canvassed against. Could it be that? Of course not... could the scales of value be so tilted? so inverted? Could it be that piece of paper, which never saw the face of a dustbin? Could it be the notion of monetary gain that made the attendants, even the maitre d' to fawn over their "distinguished" customers?
I can only assume that I had arrived at the wrong conclusion, that there was a flaw in my logical steps, a clog of uncertainty in the wheels of precise logic.
Whatever be the reason, I had hit a question that ensconced my mind completely. Over the lasting cup of coffee(which I tried to prolong so that I could occupy the seat for a longer time), my mind asked the very intriguing question- How defined is the relationship between a piece of valuable paper and the valuable foundations of our morals.
Morals are the premier point that defines "human beings" as "being humans". Have the scales of humanity changed? Have we become so enamored with this "plastic" world that we are willing to compromise on our morals, even experience amorality for gaining it?
Frequently do I hear nowadays ,when asked the most cliched question - "Whats your ambition?" , replies which are all an isotope of "Earn lots of money".
People would call me "Idealistic","Dreamer","Disillusioned","Crazy", and other synonyms of these words, informing me in a condescending tone "that's life. Deal with it. You either break into this world, or the world will break you in a nanosecond.".
We coming for the clans of Suryavanshi ancestors, where ideal kings like Ram, Bharat, Yudhisthir, Karna who upheld their morals in face of the most treacherous plots, who stood their moral ground, when even the Gods had lost their morals, How can we, the citizens of this prestigious Nation, keep aside all our history, our long wrought tradition and run behind the thing which we ourselves have created?
I think money might be the only man-made thing, which we have uplifted to the status of the Divine and have reserved the Divine only in their sanctum sanctorum, deep inside , where normal eyes cannot seek them.
Man has always sought to play God, and in money he had created a weapon the possession of which can make a man God-like.
If we live in a world now where money supersedes morality,man above God, then in fact we have crossed to line going from positive to negative From being humans, to a creature with whose behavior and morals are unknown to science as yet. Although seemingly polite at the top, hides a cruel animal inside.
We think we have forsaken God, but it might be vice versa too.
I was quite amused at this fuss being created for a customer,having been at the receiving end of several below par service experiences. Attendants who made you feel as if you are invisible although you became tired of waving your hands- both hands wildly , much like a drowning person hoping to catch to wandering eyes of a lifeguard.
This got me thinking, what is it that brings about such a marked changed in the behavior of an individual in such a short span of time. I roamed my eyes casually , taking in the activities around me. Waiters serving people, people being served, people waving to the waiter, waiter taking orders. I saw the same sort of grin and demeanor at some tables, less so at others, absent from the rest.
So i started to analyse what set apart some tables from the others. At first glance , I couldn't find any difference. Age-no, gender-no, personality-again no. Clothes-Yes.
Better dressed people seemed to be getting better service. I looked down at my attire and verified it. I was in my best shirt and shiny shoes, having just come from a lively Christmas meeting of the Toastmasters club.
Having arrived at the demarcation line of the service quality, I attempted to understand how being better clothed could possibly lead to better service. After all, how one is clothed depends entirely on one's personality. A CEO is comfortable in flip flops and shorts. A bus-driver always wears a tie and impeccable 3 piece suit while driving a bus. A teenager in dhoti and a octogenarian in low waist jeans. What we wear is innately a matter of personal taste and habit.
Something struck me.. a notion... a belief I strongly canvassed against. Could it be that? Of course not... could the scales of value be so tilted? so inverted? Could it be that piece of paper, which never saw the face of a dustbin? Could it be the notion of monetary gain that made the attendants, even the maitre d' to fawn over their "distinguished" customers?
I can only assume that I had arrived at the wrong conclusion, that there was a flaw in my logical steps, a clog of uncertainty in the wheels of precise logic.
Whatever be the reason, I had hit a question that ensconced my mind completely. Over the lasting cup of coffee(which I tried to prolong so that I could occupy the seat for a longer time), my mind asked the very intriguing question- How defined is the relationship between a piece of valuable paper and the valuable foundations of our morals.
Morals are the premier point that defines "human beings" as "being humans". Have the scales of humanity changed? Have we become so enamored with this "plastic" world that we are willing to compromise on our morals, even experience amorality for gaining it?
Frequently do I hear nowadays ,when asked the most cliched question - "Whats your ambition?" , replies which are all an isotope of "Earn lots of money".
People would call me "Idealistic","Dreamer","Disillusioned","Crazy", and other synonyms of these words, informing me in a condescending tone "that's life. Deal with it. You either break into this world, or the world will break you in a nanosecond.".
We coming for the clans of Suryavanshi ancestors, where ideal kings like Ram, Bharat, Yudhisthir, Karna who upheld their morals in face of the most treacherous plots, who stood their moral ground, when even the Gods had lost their morals, How can we, the citizens of this prestigious Nation, keep aside all our history, our long wrought tradition and run behind the thing which we ourselves have created?
I think money might be the only man-made thing, which we have uplifted to the status of the Divine and have reserved the Divine only in their sanctum sanctorum, deep inside , where normal eyes cannot seek them.
Man has always sought to play God, and in money he had created a weapon the possession of which can make a man God-like.
If we live in a world now where money supersedes morality,man above God, then in fact we have crossed to line going from positive to negative From being humans, to a creature with whose behavior and morals are unknown to science as yet. Although seemingly polite at the top, hides a cruel animal inside.
We think we have forsaken God, but it might be vice versa too.
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