A man was talking on his phone standing on the sidewalk. A young boy of about 12-13 years approached him and stood silently watching from approx 2 feet. He had some books in his right hand and was carrying a plastic sack in his left, which seemed to contain more books.
The man got irritated and asked angrily "What do you want ?Go away, I don't want anything". The boy stepped back 2 steps but continued to stand.
The man after couple of minutes took a 10 rupee note and offered to the boy "Take it and scram"
The boy said in a definite tone "I am not a beggar sir, so can't take your money for free"
The man got a jolt, speechless for 2 seconds. He told his contact on the other side of the phone that something urgent had come and he'll call him back, and disconnected the phone"
Man: "Then why are you standing here"
Boy: "To sell books to you"
B: "Sir please don't get angry, can I ask you a question"?
M:"What"
B:"What do you do for a living?"
M:"I work for an IT company, Do you know what that is"
B:"Not much sir, but I know that you make something good for computers which people can use"
Man was least expecting this; got impressed
B:"Sir I am sure you must be selling your work to other people as what ever is made has to be consumed by someone else it is of no value"
Man got more impressed
B:"How do you sell"
M:"I make an presentation, meet people and try to tell them what is good in the software"
B:"Do they listen to you and treat you with respect?"
M:"Yes off course"
B:"Then why do you treat me like this"
The man stunned, and he was loosing the conversation "I don't have time for such crap, I am a busy man. I don;t want your books and you don;t want my money so get going"
B:"Ok, but there is no need to talk to me with disrespect"
Man shocked, angry and speechless
B:"Me and you both sell things, what if someone spoke like this to you when you tried to sell something?If you do not have a need you can tell me politely and I will go away"
M:"You mad, trying to compare me with yourself"
B:"Why? what is wrong? I look similar to you, my body has same structure as you"
B:"I inhale oxygen and so you do"
B:"I eat things grown from soil and so do you"
B:"I sleep and so do you"
M:"I did not want to say this but you asked for it, I live in big house, which has AC, I eat in restaurants and sleep on a comfortable bed" The man shocked at his outburst, but he did not feel out of sorts as he actually felt proud of these comforts just that he had said it openly the first time.
The boy calm as ever "Still the oxygen, grains, vegetables and sleep remains the same, the packaging changes"
B:"And whatever you said is because of the family you were born to. Just think if you were born in place of me would you still be having the big house, car and ac?"
Man silent
B:"Did you choose your family?"
Slowly "No"
B:"Neither did I. Someone else did for us and that is called luck - good and bad is a perspective"
B:"Imagine if your customers stop buying from you then your income will go down and so will the comforts. I am sure if the misbehave then also you will not like that"
B:"If you purchase from me or not, like me or not, think me as poor and dirty but you should respect me. "
B:"I also sell and earn a living and so do you"
The boy smiled "Food, air and sleep are the only basic things, now who gets it in what package is matter of luck beyond control of mortals"
With this the boy quickly walked towards the red light where cars had halted to woo prospective customers.
The man dumbstruck! He understood the meaning of respect - in love or hatred, help or no help, business or no business the respect for a fellow human beings cannot be compromised.
The man got irritated and asked angrily "What do you want ?Go away, I don't want anything". The boy stepped back 2 steps but continued to stand.
The man after couple of minutes took a 10 rupee note and offered to the boy "Take it and scram"
The boy said in a definite tone "I am not a beggar sir, so can't take your money for free"
The man got a jolt, speechless for 2 seconds. He told his contact on the other side of the phone that something urgent had come and he'll call him back, and disconnected the phone"
Man: "Then why are you standing here"
Boy: "To sell books to you"
M:"How dare you talk to me like that. I don't want your books"
B: "Sir please don't get angry, can I ask you a question"?
M:"What"
B:"What do you do for a living?"
M:"I work for an IT company, Do you know what that is"
B:"Not much sir, but I know that you make something good for computers which people can use"
Man was least expecting this; got impressed
B:"Sir I am sure you must be selling your work to other people as what ever is made has to be consumed by someone else it is of no value"
Man got more impressed
B:"How do you sell"
M:"I make an presentation, meet people and try to tell them what is good in the software"
B:"Do they listen to you and treat you with respect?"
M:"Yes off course"
B:"Then why do you treat me like this"
The man stunned, and he was loosing the conversation "I don't have time for such crap, I am a busy man. I don;t want your books and you don;t want my money so get going"
B:"Ok, but there is no need to talk to me with disrespect"
Man shocked, angry and speechless
B:"Me and you both sell things, what if someone spoke like this to you when you tried to sell something?If you do not have a need you can tell me politely and I will go away"
M:"You mad, trying to compare me with yourself"
B:"Why? what is wrong? I look similar to you, my body has same structure as you"
B:"I inhale oxygen and so you do"
B:"I eat things grown from soil and so do you"
B:"I sleep and so do you"
M:"I did not want to say this but you asked for it, I live in big house, which has AC, I eat in restaurants and sleep on a comfortable bed" The man shocked at his outburst, but he did not feel out of sorts as he actually felt proud of these comforts just that he had said it openly the first time.
The boy calm as ever "Still the oxygen, grains, vegetables and sleep remains the same, the packaging changes"
B:"And whatever you said is because of the family you were born to. Just think if you were born in place of me would you still be having the big house, car and ac?"
Man silent
B:"Did you choose your family?"
Slowly "No"
B:"Neither did I. Someone else did for us and that is called luck - good and bad is a perspective"
B:"Imagine if your customers stop buying from you then your income will go down and so will the comforts. I am sure if the misbehave then also you will not like that"
B:"If you purchase from me or not, like me or not, think me as poor and dirty but you should respect me. "
B:"I also sell and earn a living and so do you"
The boy smiled "Food, air and sleep are the only basic things, now who gets it in what package is matter of luck beyond control of mortals"
With this the boy quickly walked towards the red light where cars had halted to woo prospective customers.
The man dumbstruck! He understood the meaning of respect - in love or hatred, help or no help, business or no business the respect for a fellow human beings cannot be compromised.
