The Dream Merchants

It was 3 o’ clock in the afternoon.Subramania Vilas, one of the branches of the well known Hotel in Chennai,located at Mount Road, was calm and quiet at that time.It was the time just after lunch and well before the snacks time started at around 4o’clock.This is the time many of the servers and other cleaning people and sometimes even the Manager of the hotel get time to sit and have a decent meal.Otherwise from five in the morning to eleven in the night, their duties continue, taking care of the customers who pour in and are willing to stand in queue to have a meal or snacks in their hotel.
Sathya stood outside the hotel,right in front of the name board of the hotel and was keenly watching the name board.A million thoughts must have entered his mind,because the expressions on his face changed very fast ..Natesan,the manager cum cashier of the hotel, who had been serving in the hotel for more than 25 years ,came outside and stood near Sathya with a smile on his face.”Well Sathya,you have been observing the hotel name board for more than half an hour.Are you going to buy the hotel?”He chuckled.There were a few employees of the hotel who were standing nearby and chatting,they also heard Natesan’s remark and broke into a laughter.
Sathya was not at all amused.He turned to Natesan and said with a serious countenance,”Sir,you are right.One day Iam going to buy a hotel like this or I will start a hotel much bigger than this also.Sir,my hotel will be the biggest and the best hotel in the city,Sir”
Natesan’s face changed.He looked at the people standing nearby and he shood them off saying,”What are you doing here,gossiping and wasting time?Go inside all of you and start your duties”.The employees who were scattered around the place where Natesan and Sathya were sitting,looked at each other and slowly entered the hotel to resume their duties.
Natesan came near Sathya and hissed,”Sathya,Have you gone mad?Why should you talk in that irresponsible manner that you want to start a hotel that too much bigger than this one,in front of the oher employees?.Do you know, that they all wait for an opportunity to kick you out of the hotel.They feel that Iam partial to you.Now ,somebody or othe will go and tell Raja sir, what you told here,that you want to open a hotel bigger than this.Thats all,he will pack you off immediately.”Natesan glared at Sathya for a minute and said,”Ok,now you go inside and mind your work.Don’t talk unnecessarily to anyone,understand?”.Sathya nodded his head and went inside while Natesan stood where he was watching Sathya as he entered the hotel.

A few months back ,one morning Natesan was standing outside the hotel and supervising the arrival of vegetable baskets from the wholesale market,that he saw an elderly man and a young boy approaching him.The elderly man said to him,”Sir,We both belong to Nagapattinam,Sir.This boy is my neighbour’s son.He lost his entire family,his parents,his brother and sister in the Tsunami Sir.Luckily he survived.He has no relatives Sir.These past two years somehow I have managed to take care of him.But now my daughter in law and my son are grudging Sir.They say that they can’t take up the responsibility of raising him and taking care of him all along.Iam also getting old day by day.Iam worried as to what will happen to him after my time,sir.Thats why Icame to Madras,Sir.I thought I would somehow get him a job in a shop or in a hotel like this,afterwards God only should take care of him,Sir.When I saw you I was confident that you will help me Sir.Please help this boy sir.Tell your boss and give him any job in your hotel. He is a good boy,Sir.He is a hard worker.Please help me,Sir.’
When Natesan heard this old man’s words, his heart melted.Not only that,he looked at Sathya and something in him told him that this boy would be a good worker and would be an asset to the hotel.He took the old man and Sathya to the proprietor of the hotel Mr.Raju who was sitting in the cash box and told him about the old man and his request about the young boy.Raju took one look at the boy,turned to Natesan and said,”Natesan Sir,if you think that this boy will be ok,please take him.He will be your responsibility”
The old man thanked Natesan profusely with tears in his eyes and took leave of Sathya,relieved that he had done his duty by Sathya,his late neighbour’s son.

Sathya proved to be a hard worker.He never wasted time chatting with others.He had no bad habits like smoking or playing cards.He was honest and was keen to learn the different works to be done in the smooth running of the hotel.Natesan was proud of him.There were employees who liked Sathya, who was calm and quiet.There were others who envied hin, his closeness to Natesan,the manager because Natesan had a soft corner for Sathya in his heart.
As he followed Sathya into the hotel Natesan hoped that no one had gone and reported to Raja Sir about what Sathya said,building a hotel much bigger than this one.But the damage had been done.Seenu, another new boy,who was a direct recruit of Raja Sir had gone and told Raja verbatim what Sathya was talking about during lunch break.When Natesan entered inside the hotel he found Raja very silent and thoughtful.”That’s all
Sathya has to pack his things and move out”thught Natesan.Raja called Natesan and asked him,”Natesan Sir,This Sathya seems to be a big mouth.What exactly did he say today,when you people were standing out and chatting during lunch break?”.Natesan told him exactly what had happened and what Sathya said,”Sir,Satya said that one day he would buy a hotel like this or he will even start a hotel much bigger than this.Thats all,Sir”
Raja called out to Sathya.He looked at Sathya who was standing in front of him.Sathya stood before him straight as a rod.There was no fear in his eyes.Raju asked Sathya,”Sathya,did you tell the workers here that you are going to buy a hotel like this one day?”
“Yes,Sir”said Sathya.”Sir,When I grow up I want to be the owner of a hotel like this ,Sir.God willing Ishould be able to start a much bigger hotel also,Sir. I want to be the employer Sir,I want to give jobs to many.Sir” Sathya opened his heart to Raja withut any fear.
Raja listened to Sathya.He became thoughtful.After a few minutes of contemplation,he said to Natesan.”Natesan,Sir.From today see that Sathya learns everything about the working of our hotel.Put him in the stores,send him to the market to buy vegetables,ask him to assist the cooks,ask him to do the laundry,make him sit in the ‘kalla’(cash box).See that he does not waste a single minute,make him work very hard,ok?”.He turned to Sathya and said,”Becoming an employer is not so easy my son,you need to sweat it out and sacrifice a lot for that.Let us see what stuff you are made of” so saying he proceeded towards his car.
The white ambassador carrying Raja sped forward while Raja’s mind went on a flashback.
It was peaktime in the morning and the petrol pump at mandaveli corner was busy as usual.Two boys engaged by the petrol pump owner as cleaning boys were also busy,wiping the cars which had come for filling petrol’The tall young boy was keenly looking out for something or somebody while wiping the car in front of him mechanically.”Dey,Raja,whom are you waiting for?”hissed the other cleaner boy to Raja.Before he could reply,Raja saw the off white ambassador gliding into the pump for filling petrol.Raja ‘s face lit up with a smile,he took his dusting cloth and sped towards the ambassador.
Mr.Subramaniam who got down from the car looked at Raja with a smile on his face and patted him on his back.For the last one year Subramaniam has been coming to this petrol pump to feed petrol to his car and in that one year he and the cleaner boy Raja have become friends.Raja took pride and pleasure in wiping the car spotlessly clean.Once he finished cleaning,he would stand at a distance and scrutinize the car to see if there was even a spec of dirt.
Then he would turn to Mr.Subramaniam and say,”Sir,this is not a car,Sir.This looks like a ship,Sir.So beautiful!”His eyes would gleam.Subramaniam would invariably ask him,”I will take you for a drive in the car,would you like to come?”.On hearing this,Raja would bend his body in different shapes and smile shyly.The onlookers, mainly the other employees, would watch this interaction between the owner of the car and the cleaner boy with amusement and laugh.

Today also the same thing happened.Raja told Subramaniam,”Sir,this is a ship Sir,not a car “and kept looking at the car in rapturous admiration.Subramaniam repeated the question that he asked him every time he came to the pump,”Shall I give you a lift in the car?”Today,Raja did not bend his body in shyness and say,”No”.Today he asked Mr.Subramaniam,in reply to his question,”Sir,will you take me up to the road end Sir.”SWubramaniam said,”No problem,my son.Come get into the car”Raja’s duty hour was over,so after getting permission from the owner of the petrol pump,he got into Subramanu\iam’s car.Even the petrol pump owner had a wide smile on his face seeing Raja sitting in the front seat of the car with Mr.Subramaniam.
As per Raja’s direction Subramaniam stopped the car at the end of the road.Before he got down from the car,Raja told Subramaniam,”Sir,please wait here for five minutes ,Sir.I will come running,Sir,please,sir”Subramaniam nodded his head And waited in the car.Raja ran inti one of the bylanes that was on the right side of the road.He returned after exactly five minutes,carrying in his arms a young boy who would have been ten years OLD.His face was bright with a broad smile on it.His legs wee hanging down listlessly,he appeared a victim of the dreadful polio.Raja came near the car and introduced his brother Ravi to Subramaniam.”Sir,he is my younger brother ,sir.My father and mother are dead,sir.Iam only his father and mother and he is my only property,sir”He turned to Ravi and said,”Ravi,this is the sir I always tell you about.He is a very nice person,say namasthe to him”Ravi folded his hands and said.”Namasthe,sir”
Subramaniam’s heart melted seeing the little boy being carried by his elder brother whop himself was a child.
“Sir,I have told Ravi that when I grow up I will become a rich man,I will buy a car like this and I will take him in the car ,sir.I will take him to the beach,I will take him to the cinemas.I will take him by my car wherever he wants to go ,Sir.But first I have to become rich,sir.I have to work very hard for that,you know?”Raja had a distant look in his eyes.Subramaniam’s eyes misted.He took out his visiting card and gave it to Raja.”Raja,my address is in this card.Tomorrow,you please come and see me there,ok”and he started his car.

Raja stood before Mr.Subramaniam,owner of the well known hotel in the city,’Amma’.Subramaniam was almost a devotee of his mother hence he named his hotel simply as Amma.He did not want her name Parvathi,to be called out, a hundred times a day by people.
The hotel was well known for the quality of food and snacks served and the service was very good. Subramaniam personally supervised his staff.
He looked at Raja keen ly for a few minutes and then told him,”Raja,you want to become rich when you grow up.There are a million honest ways for a young man like you to choose and practice, to become rich.You can become an actor, you will become rich overnight, if you are lucky.Or you can start any business with a small amount of money and become a success in that field.But I know only one business my son,that is the hotel business.My grand father and grand mother made idlis ,carried them in baskets on their head and sold them .My father and mother started a small tea shop and ran it.I developed the teashop into a hotel and here you are standing in the hotel hall, which was a tea shop once.I will take you under my care and I will teach you all that you have to know in starting and running a hotel.If you learn fast and if you are hard working,you w ill become rich ,in some years,you can buy the car which looks like a ship and you can take your brother in the car wherever he wants tto go.
But for that you have to work very hard and long hours.You have to do all the work in the hotel,no job is menial here.I will put your salary in a bank account that I will open for you,I will take care of you.Is that ok?”Raja fell at Subramaniam’s feet and started his career with the hotel that day only. Subramaniam began to love him as a son.

Forty years have passed since this happened.Raja worked hard,he hardly slept.He learnt the tricks of the trade very fast.In fifteen years he became the supervisor of the hotel Amma. After a couple of years when he expressed his desire to open his own hotel, ,Subramaniam, who had become pold by then,gave him money ,and helped him find a place to start a hotel.Subramania Vilas was born in this manner only.Raja was very focussed and his hotel grew from strength to strength.His hard work,luck and Subramaniam’s guidance helped him a lot in becoming the proud owner of a well known hotel in the city.He bought his dream car and took his brother out whenever time permitted him.
Agood wife,lovely children and a thriving business,God has been kind to him.
The car reached his house.Raja who got down from the car went straight to his meditation room that was in the frst floor of the house.The meditation room which was Raja’s private domain was free of any furniture.A mat was spread on the floor.On the wall facing him was Mr.Subramaniam in a photo frame,smiling at him.Every day Raja spends atleast a few minutes here to talk to his mentor and also to be calm and peaceful in that serene atmosphere for a few minutes before starting his hectic day.
He wenr near Subramaniam.”Sir,almost forty years back you yourself took me under your care.You shaped up my personality,you taught me a profession and you helped me to realize my dream.I have become rich by any standard,I have bought the car that looks like a ship.I take my brother in my car every day.I also have a successful business.
Many years back, when I started my own hote,l I asked you ,”Sir how will I ever repay you for all that you have done for me?”
“You told me,”Raja,I simply showed you the right path and guided you to walk in that path that’s all.Similarly some day in the future , some boy may come to you needing help,guidance.Help such people, that’s enough”
“ A young boy has come to me carrying dreams in his heart.He wants to own a hotel,I will help him, my father.I will guide him in the same manner that you guided me.I will help him realize his dream,Sir.I think that is the only way,I can repay you”.Raja wept for a few minutes in front of his guru,wiped his face clean and when he came out, he experienced a joy that he never experienced before.

 

Dear Lalitha,
Thank you for the lovely comment.If the guru is a father figure like subramaniam and if the ward is a honest yung man spurred by the desire to achieve,then anything can be achieved.
Love
mithila kannan

 

My dear chitra,
That was a lovely quote.It is good to dream,only dreamers become successful people.But one has to work towards realising those dreams.
If we have a chance,the means to help someone in need of help,we have to do that now,immediately,tomorrow may be too late.
Thank you for your wnderful words of appreciation chitra.
lots of love
mithila kannan