Jul 14
12
The cost of trust….. cheaper than one might think
About a month back on my trip to Delhi I had this experience that makes me think over and over again. Trust…. how can it be so cheap while still being reliable. I had to visit a government office where they would not allow any gadgets to be carried by visitors, nor any bags. The security was tight and there was no place where I could keep my bag which had a tablet and off course my cell phone too. Going back to the hotel and returning would cost me a day in Delhi. A vegetable vendor selling some loose carrots, mangoes and cucumber, a girl about the age of 20 or so sitting on the pavement with her stock offered to keep my bag while I was in the office.
Naturally, I was reluctant to the offer and would never agree. The girl tried to convince me that she had kept costly cell phones and stuff for visitors on a daily basis and assured me that she would stay there even till 5 pm in the evening and wait for me to return and be there at the same spot the very next day.
Her clothes were shabby and she would not even make half of what I had in my bag in an entire month. As time went on and I kept thinking for a way out I saw a few people handing their luggage to her before proceeding to the office and on asking her what her charge would be she smiled and replied it would be a mere 20 rupees, she said. Further, she explained that I would loose more than a few hundreds if I handed my bag to someone else and they simply went off without waiting for me to return. The sales pitch was quite good and I fell for it but before that the young lady told me that I know you do not trust me but I will take double if you find your stuff intact with me. I had no choice and time was running. I left the bag trusting the lord to keep it safe.
A few hours later when I was back I found the girl welcoming me with the same enthusiastic smile on her face as if she was enjoying a good joke to find a person astonished by her sincerity. I had a plate of veggies from her and handed her a 100 rupee note. She charged me for the veggie plate and asked if she was eligible for the double. I was so happy that I wished she would have kept the hundred and accepted instantly, she took only 35 and with an air of dignity she exclaimed we charge only for what we work for. I was just happy she took whatever she wanted and had her royal sense unhurt as well.
It is the trust that keeps the world moving and not the price or the money behind it. Trust does not come with a price tag it is inbuilt and comes with a sense of dignity and self esteem. A lesson learned that day never to be forgotten.
