Life Lessons Served in a Bhel-Puri!

 

There stands Kishore, a bhel-puri seller in his late 50s. Standing with his portable cute little bhel-puri stand, Kishore has just arrived in a busy hustling market, full of contenders. But here, he calmly stands, with a big smile on his face, as his eyes look out for potential customers.

 

A customer comes, Kishore deftly prepares his order, his big smile never leaving his face. Seeing this man, so pleased and contented with his life, has made me rather curious.

As I walk up to him, his smiling face turns to me. I ask for a serving of his bhel-puri.

As he starts making it, I observe standing by. He performs each step in a fun, rather dramatic way, almost as if he has been asked to make a display of his cooking prowess in front of each of his customer. 

He works precisely through the entire process, not moving further until he feels satisfied.

 

First goes in some puffed rice, then some roasted chickpeas, crispy green peas, some crunchy potato chips and some roasted peanuts. For freshness, Kishore tops this up with chopped onions, tomatoes and boiled potatoes. Then there go in lots of fresh green and red chutneys. A lemon is then cut (after tossing it in the air), and generously squeezed with great zeal. This entire mixture, is then enthusiastically shaken up, tossed up multiple times and transferred to a large leaf platter. To perk it up, freshly chopped coriander leaves are added for beauty and fragrance. The entire process is conducted so passionately, I find it almost funny, but at the same time, am filled with admiration towards this simple man doing his simple job with so much of vigour and energy.

 

As he presents me my plate, I excitedly scoop out a spoonful, and the flavour outburst is genuine! Just the right amount of sweet, salty, tangy and spicy, make up to what is a brilliantly simple but passionately done work. When you love the work you do, the lovingly done work is simply marvellous!

 

And thus, this trip to the market has proved to be a lesson in workplace positivity.

 

Doing everything as if you are doing it for the first time, enjoying it fully. By thinking of himself as this big celebrity chef on the world stage, sprucing up this brilliant dish, Kishore has totally changed the game!

 

As I think of myself, going through my college works with the same attitude of I-have-to finish-this-task, I actually make them all feel like tasks, meant to be completed, but not enjoyed. I spend the entire week going through these ‘tasks’, waiting for the weekend to actually do something more enjoyable. But then, we all know how time flies over the weekend. So is every week spent waiting for the weekend, and the weekend just flies!

Is this kind of existence actually going to work out for me? No. So, now, having identified the problem, I’ll have to work towards the solution. Sprucing up each of my works, making them feel less like ‘tasks’ and more like ‘works’ I have decided to put myself in. And, how am I actually going to do this? I actually don’t know for now. But, I hope to work this out. And, we can always come to Kishore, for a plate of deliciously done bhel-puri, and some inspiration too, I guess!!