Where there is a Will there is a Way!!!

Some days are just not your days. Today for no reason I am feeling gloomy. I think the weather controls my mood. Morning was a gloomy, dull, cloudy morning; hence the mood or that is what I want to believe. Today as I don’t have anything specific to write let me write about this random thought that was running in my mind, this morning.

Every day I see an old man near my office gate. He makes his living selling cigarettes. He has a small plastic tray in which he has stashed up varieties of cigarettes – the top selling ones, some “pan masala”, some chewing gums and mint mouth refreshers. He is a tall man, always clad in white. He wears a white dhoti and a white shirt. His hair matches the color of his dress. On sunny days he sits quietly under his multipurpose, black umbrella. I always see him and think about the opportunity he has found to make a living. The place he chose to set up his shop. We don’t have a smoking zone within our office campus. So all the guys come out to smoke, every few hours they feel the urge. They earlier used to walk down the road to get their cigarettes. But this man must have noticed this and used it as his golden opportunity.

He had a small table. Put up his tray on display there. He sits on a foldable metal chair. He had tied a black umbrella to the chair. He was sitting right under it. The umbrella was a typical old umbrella, the one you would have seen your grandpa using. It was a big black umbrella with a metal stick like protrusion on the top and the handle like a walking stick. He sat there all day selling his cigarettes. By the way, the umbrella was being used for protecting him from sun and he had pinned up the “pan masala’s” to the umbrella, using safety pins. Neat, isn’t it?

Guys in our office found his shop very handy. I had observed many people buying from him. They could save time by finishing their business quickly and get back earlier to work. I think his business must be doing quite well, for he still sits here from the last 4 years (well, almost).

I really appreciate this man. The way he found a way to make his living. The idea, the way he implemented it, everything about him is an inspiration. Personally, many a times, I have felt bad to see an aged man sitting and making a living, while he should be enjoying his time with his grandchildren. But I salute to his attitude to work and earn and live a life of dignity.

Today I did not see him. I saw his wife standing there. So, I was thinking more than usual about this man. Wondering if he went to buy something for his shop, where would he possibly be?

Anyways, this man makes me learn, it’s never too late to do what you want to, if you want to. If there is a will there is a way indeed. Isn’t it?