A cup of coffee!

On giving!


A CUP OF COFFEE ON THE WALL!!

I sat with my friend in a well-known coffee shop in a neighboring town of Venice, the city of lights and water. As we enjoyed our coffee, a man entered and sat on an empty table beside us. He called the waiter and placed his order saying, ‘Two cups of coffee, one of them there on the wall.’ We heard this order with rather interest and observed that he was served with one cup of coffee but he paid for two. As soon as he left, the waiter pasted a piece of paper on the wall saying ‘A Cup of Coffee’.

While we were still there, two other men entered and ordered three cups of coffee, two on the table and one on the wall. They had two cups of coffee but paid for three and left. This time also, the waiter did the same; he pasted a piece of paper on the wall saying, ‘A Cup of Coffee’.

It seemed that this gesture was a norm at this place. However, it was something unique and perplexing for us. Since we had nothing to do with the matter, we finished our coffee, paid the bill and left.

After a few days, we again had a chance to go to this coffee shop. While we were enjoying our coffee, a man entered. The way this man was dressed did not match the standard nor the atmosphere of this coffee shop. Poverty was evident from the looks on his face. 

As he seated himself, he looked at the wall and said, one cup of coffee from the wall. The waiter served coffee to this man with the customary respect and dignity.  The man had his coffee and left without paying. 

We were amazed to watch all this when the waiter took off a piece of paper from the wall and threw it in the dust bin. Now it was no surprise for us – the matter was very clear. The great respect for the needy shown by the inhabitants of this town welled up our eyes with tears.

Coffee is not a need of our society neither a necessity of life for us. The point to note is that when we take pleasure in any blessing, maybe we also need to think about those people who appreciate that specific blessing as much as we do but they cannot afford to have it.

Note the character of this waiter, who is playing a consistent and generous role to get the communication going between the affording and the needy with a smile on his face.

Ponder upon this man in need….he enters the coffee shop without having to lower his self-esteem…he has no need to ask for a free cup of coffee…without asking or knowing about the one who is giving this cup of coffee to him…he only looked at the wall, placed an order for himself, enjoyed his coffee and left.

When we analyze this story, along with the other characters, we need to remember the role played by the wall that reflects the generosity and care of the dwellers of this town.

Note : And for those who would say 'oh! but this happens only in foreign land and not possible in India' let me share an Indian anecdote and fact.....

I went to Kalahasthi Temple near Tirupathi in AP...... i was told by my friend that I can do anna dana (Serve food) for the sadhus who are just outside the temple there....i was a tourist and i wondered how i could arrange all these. But when i shared my predicament with her she said 'don't worry. every hotel there has a token system which allows us to buy food for the Sadhus who would come there and eat and we need to pay just the cost'. It sounded good and when i went there the Sadhus didn't want to eat at that time (may be it was early for them) and i had to take a train back home. And then the hotel owner came to my rescue and asked me to buy tokens and give it to the Sadhus and they would come when they are hungry and eat and leave....i was bit doubtful but when he promised and said 'don't worry. we will feed them properly and not return them the money i was satisfied and paid the money and distributed the tokens among the sadhus'. Later our autorikshaw driver said that i need not worry and that it was common phenomenon here and that all hotel owners/mess owners served the sadhus with respect and love and there was no cheating of any type happening in this place...

so, yes, you too can do it and may be most of the temple towns have this facility we just didn't enquire...and very soon if everyone follows this system we can bring it to happen in every city...

if any of you know of such things happening in any other city of India, please share the same so that others can use that facility too!