"...this tailor dude charges so much! Pakka he must have built a nice bungalow in his village..."

"...this tailor dude charges so much! Pakka he must have built a nice bungalow in his village..." 

...I told my wife, as I was leaving yesterday evening to visit him. This tailor sits in a small lane with his sewing machine. Lets call him Prabhu.

Prabhu is very talented. He has been operating from the same location for the last 30+ years. He looked 25 then, he looks 30 now, if you discount the salt and pepper look he sports. The guy is very jolly and always smiling. I have been visiting him since I was 10. First, with my elder sisters whenever they had to get some alterations done and then for the wife's requirements over the last decade. Yesterday, it was to get my daughter's jeans altered. 

Prabhu asked me to wait for 10 min. Having nothing to do, I realized how little I knew about this bloke I have been meeting for over 30 years. So I decided to strike up a conversation. 

"Bhai, you always work till late daily. Don't think you leave before 11 pm any day! Doesnt your wife get annoyed?" I enquired, cheekily. "Sir, my wife passed away a few years back" he looked up at me with a sad smile and continued to push the piece of cloth under the rattling needle. I felt my foot in my mouth and went speechless for the next few seconds, not knowing what to say next. 

After a pause, I tried asking a neutral question. "Do you stay alone here then?" "I have a daughter. My mother looks after her. I come to work around noon, so I see her in the mornings. By the time I am home, she is in bed." he said, as he picked up a brown thread and passed it through the needle hole effortlessly in the first attempt like a magician. "That's nice, I have a daughter too,'' I said. "By the way, I have never seen you missing from work except for Mondays (the weekly off here). Don't you take a break to go out with your daughter and mom on some trips?" I asked. "I am burdened with a huge debt sir. Providing for my daughter's education and my mom's medical needs is all I can think of,'' he said, as I shifted my gaze towards the box of colorful threads, with my other foot squarely in my mouth as well now. In the background, I continued to hear the sewing machine needle at work. Piercing the jeans on the sewing board and piercing the presumptuous thoughts in my mind with equal intensity.

- There are people who are always positive and smiling and there are people who are always grumpy and negative. Perhaps both kinds may be fighting their personal battles, but the former are very good at maintaining a happy facade - a great capability.

- Asking questions for the heck of starting a conversation isn't always a great idea. Questions like "Aren't you married?" "Dont you have kids?" can be so inappropriate besides the ones I asked.

- It takes such experiences for us to realize that sometimes we aren't grateful enough for what we have. #Gratitude.

"He doesn't have a bungalow in the village, I was wrong..." I told the wife after reaching home...