"This is not fair sir, you shouldn't have done like this?" said the Hotel Manager in a soon-to-be furious tone.
"Just relax sir, I am taking four rooms now as I cant afford for six" I tried to calm him with my usual keep-it-cool formula.
"No sir, this is unacceptable, you booked six rooms but now you are enough with 4?" he sound commanding.
"Yeah I booked for six rooms, but I also said that I may or may not have it all sir!" I explained.
"No no no! I installed solar power Geysers in each rooms hoping for your visit," he is unstoppable and literally wanted us to stay.
"I understand but try to understand our position, your rate is too much for us to pay." I tried my best to calm him.
"I installed solar power geysers, LCD TV just for your sake but now you are saying you can't stay?" slowly his tone changed from hotel manager to some kind of dada (Don). I also understood that he is not at all listening to me.
"We cant stay just for the reason you spend money for these things. It's your hotel and so you are spending, Why do you expect us to pay for that?" I exploded. That was my limit.
Alright! Let me get this straight. This happened during my trip to Punjab (official trip). That was the first time I spent around three months away from home. As part of my work, I used to travel around the state, district by district, city by city, village by village for just one reason. To assess the Diabetes status of the state. It was a nation-wide diabetes survey, conducted by Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), in which I was posted in Punjab.
I grabbed this opportunity as soon as I came to know about this through my friend and I grabbed it just for one reason, TRAVEL even though it doesn't had anything to do with my studies. I like to experiment things when it comes to my CAREER and this was all part of it.
I used to stay in hotels and should conduct the research day-in and day-out, with the help of field assistants (punjabi's). The hotel bills and other things will be taken care by the Government. Wait, I said 'by the Government,' it means it has certain limitations. Yes! I should spend not more than Rs. 200 per day per person for hotel room. Rs. 200 for a hotel room, that too in India's most developed and costly state! I mean, Really?
The above incident happened at Gurdaspur, one of the biggest district present at north-western part of Punjab. I spent almost a day looking for a hotel but what I could see is only sugarcane and wheat fields all around the district. At last, I settled to find a hotel and booked six rooms for Rs. 600 per day. I thought three person can manage in a room and hence Rs 200 per head, TARGET ACHIEVED! Meanwhile, I don't have a choice as there wasn't any hotels nearby. But that hotel guy had another idea!
As soon as we (team of 32 members) shifted to Gurdaspur (from Amritsar), I was informed by that hotel manager that only two person can stay in a room, if not extra charges applicable. I was infuriated by that sudden statement. Still, I managed to work out things, and I decided to take four rooms and shift other teams to another district, so that, the budget will be managed and also work won't be affected. But that hotel manager was very adamant and wanted me to take all the six rooms as informed earlier. I literally fought with that guy courageously, with the help of my punjabi assistants, and took only four rooms.
That was one such incident, which brought about a big change in my life. I learned to be independent. I learned to be adaptive. I learned to cook. I learned to command others, no matter who or what are they. Most importantly, I learned to stand-up strongly for my rights.
This trip instilled in me a kind of positivity, which is still travelling with me to lead my life. It helped me start over and #StartANewLife.
Thank you Housing.com for inducing us (fellow bloggers) to think of those moment, which brought about a huge change in our lives. Visit
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Punjab, Optimism and Change - A True Experience
Reviewed by Gowthama Rajavelu
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Reviewed by Gowthama Rajavelu
on
00:07
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Glad to know that you learnt to stand-up strongly for yourself. That's a pretty good lesson. Overall, a good post, Gowthama :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the complement Ravish. That was quite an experience :-)
DeleteGood to know that you did not give into the demands of the hotel manager just because he had installed stuff in the rooms,. Giving in is definitely easy but to stand up and show courage is commendable.
ReplyDeleteYeah right, that too in the place like Punjab, where people are at least 7 feet tall, definitely you needs some guts. Thanks for dropping by and sharing your views Rash.
DeleteIts not easy to stand our ground against a 'bigger' person but the most important thing is to stand on your ground for the right reason and for that, you win. Keep it up.
ReplyDeleteWinning after standing for our own right always give us enormous inner strength and happiness. Thank for dropping by, spending time with my blog and sharing your views. Keep visiting.
DeleteI'd love to hear your thoughts about my short story "The Accident," which you can find in the popular post.