A lot of our stories revolve around food. This is one of those heart touching stories that a friend narrated yesterday and his simple act of kindness has elevated my love for chapli kababs even more. :)
It all started off with a small conversation about who is a bigger fan of Chapli Kabab? I said me, he said it can’t be me because its his first preference above anything else. When we couldn’t decide on who to give the trophy to, he told me a soul touching – yes soul touching story that I’d like to share with you all. (Its going to be a narration by him from here onward.)
I had a group of friends in college with whom I can say I have spent the best days of my life. It used to be four of us. Me, Atif, Shayan and Asad. Asad was probably the best among us when it came to tutoring and making our concepts clear while rattofying for papers. In short he was THE nerd of our small clan. Not only he was a nerd but he was someone who had his hands on animation back in 2004 which was a major achievement to his credit. Combined studies, classroom dialogue exchange, helping other students and having fun was all we knew at that time. Time passed by and everyone chose a career path for themselves. We all were excelling in our own fields having a great life thinking if we meet after years, it would be a pleasant surprise.
I had no idea that hoping for surprise would land me into something unexpected and nerve wrecking. So here comes the best part. I have always been a fan of chapli kababs and there was a small restaurant near my house where I would go and have Chapli Kababs occasionally. For some reason I wasn’t able to pay a regular visit to the place and after years I decided to take my wife to the place that I like the most. We sat down, making sure we make it our special moment. I was busy talking to her when the waiter came to my table with the menu card in his hand. He saw me, I saw him and everything just died for a moment. It was none other than Asad. The same Asad with whom I had spent the best days of my college. He was equally shocked as I was. He left the restaurant and went outside, sat on a bench and started crying like never before. I came back to my senses, went up to him and tapped his shoulder. I sat beside him, asking him how he was, making sure I don’t say anything that would make him feel miserable about where he works now. After making him feel comfortable that I am the same old friend of his I asked him why he never approached any of us to which he told the whole story about how he had to go through some family issues that compelled him to leave everything, stop his studies and earn money at any cost. He had lost touch with every thing, every skill he learnt was useless as he had forgotten it all. He had become a waiter and he wasn’t willing to move on from that restaurant.
A little bit of maths that I had learnt, I asked him how much he was getting per month and how much tip would customers pay. Also he told me the commission paid per table served so that added to his income a bit. As little as I could do, I told him that I will make sure you earn the maximum amount here as I will come here daily as your customer no matter how much you hate seeing me. I recommended friends and family to have the chapli kababs from here ( without a doubt they are the best ). I made him feel he was one of us and there is nothing in the world that could change the bond that we had.
Today when I go and eat at that restaurant, he doesn’t come and serve me but he stands far away, looks at me and smiles saying Thank you my friend for everything you did :)
Interesting no? :) So how many of you would go and have chapli kababs there? :D I would!
Soul of Life! 