I'd have never thought I would ride up a mountain on a hot summer afternoon in a horse driven carriage in the 21st century. I did.
I would not be exaggerating much if I say "there was absolutely nothing there". What could only be described as the remnants of a long forgotten village had a few houses here and there. There weren't much trees - and dirt paths were the best roads I had seen on the way to this place. I could see the Tea estate and the plantation at a distance.
I'd gone there to work at this tea plantation as a manager as one of my assignments with a major multinatiional. Just looking through the numbers and expenses told me that it was being run quite badly - even the basics of management were out of place. People were not being utilised properly and there were a lot of redundant processes - removing which would save a lot of money for the corporation. Streamlining all that by fixing a few processes and firing unnecessary workers was the first thing I was going to do. That alone could get me the promotion and the foreign posting I had been working towards for a few years then.
I sensed an eatery on the way to the plantation. Before I could actually see it, the aroma of freshly prepared food swept me off the ground. I floated towards the eatery like what Scooby doo does in cartoons. There was only one item on the menu - a full south indian meal - but I didn't care as my stomach was growling from all the travel and bad food on the way to this god forsaken, sultry, dry hell of a place.
The food was, in a word, heavenly. At first, I thought it was because I was extremely hungry - but soon, I realised that it was actually extremely good and reminded me of everything awesome I had ever tasted in life, including home food. I ate like someone who was never going to eat again, asking for extra helpings of everything. I added a mental note to come here and eat my lunch every day of the week.
After eating sufficient food to keep me full for the next two days, I went to the counter and asked how much I needed to pay for a full meal with two extra helpings of everything. I was shocked to hear that it costed 20 bucks. "Extra rice alone costs 5 bucks. No extra charge for the rest", the owner said.
"Are all eateries here that good?", I asked the 50 year old shopkeeper, who was also the waiter, the cook etc. He took a second to look at me before saying, "New to this place? There's no other eatery in the village, save the kitchen in the plantation. But then, they only cook for two or three people who run the estate. Workers have to eat here."
I was trained to think of costs, prices and margins of everything I heard. "You are saying, you run the only eatery around here - a high quality one at that - and anyone who doesn't cook at their houses absolutely must come here? and your food is so cheap?"
He smiled and continued, "Yea, I guess so. And no one here cooks at home anymore. Everyone works two shifts at the estate and have no energy left after all the work. Even the plant manager used to come here everyday. He liked the food."
"No wonder", I said, "you should go to the city, man. You could get so much more money."
"Ha ha, no sir. I hail from around here and prefer living here. It is very satisfying, you know?", he said.
"Can the workers here afford to pay more? You should absolutely increase the prices. You are wasting an absolute monopoly if so."
He looked puzzled. "A what? and yes, the guys can and are ready to pay more for the food. I prefer to not raise the price, though. It costs only 7 or 8 rupees to make, more or less. I used to charge six rupees per meal till last year. Raised it to ten this year because of the ever increasing prices."
"Ha ha, old man. Why would you not take money that's waiting for you? At least 50 people eat here everyday, yes? You could easily get 500 rupees more every afternoon just by charging 20 bucks for a meal! Even running for 20 days a month, you will get 10000 bucks more per month. Would help with a nice retirement plan, eh?"
He smiled, thinking of some private joke, "Are you the new manager for the estate?"
I nodded. He continued, "You're trained to think about where you can get more cash from. I am not doing this for that."
"Oh, is this a hobby?"
"In a way, yes. And no. I have no money to go back to, don't mistake me, I depend on this to afford food for my family on a daily basis but my aim is to help all these people who are struggling to make ends meet - what with forced multiple shifts, no money to buy kerosene, no time to go and cut wood, so on and so forth. Many were young twenty year olds who couldn't cook anything even with the recipe and every necessary facility in hand. I worked in that estate. I know."
He took a few seconds to think about some old memory before continuing, "I was good at cooking. I thought I could make everyone's lives easier...and better by doing this. I get wood in the morning, cook and sell food. I go down the hill to get vegetables and stuff after that. That's my daily routine."
"But why? So, I take it you're not ambitious?"
"Oh no, I am extremely ambitious. My ambition is to help others, not myself."
I did not know what to say. He continued, "You see, you are worried about how to make your world better. I am worried about how to make the actual world a better place. Spreading happiness and the like. These are not your well off people, the ones living here. They struggle to live their lives. Helping them creates so much, what can we call it, 'positivity', don't you think?"
"But", I stuttered, "...are you not worried about not having money?"
"Oh when I help people, they know what I am doing for them. I fell ill a few months back. The entire community came forward to help me. Had I run a business for myself, I'd have been left to fight my wars alone. It helps in all these other ways, if you think about it. I am covering all my costs, and I am living a very happy life."
"But then... surely you can't... wait, if you look at...", I was at a loss for words. His business setup was creating value - and he was not using it to achieve what is traditionally considered as the end results of business - money and margins; and I could see that his happiness almost radiated from him.
I'd have never thought I would meet people who would willingly let go of margins to help some one else, when given an option to help themselves. I did.
Why are you running your business again?
