The Devotion of Life — Page 282
282 shopkeepers in cantonment areas turns quite peculiar. ” Joke about a Shopkeeper “There is a famous joke that a white man had newly arrived in India. Someone told him that the Indian shop keepers are deceitful and will accept a little less than the price they initially tell; therefore, it is necessary to haggle. When the white man went to a shop to buy something, he took the thing from the shopkeeper and asked the price. The shopkeeper said it was one Rupee. The man started haggling and offered his two annas. He then started increasing the price gradually by two, then two annas. The shopkeeper was most upset and said to the white man, ‘Sahib! Tekani hai to tek, nahin to apna rasta tek!’ meaning if you wish to take it then do so otherwise clear off. In other words he had taken the English word ‘take’ and mixed it up with Punjabi and expressed his connotation! This is the way military people develop, whether they know a language or not, they manage to get their meaning across by mixing different languages and do not care whether they speak the language correctly or not. If such people came for the service of the Movement they would undertake some useful tasks. The people we have so far appointed have proven to be successful, although their success is not such that the Community can notice it yet. However, it is early days yet and it is hoped that with Allah’s Grace after a short while their success will be