The heritage structure and loans on table

The heritage structure and loans on table by Puneet Rajhans

As i take a seat in the reception area reluctant with the thought that i may be summarily asked to vacate the chair i occupied if my duration of stay went beyond the agreed tolerable hours between the hotel staff and me, i can't dissuade myself from discovering that a large chunk has been returning to the hotel rooms quite late in the evening. The process doesn't look to be winding up as one family after another herds back to the room they were offered on first come first seize basis.

Probably the heritage corners of the city coupled with the less -visited-highly-prized locales of the city has made them spend long winding hours away from the hotel room. Soon a couple which entered barely five minutes before has the man rushing to the reception and hauling the staff at the counter. Probably hailing from a place in the vicinity of the North East he demanded why the phone call was not being answered. "What's the use of paying such a hefty amount when even the room service on phone can't be provided?"

His blast to the hotel staff made me base my opinion that the room service on phone may be non existent for ages given the ancient structure of the hotel. Outside the hotel the first signboard clearly conveys that it is one of the rare heritage structures in the city. A heritage structure supposed to be endowed with minimum line of communication - and all communication to be done on one to one basis with the machines(phone instruments) that were supposed to get lines up and functioning to be shrinked to the lowest possible denominator. And exchange of hand written notes to be carried out in times of urgency.

As this level of comfort and discomfort i get apprised with, in one of the hotels in Chennai Egmore i have spotted a hotel message pasted at the back of the front door that clearly states that in view of the government's order to preserve power, the hotel has decided to do away with geysers and heaters. That message appeared to be appropriate and not unfounded. Had the hotel in the temple city come out with an express order pasted on the back side of the front door that room service on phone would be provided subject to the availability of the staff and their willingness to work the man wouldn't have to rush to the reception and drop threats if he decided to go full throttle.

A good one hour after these intimidatory threats come another family checking into the hotel for the first time. Satisfied with the room tariff and check out time, the man before signing the register seeks to clear the air: "Any shocker?" The hotel staff" Well, none whatsoever if expectations are kept close to the ground and services linked to the will of the man on duty. " Well one member of his staff accompanying him reveal the untold story behind his shifting base to the hotel when he stays in the same town. "Well, he has checked into ac room with the belief that the cool surroundings would make her wife throw less tantrums and have less periodic fits which periodically visited her given the large number of power cuts at her place of residence."
The hotel staff assures the man: " THe room is at the top floor and a power cut won't be long enough to see her wife go wild and seek a safe passage (in the event of an unscheduled power cut) from a window as doing that would leave her with no bones intact."
As these possibilities and feasibilities are being observed, the travel desk becomes beehive of activity with four well built persons approaching to discuss their travel plans. Finding one seat less, the travel desk man gives a long stare at me perhaps indicating that i should shift to the adjacent sofa. I don't budge as the mode of transport i am supposed to take is a good four hours later. If i start vacating chair and ceding territory like this i won't be left with any chair to occupy probably spending the sleeping time in the open air which i can't afford to do so given the open threats i have been receiving ever since i broke my silence on likes and dislikes as far as food and flames go.
The travel desk has come to a standstill as the four find the package less lucrative and post their departure the desk guy got the sleeping mat next to it in the hope that some lost and found entity would visit the desk during the night to not only make queries about travel plans but also finalise given the post dated cheques they accept in abundance.
Not finding success in luring any customer, the desk guy turns his gaze towards me, seeking to know my areas of interest and how much i had the potential to throw if i wasn't willing to get actively employed for ages.
"How much you made last month. Was it over a figure i can't imagine?"
I told him point blank: "It was beyond your imagination." Failing to make out the earning potential, he insisted to know the figures. And here i had to terminate the deliberations by emphasising the presence of banks in every nook and corner of the country and the loans they disbursed with. Learning at my potential to take loans he wanted some for his travel desk which i refused to oblige as loans are primarily meant for those who continuously refuse to dig deeper into the earning potential of others.
As i left the place of stay with the hope that there won't be another soul to torn your peace which you have secured with all round efforts, i give a thought to the city grind and how unhealthy and unshapely it looks given the amount of greed that floats around. For the moment my peace is intact and prayers locked for those who have been good to me.