Lesson Learnt from a Bookstall Owner

Anyone who’s been to College Street, Kolkata would know the everyday scene of the busy street lined with bookstalls overflowing with second-hand books of all kinds. I went there for a day, a long time ago when my hair was shorn and I weighed so much lesser than today.

There was this bookstall that had large number of books that I had wanted to buy. And as I approached the owner, perched in the tiny space of his throne, he took the books for billing.

Before writing them down on his receipt book, he looked at me and asked, “Student?”

“Yes,” I replied.

“Research scholar?”

“Yes.”

“One second. You stay here,” he said and left the little stall by the busy street briskly.

A few minutes later he was back, carrying an armful of books of the same name in his arms. He went back to his throne and looked at me again.

“Cheaper books for research scholars. Indian reprint, paperback,” he explained, comparing the books that I had picked up and the ones that he had brought.

Looking back, I feel that I didn’t thank him enough then. Maybe because I’m slow by nature, it hadn’t occured to me. But I can say for sure that that old bookstall owner taught me about one important life-lesson: to be considerate.

Be considerate even at the cost of your profit. Be considerate to a stranger. Be considerate even if it’s uncalled for. Be considerate because that’s what humanity is all about.

Be considerate even when you know that you might never receive anything in return from the person you’ve shown consideration.

I’m grateful I went to that tiny little bookstall that day.

I didn’t think an old, srawny bookstall owner would teach me such profound practical value that those books I had bought hadn’t. And it was all for free.

It’s true that there are things money cannot buy. The lesson I learnt from this bookstall owner cost nothing, but it has definitely changed the way I weigh my decisions. I’m sure he expected nothing, come to think of it, I don’t even remember the name of the bookstall!

However, I hope, as I write this on a cold foggy day with chores waiting for me to be done, that this lesson on being considerate towards others would resonate and have impact to anyone who has taken their precious time to read this piece.

Have a great day, everyone!