The Eatery
By jaishankar
@Shivram59 (31775)
India
July 10, 2018 9:06am CST
I live in a small town.Here there is a sqare at a stone's throw from my house.At a corner of the square there is a roadside eatery.A 85 year old man is the owner of the eatery.He sells snacks and tea.My father says that it was this old man's father who had first started to sell tea and snacks there about 50 years ago.After his death the eatery was inherited by his son.
All the denizens of our locality have been regular customers of the eatery..The old man is a man of good nature.Every inch a gentleman.He does not have any helper at the eatery.From preparing tea and snacks to serving it to the customers to washing the utensils,cups and plates to keeping the eatery neat and clean everything he does on his own.
Today the eatery is shut .The old man died of a heart attack last night.I am feeling sad.The eatery that had become a symbol of our town is now closed for ever,because the old man did not have any son.
7 people like this
7 responses
@hereandthere (45651)
• Philippines
10 Jul 18
it's amazing that he could run it by himself, doing everything. he had no wife or daughter he could have trained? or a nephew?
4 people like this
@Shivram59 (31775)
• India
11 Jul 18
@hereandthere Yes,he was all alone in this world.Elders say he had a daughter who eloped with someone years ago.She never returned.Nobody knowso where she is now.
3 people like this
@hereandthere (45651)
• Philippines
11 Jul 18
@Shivram59 maybe she doesn't want to inherit the eatery anyway. if only someone else was interested in continuing the business, he could have trained them.
3 people like this
@Shivram59 (31775)
• India
11 Jul 18
@hereandthere When she eloped her fathere was young.There is nobody interested in continuing the eatery.
3 people like this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
10 Jul 18
That is sad. I think it is impressive that he was able to do everything on this own. I have met a man who had a restaurant and did everything alone, but in the end it was too stressful for him.
3 people like this
@Shivram59 (31775)
• India
11 Jul 18
@porcospino Some people are very hard workers and he was one among them.After leaving bed early in the morning he used to toil hard till 9 p. m.at night.
2 people like this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
11 Jul 18
@Shivram59 It is sad that he didn't have a family member who was able to continue the eatery.
2 people like this
@Shivram59 (31775)
• India
11 Jul 18
@Porcospino Yes,it's sad,very sad. We had never imagined he would die so suddenly.
2 people like this
@Sreekala (34312)
• India
13 Jul 18
@Shivram59 I understood, my father's brother also runs a shop like this in village, It is just for time passing and he has no need for earning from that shop. People gather there in the morning, reading newspapers and share news among neighbourhood.
2 people like this
@Shivram59 (31775)
• India
13 Jul 18
@Sreekala He was all alone in this world.And nobody else is interested in continuing the shop.The square that used to be abuzz with jokes,laughter looks silent,lonely now.
2 people like this
@Shivram59 (31775)
• India
13 Jul 18
@Sreekala Exactly.The only difference is that this poor fellow used to earn his bread from this small eatery.You could always see people sitting on an old bench there and talking to this old man or to themselves.Now all this is history.
2 people like this
It is such a shame that he was not able to pass it down, or any of the recipes .. a great loss indeed@Shivram59 (31775)
• India
11 Jul 18
@lady1993 He was all alone in this world.I'm told he had a girl who eloped with a boy years ago.Nobody knows where she is now..
2 people like this
@ptrikha_2 (45472)
• India
29 Jul 18
@Shivram59 yes it feels sad to see such a place becoming desolate.
1 person likes this
@Shivram59 (31775)
• India
11 Jul 18
@jstory07 May be,but now it is very depressing to see it shut.It's the place that used to be abuzz with laughter and jokes till a few hours back.
2 people like this
@Shivram59 (31775)
• India
11 Jul 18
@august18 He is in peace now.In eternal rest.
2 people like this
@ptrikha_2 (45472)
• India
29 Jul 18
Oh that is so sad! I am astonished that even tI'll 85 years of age he was managing everything himself.
Such people, in fact ought to be rewarded by city councils for the service to the city or town people.
