Learning Little Lessons Everyday

So we bought a car. It is a dinky little box-like car with hand crank windows and doors you have to manually unlock. But it gets us around- sometimes. Twice I have gone down to the basement in a hurry and the car was broken. The first time it was the tires- one completely flat in the front. And then yesterday the engine wouldn't start- almost like a dead battery. Luckily for us, we have Suresha. Suresha, as I told you in a previous post is Marvel's grandfather's driver. He has been with the family for as long as I have been around and he is one of the nicest people I have ever met. Suresha helped us find and purchase this car and he has been amazing in helping us to get it running time and time again.
So yesterday, I was in a hurry to get the girls to school on time. Star's grade runs every morning with the rest of the upper school and so she needs to be there by 9.30 am. Flip is finally able to stay in school by herself, so I was counting on a quick drop off and then off for some shopping to try and finish up the house. We all piled in the car, heard the silence as I turned the key. I started the Suresha-chain of help by calling Marvel and then rushed the girls to the front gate. Usually there is a bunch of auto rickshaws waiting and there is one guy, who bless his heart, has lived in Mysore his whole 21 years (I know because I asked him) but doesn't seem to know where a dang thing is located. BUT he will always turn on his meter and has a big smile for us. So as I rushed the girls to the gates I was hoping Manjanath would be there in his auto with his buddies listening to his music. But it wasn't to be. There was just one random driver, so we went over and hopped in. Star, of course, encouraged me to discuss the price but I for some reason was hoping once this man saw that we were going less than 1/4 of a mile would charge me the minimum. We got there just in time for Star to join her group and then I addressed the auto driver. 20 rupees was his price, but I argued that minimum was 15. He began explanations that I fully didn't understand but I have heard before- petrol prices, have to drive back to get another passenger, and that the minimum had been raised to 17. "Fine," I said, "17. Do you have any change?" Before I ever write it, you all know he did not have change and I paid the man 20 rupees, keeping in mind it is 50 cents. He took the money and touched it to his eyes. I have seen folks do this before and I know it is some kind of a blessing but didn't know what it truly meant. I assumed it meant, "Thank you, God, for letting me find this white woman with no change and in desperate need of an auto."
Unfortunately, Mysore is not immune to big box stores. There is one shop downtown, Loyal World, where one can buy groceries, make up, home goods, toys, etc. There is another store, Easy Day, which resembles Wal-Mart. Shopping at these places are of course easy. The prices are fixed. The goods are easy to find. There is lots of variety, like fresh basil which made me super happy. But in keeping with the Buy Local or Bye Local way of life I attempt to seek out the little shops. Across from the girls' school there is a shop that sells fruit and veggies, so I stop there at least 3x a week. The shop keeper is super nice and occasionally I run a tab if he doesn't have correct change. And then there are other sellers that walk around pushing a cart selling veggies, fruits, plastic buckets, etc. If I have money, enough hands to carry the goods home, and they are offering what I want I do my best to purchase from these kind of sellers. I had been waiting for a plastic bucket seller for a while now. So yesterday when I passed one in my car I quickly made a U-turn to track him down. The buckets are for the sandbox. Up til now, we have been carrying down old yogurt cups and plastic spoons from ice creams. They break and litter the sandbox. I bought 4 buckets and then watched the seller touch the money to his eyes. Again I thought, "Man, he must have just ripped me off completely." But really I am fine to give my money to people who work and need it.
Later that day, I filled the two juice jugs with water and carried the buckets down to the sandbox. The girls started playing and I starting chatting with the other moms. I told them the story of the buckets and the auto driver and how they touched the money to their eyes, retelling my joke of how they were thinking, "Thank God I found this white woman today." At first they laughed with me because of my joke and then they laughed at me because of my not knowing. When someone makes their first sale for the day, they touch the money to their eyes. Those two, the auto driver and the bucket seller, were not deliberately trying to show me they had ripped me off, but were doing there best to let me know it was their first sale of the day and they were grateful.