The Prized Salesman

I almost fell down onto the floor having dozed off in the early morning. It was going to be another hot day. The room was dark as I was alone within the confines of my space. I must wait for the owner to open the shop to bring in new tidings of the day and watch people amble by.

My job was to sit and make noises to attract people passing by the shop. The eatery shop is located on a busy street in a busy city where people flock to from distant lands in search of a living, a city that was work personified for its working class. The hot summer made things worse for me, as I was supposed to sit outside the shop while people whom I had attracted were cooling their heels inside the restaurant.

People walking fast by the restaurant will not notice it unless I make a hue and cry all of a sudden, that I have to admit, startles some, but that is how I start making  my presence felt, so that they look around and notice the eatery joint and a few of the many do enter when they feel they should get some good food. If it was not me sitting outside, very few would have ventured inside or continued walking hungrily.

The only respite I get is during the noon times when sometimes, I am let in and asked to take a siesta when I used to doze of just as I had done now. Inside, I am supposed to keep quiet and just observe or perhaps note down the profile of the customers, so that next time when they passed this way, I should alert them to this hotel which served nice dishes.

It must have been so many seasons that I have been working for my master. I am fed and lodged well as per his vision but then who will not crib when the same stuff is doled out to you day in and day out. You might ask why am I still stuck with him for so long and why am I not looking for better options or leaving this place itself to other lands where there might be better opportunities. But then, I guess, my mission is to seek out new customers for my master.

If only you had known me beforehand, you would have not asked this question. I do not know how many more seasons are in store from me, maybe a few or may be several years ahead as I do not know for how many more I will live or what is, as they call it, my life span. I wish,  my voice would remain powerful until the very end.

There are people who pause to look at me as they arrive at this place, for they know, here is one person who sits all day in the morning and into the late evenings just chirping it out to attract many a passerby…

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