DipTea☕️🇮🇳

Sikke Wali Dukaan! My father ran a small cloth shop selling Jaipuri bedsheets in Bapu Bazaar, Jaipur for ~40 years. Every morning, after opening the shop, he kept 50 coins (sikke) in a bowl for beggars. Each beggar would come and take only one coin every day. Nobody cheated - nobody took more than one and for me as a kid, it was puzzling to see. When I asked my dad - 'he said, they know - Bhagwaan dekh raha hai'. When he started, it used to be 1 paisa coins, which over the years became 2 paisa, 5 paisa, 10 paisa, 25 paisa, 50 paisa, 1 rupee and 2 rupees over the years. His business never flourished like some of his competitors who went on to become crorepatis but his shop was famous in the whole market as 'Sikke Wali Dukaan' and he became 'Sikke Wale Bauji'. In fact, customers came looking to his shop and asked - is this the 'Sikke Wali Dukaan' as street vendors, rickshaw pullers would often redirect people there. There were still days when not even a single bedsheet was sold, zero earnings for the day but he'd still go back next day and put coins in the bowl - this happened every day for 40 years. If he was sick, he'd ask me to go and do it even if the shop was closed that day. I asked him why was he doing this even though we were not even making enough money on certain days. His answer was - if we're capable of helping others, we should do it no matter what others say or think. When he passed away in 2010 due to a prolonged illness, I still remember that a group of almost 100+ beggars came to his cremation ceremony. And while most of my relatives were making faces with disgust, I was filled with immense respect and pride. It was then I realised how quietly he had touched lives - helping people without ever seeking recognition. For the trolls, this isn't made up. If you ever go to Bapu Bazaar in Jaipur, ask any old shopkeeper for 'Sikke Wali Dukaan' of the 80s and 90s and they'll show you the place. “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” - Winston Churchill