Sell it on ……! Tring trang trang tring…………tring!!! The mobile started whimpering at the most irritating tune (I never have any say at the choice of it on my own device; loudness is the main criterion here, as I am considered to be hard of hearing by my immediate family). It was hardly nine thirty in the morning, who could be so unoccupied on a busy Monday other than me I wondered. ‘Hello!’ ‘Yes?’ I was surprised at the unfamiliar voice on the other side. ‘Hello hello!!’ the man kept bellowing in sheer desperation. ‘What do you want?’ I tried to be precise. ‘I want your dining table, when can I take it?’ He was precise too; it was a call in response to an online advertisement for selling my old dining table. I posted it exactly seven minutes ago. Efficiency of the site and promptness of the customer absolutely floored me. ‘But surely you would like to have a look at it before buying’ I was accommodating this time. ‘No, I don’t have time to waste; am reaching in an hour to your place with a matador’ with that he cut the line without even giving his name. I was relieved; as it was my decision to sell it online contrary to my husband’s suggestion of giving it to the local furniture dealer (TV ads have always been a great influence in my life). Tring trang trang tring…… five minutes after the mobile rang again and then it never stopped. Calls kept coming one after the other without a minute’s respite. ‘What’s the specification of the table?’ ‘Is it of teak wood?’ ‘Do you give guaranty for its lasting?’ ‘Could you please send some more photographs keeping some food items on the table?’ ‘Why do you want to get rid of your table, is there anything wrong with it?’…… I tried to answer all, towards the end frequently shifting weight from one foot to another (I was badly in need of using the washroom by then). ‘Ben (sister) my name is Bhavesh, I have reached Khar, could you specify your exact location?’ It took only half an hour for the first caller to reach I noticed and gave him the direction of my house. A SMS followed asking for the address in writing, I obliged and instructed the building security to let him in. In less than five minutes the bell rang. An elegant looking elderly man approached, ‘It is my son who called you up for the address.’ He indicated towards his companion, a good looking young man in his twenties. I ushered them in to show the piece on sale. They inspected the table carefully, even sat on each of six chairs as part of the process. ‘I agree to take it at your quoted price’ the father declared finally. I was rejoicing my triumph inwardly when the intercom rang. ‘Madam someone has come to take delivery of his dining table from you. Should I let him go up?’ I was bewildered hearing the security man. ‘Give the phone to the visitor please, I requested. ‘May I know why have you come without my permission claiming the table to be yours?’ I was irritated. ‘But I called you in the morning and reached in 45 minutes instead of one hour!’ he was aggressive. I was totally blank; he took opportunity of my confusion and declared that he would come up. I rushed to the sitting room to confront my first visitor, ‘Who are you?’ ‘Why I am Bhavesh and this is my father’. ‘Yes, but when did you call me up first?’ ‘I called you up just once to ask for your address. Ben we were smart enough to start immediately for Khar seeing the advertisement, talking to you could wait’. His boast about smartness made me feel my own stupidity. ‘In that case I can’t sell you my dining table. Someone else called up before you and I confused you with him’ I tried to explain. ‘Calling up doesn’t mean buying; we have booked it, so now the table is ours’ Bhavesh replied confidently. ‘but the man is here and he won’t listen’ I was desperate. ‘My son will handle it, you don’t worry’ the elderly man intervened though his words only raised my worry. The bell rang, I found a youngish man with cunning face standing outside accompanied by a burly assistant. ‘I am in hurry; Montu lets take the table quickly’ the man rushed in without waiting for my bidding. ‘Whose table do you want to take?’ Bhavesh countered the man near the main door only. ‘Why Madam’s?’ the new visitor hesitated for the first time. ‘No it is mine; she has already sold it to me’. ‘How can she? I called up saying I will buy it!’ the man almost screamed. ‘You said you will buy, has she said she will sell it to you?’ ‘She asked me to come’ the man persisted like a stubborn child. ‘But she didn’t say she will give it to you!’ ‘But, I have already brought matador and it has cost me money’ this time the man tried another angle. By now I was totally shaken and stayed out of the conversation trying to disappear in the background. ‘I have brought matador, I will take the table’ the man raised the issue again. ‘You have brought matador or an aeroplane, who cares?’ Bhavesh barked. ‘Madam I can buy even your sofa set, if you let me take the dining table’ this time the man approached me in a tone as if doing a great favour. ‘I can buy the wall unit as well’, the counter offer from Bhavesh was prompt. ‘The wall unit is old fashioned’. ‘So is the sofa set’. ‘I am a furniture dealer, dealing with online sale for last three years; won’t go empty handed. Madam I am ready to buy your entire furniture’. The bidding continued for some time before Bhavesh practically showed him the door. A bundle of nerves, I took the money shakily while giving away my old dining table. ‘Ben, give that glass vase to me as a parting gift’ Bhavesh appealed. ‘That was a gift from a dear uncle’ I showed my reluctance. ‘The boy fancies it please give it to him as a goodwill gesture’ the father persisted with a broad smile. I was too exhausted even to argue and gave away the crystal vase, a priceless memorabilia to the small boy of twenty something. The mobile rang again, ‘I want to buy your dining table, could I come?’ ‘It’s already sold’. ‘But I need a dining table urgently! I will pay you more than what you have quoted’. I switched off the phone and threw it on the sofa. ***
Posted on: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 04:00:00 +0000
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