Business Begins

We started hosting backpackers one after another. There was no shortage of people for the business. As Madhu was friends with so many Israelis, she just had to put a post on FB about the guesthouse. Every day someone would call to enquire about the availability of rooms. We could only host a maximum of 10 people so sometimes we would keep people on waiting. We were getting overbooked. Salli was becoming a newly found destination for backpackers. Unlike typical tourists, backpackers would always be in search of untrodden paths and places. We met their search. Also as that was our first year of business, Madhu thought of running the place on donation and not with fixed charges. I didn't understand her plan. She always had some unusual and illogical ways of doing things. But she was the expert in that business so I preferred to watch and learn.

There was one quality which was common between Indians and Israelis. And that was Bargaining. They would bargain for everything on the earth. Their most used phrase would be 'Lama Kakha' which meant 'Why like this?'. You could tell them the lowest price, still, the response would be 'Lama Kakha'. They would often try to speak in Hindi by using Google translate which usually translates words literally. That would sound funny as hell. Most of them would be talkative and loud, always speaking in Hebrew and not in English. They usually would stick to their tribe and mix less with the locals. But once they were your friends then you would enjoy the best company. A complete street smart people with always some interesting story to share. Most backpackers would be on tight budget. They preferred to spend as less as possible by staying in hostels, dorms, cooking their own food and travel by local transport. Even though Indian Rupee was 20 times cheaper than Israeli Shekel, they would save money for their further travel.

Keeping our guesthouse on donation was an attention grabber for backpackers. They would just flow towards Salli. Madhu was smart indeed. Slowly and steadily I was settling into realising the universal truth: 'Women Are Always Right'. Managing and marketing the guesthouse was a whole different business. I was completely alien to that. Most of the time would go in mere observing and understanding the dynamics of that business. On the other hand Madhu would just move effortlessly like a hot knife through butter. She would share her business secrets with me while she would cook. We had a mud stove in our kitchen. I learnt from her how to build fire in mud stove without creating smoke. I had gone back to the basics of living a raw life. I & Noor would sit next to the fire and Madhu would cook while singing some beautiful Sufi songs. She really had a great voice. I would often ask her that how could she cook so delicious food? To that, her reply would be 'Because I cook with love'. Sitting in that kitchen next to the fire with such lovely company I had nothing else in my life which felt missing.

We Don't Really Need Much In Life To Be Happy.