name game

so my wife and i celebrated our 3rd marriage anniversary today. actually, its past midnight, so i must say yesterday. nevermind, so i had already predetermined we would go to this upscale thai restaurant inside a five star hotel in south bombay. in fact, i kept announcing this to everyone who called me to wish all day long.

i had noted the number of the restaurant and saved it in my cell phone in the morning. i had told myself that i should remember to make a reservation for two just to be safe. i was not too keen on it, given it was a thursday. little did i know that when i would call the restaurant in the evening, a faintly chinese/thai/nepalese accent woman would say 'sorry sir, we are fully booked for the evening'. i begged, pleaded and repeated several times that it is my anniv today (you know, to give that sentimenta touch), but she didn't budge.

then it so happened that i was on the phone with an uncle who know quite a few influential people. so i thought, lemme just take a chance and ask if he could help me talk to someone who could help me get a table. i had not given up yet because, after the letdown of this first place, i called several other places and they all said that they didn't have any reservations left. my wife and i had thought amongst ourselves that this is a tactic played by all these upscale restaurants just to get people more anxious.

So my uncle, with his snappy self, suggested i call the restaurant and ask for the head chef. though he didn't recollect his name, he knows someone who knows the head chef well. he was confident that if i could get in touch with the chef, he would get me in.

so i called the restaurant again and asked the lady to connect me to the chef. he might not be around. i left my name, contact number and most importantly, the name of the influential person that i would be my reference to get to the chef. a bit complex, eh?

the chef promptly called me back in a few minutes and immediately obliged to accomodate me to his best capability. upon reaching the restaurant, we were on the guest list. we were personally greeted by the chef and of course, were treated royally!

so....the point i want to make here is - in india, the name means everything. you gotta have the list of right names always handy but more importantly know how to use the names when.

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