Her vegetable vendor
Her vegetable vendor, ‘a nice man’,
Known for his wile nor sly, rather for smile,
Unaware of his cunning and sly guile,
Who proved the point: it pays to please a fan.
He was game to bid a round of bargains,
For return of tomatoes raw or ripe,
Brinjals less brown and onions not her type,
To let her feel: she’s right and always gains.
E’er ready to replace whatso any,
His customs were fond of his facile grace,
His hawk-like air hid by unhurried pace,
She hardly perhaps saw his rehearsed glee.
Rather his sweet and soft words, ready smile
That seemingly— not in truth— let her win,
He disguised well his demeanour so mean,
A chameleon as conceals disguised guile.
I suspect, he still makes good on slashed price
What with his weights that never weighed so well,
Aided well by his charming outer shell,
She scarce suspects Shakuni’s loaded dice.
From distance, this is what I tend to guess:
He’s so far played a well-rehearsed innings
That has proved well to go far on his wings,
His strategy for a win-win success.
And what a business strategy! So rife,
To make a case study for who so care,
Yet, all buyers are seldom like my wife,
Maybe, my observations are not fair.
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Tongue-in-cheek | 02.05.2012 | narrative
Copyright ©
Aniruddha Pathak
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