Shiv, I too agree with you in toto. :-) Thanks. The one at Coimbatore is called Annalakshmi (near mardudamalai and not the one on racecourse road) - and this is part of a chain of hotels (and much else run by a group called 'shiva family' in australia, singapore, coimbatore, madras...) - I know many of this group personally and I can say that since 'profit' is not a motive at all, they manage to lumber along. Many guys do pay - and there are these urban young guys who confidently trot out after having a sumptuous meal for gratis and without making an eye contact with the cashier - and there are guys who pay much more than what they ought to... interesting experiment - but the folks behind the show are committed to continue with this.
There were at least two 'messes' in Madras which were then in business for some 15 years or so (some 10 years back) - having the same 'pay, if you can' policy. There are INNUMERABLE choultries which dont even say 'you pay what you can' - and merely keep serving up food for free if you are there within a timeslot... I also know quite a few 'homestays' kind of places run by excellent and self-contended homesteader folks in India (who dont whine at all, surprise-surprise), living in nice, scenic places who also have this policy of 'pay what you can, if you think it is fair, and not at all, if you cant, and of course we enjoyed having you on board) - and by and large this works too. And, I dont think the notion of the predatory mode of eating off the commons or abusing politeness and fair practices is limited to a nation or race or whatever. This is because, I also personally know of the instances of many folks (from Australia, Germany (many), US, Canada and England) who have had excellent times in many of these 'homestay' places for extended weeks and somehow managed to quitely vanish without paying a paisa, sometimes taking a book or two with them, from the personal libraries of the hosts, for good measure. Once again, it is gratifying (to me, that is) to note that (surprisingly) melanin levels in skin does not count at all! :-) And of course, more gratifying is the realization that the types that were exemplified by Shiv, dont count too. Warm regards: __r. On 1/2/07, Kiran Jonnalagadda <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
On 02-Jan-07, at 8:12 AM, shiv sastry wrote:
<snip>
Thanks, Shiv. That was needed. :) -- Kiran Jonnalagadda http://jace.seacrow.com/
