Saturday, May 08, 2010

The Worth Parked Inside a Valet









Heaven knows that I need this break
At a coffee shop holding some fancy shake
Staring out of the large window from in here
A large black car slowly turns to appear
The parking lot is empty like my heart
As the valet rushes to the car with a start

Sir, you cannot park here
With the traffic- this nice car may interfere
May I ask you to park over there?
It is safe and out of the Sun’s glare

I sip my shake and see a rich man step out
His voice is loud yet he begins to shout
I will park where I damn please
Clean my car, here catch the keys
His friends come out after him
Arrogance filled up to the brim

Look down at my cup, full a moment ago
I again look out of the window down below

The little valet clears his throat without delay
Sir, I am doing my job, this is my parking bay
I request you again to move your car
The new spot is not very far

The rich man looks over him as if he was blind
He shouts, Are you out of your crazy mind?
Do you even know who I am?
You have done your bit, now go scram

The group laughs on its way to the coffee shop
The valet stands helplessly, unsure to start or stop
The big pride inside a small uniform
He has a duty to perform

He follows them into the coffee shop

The valet softly calls out from behind
Sir, please do not mind
But do not talk to me in that tone
There are things you have, and things you can’t own
My job is to make sure everyone parks right
Like yours may be banks or customer delight

The rich man turns around with fire in his eyes
Remove this pest from this shop, he cries
What sort of people you employ around here?
I park where I want to, isn’t that clear?

My heart is pumping fast to see what the valet will do
Has he bitten more than he can chew?
The valet looks at the manager, who looks resigned
The manager says, I am sorry the valet is out of his mind

The valet storms out of the coffee place
The faceless man, suffers a loss of face
As he walks by the car, he stops
Don’t do it, I pray, as my cup drops
The valet whispers something to the black sedan
A machine may perhaps understand more than a man

I pay for the coffee and walk towards a shadow left behind
His birth, his pride, his duty undefined
I take his hand and tell him it is all right
You have won, for you had the fight
I saw everything, I explain
I hope the next time you will do it all over again

Mister, Am I so ordinary and worthless?
That my mind says no, but I have to say Yes?

I apologize to him for another man’s mistake
All I was in there was for coffee and cake
No you are not ordinary, I find my voice
The worth you choose is a matter of choice
That fool and his friends who laugh inside
Are not worthy enough to decide.

This personal favorite was published here



8 comments:

Priyanka Khot said...

wonderful read. I hope this was a real-life incident. We need more people like the valet and the coffee-drinker.

God Bless!

Anu said...

Hey Gaurav,

As always this is awesome.. The empathy in the poem for the Valet just touches my heart..

Cheers,
Anu

Shailendra Singh said...

Mr Quick gun Murugan... Good work. Keep walking.

Akash Jain said...

Cool....

Unknown said...

Nice one Gaurav Sir...

Minal C. said...

Excellent poetry respecting human emotions....gr8 one Gaurav...God Bless U!

Minal C. said...

Excellent poetry respecting human emotions....gr8 one Gaurav...God Bless U!

Gaurav Parab said...

@ Priyanka: Thanks a ton. Yes, this was a real life incident. The coffee drinker is a rascal by the way :)

@ Anu, Shaili, Akash, Prashant: Thanks.

@ Shaili: I need those photos man.

@ Minal: Great to hear from you after all this while. A couple of years ago I saw your picture in a newspaper. Some article about financial planning. Where are you these days? Email me.