THE ART OF TIPPING
A Mulla Nasrudin Story
By
VIKRAM KARVE
Mulla Nasrudin may look stupid, but actually he is wise; very very wise indeed.
Sufi teachers used to give Mulla Nasrudin stories to their disciples to think and ponder, reflect and meditate.
Do read Mulla Nasrudin stories and try to understand them – once you comprehend their inner meaning, at once you will laugh and you will weep because you will see yourself and the whole humanity in these teaching stories.
Mulla Nasrudin went to a Turkish Bath.
As he looked quite impoverished and was shabbily dressed, the attendants treated him with contempt in quite a disdainful manner, and gave him only a scrap of soap and an old towel.
When he left, Nasrudin gave the attendants one gold coin each.
Yes, each attendant got a tip of one gold coin each.
The attendants were perplexed.
Tips of one gold coin each for such shoddy treatment…?
The bath attendants could not understand it.
They even regretted the indifferent way on which they had treated Nasrudin as they wondered that if they had treated him better Nasrudin would have probably given them an even larger tip…maybe even a few gold coins each…!
The following week Nasrudin appeared again at the Turkish bath.
This time, of course, he was looked after like a King in full luxurious style.
After being massaged, perfumed and treated with the utmost deference, and given a lavish and extravagant perfumed bath with the most expensive aromatic oils and perfumes,
Nasrudin, while leaving, handed to each attendant the smallest possible copper coin and said:
“These copper coins are your tip for the shoddy service you gave me last week, and the gold coins I gave you last week on my previous visit were the tip for today’s excellent service.”
VIKRAM KARVE
Copyright © Vikram Karve 2010
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
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