| The Grocer's Wife |
Posted
on 01-Nov-02 04:35 AM
Friends, Tihar is here. Let's gamble!!!!!
The following story (fictional?) appeared on Sajha many months ago; but is reproduced here in honor of the great festival of wealth, Laxmi Puja, which is coming up on Monday, 4 November. Enjoy.
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The Casino
Lendup Dorji, a Bhutanese Prince moved to Nepal in the seventies after some internal palace tussle in Thimpu. Charismatic and flamboyant, Dorji had the right contacts, enough money, and coveted looks to carry himself savvy anywhere in the globe. But he chose Nepal for refuge. And identified a Greek businessman as a potential foreign direct investor in one of Dorji’s brewing business interests in Kathmandu.
Dorji then went to Athens to meet this potential investor, and put himself up at a fancy hotel. At a restaurant, he set out, characteristically, to become a conspicuous client, drinking expensive single-malt, looking around at regular intervals, ensuring that his presence is felt. The way he did what he did seemed only mildly pretentious, not vulgar.
Aristotle Onasis – the Greek tycoon who later married John F. Kennedy’s widow, Jacqueline – was also at the hotel restaurant then. Onasis, quite bemused by this conspicuous visitor whose brown skin was clearly not a result of the tan that the Greek sun produced, asked the waiter about the gentleman. Impressed with the Bhutanese royal title and his address in Nepal, Onasis approached Dorji to have a chat.
Dorji was cool. Onasis was truly impressed. At the end of the chat, Onasis said, “Your Highness, if I can be of help to you during your stay in Greece, don’t hesitate to ask.” Dorji, pretending not to have been too affected by this incredibly generous offer from the Laxmi of the Mediterranean himself, replied, “Mr. Onasis, I would really appreciate if you visited this restaurant tomorrow morning at breakfast. I have my crucial meeting with this Greek businessman who wants to invest in Nepal. When we are talking, I’d be obliged if you walked near our table, and gently patted my back and walked away as if you knew me well.”
The next morning, Dorji met his victim, the Greek businessman for the deal-making breakfast. Onasis dropped by at the venue as requested, and patted Dorji exactly the way he had begged the previous night.
The Greek businessman’s jaws dropped when he saw Onasis patting Dorji, and Dorji, without looking back, saying, “Hey -- I’m in the middle of making a deal, yaar. Don’t disturb me now. Will catch up with you later.”
Onasis, incredibly amused by the South Asian talent, walked away smiling.
The Greek businessman then and there agreed to invest his fortune in Nepal with Dorji. Lendup has since moved back to Thimpu. The Kingdom of Nepal’s first casino that the two men founded is said to be still running in Kathmandu, and the rest, as they say, is history.
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