The Tea Trail

Sangeetha Swarangal....

At the PS Shop

The sarakku situation had become so acute that they could not meet the small 1 kg demands of walk in customers..other shops and hotels who had placed bulk orders were making repeated calls to find out about the status of the delivery...Jeeva was at his wit's end and was also feeling very guilty that his one hasty decision had led to this..Jega, Kanna and Kumaresan Maama were also at the shop and so the discussion was getting heated with each voicing clashing opinions

Just when they thought they could take it no more...Kathir and Moorthy arrived with a truckload of goods..

Everyone heaved a sigh of relief..Business began as usual..

Moorthy knew he had been harsh with Jeeva the previous day...so he took him with him home for lunch..he also wanted to relieve Kathir early that day so he can go home and have lunch and rest..

At PS Home 

The situation was fast escalating here as well since without any rice they were unable to make complete meals..from the way Moorthy spoke at lunch Mullai gauged that there was enough sarakku at the shop..

Moorthy had left directly to the mill after lunch..As jeeva was leaving to the shop, 

Mullai : Maama..kadaiku thaane poreeha..

Jeeva : Amaam pa..yen Kathir ta ethavathu sollanuma..naanga thaan paarthome nee vaasalaye paarthatha..(he smiled)

Mullai : ahn athu ille maama..athu nethu ponavaha oorlernthu vanthuttaahalaannu paarthen..vera onnum ille..

Jeeva : vera enna pa venum..sollu

Mullai : Kadaikku ponathum saappaattu arisi..anuppi vidreehala..

Jeeva : ahn anupparen pa..

Mullai : Konjam udane..evvalavu seekkiram mudiyumo..

Jeeva : (turned and looked at her)..seri pa (he understood that upma and idly kothu and all were to cover the fact that there was no rice at home)

He returned in a while to leave a full sack of rice at home..The least he could do for his part in the issue..

Mullai expected Kathir to be back early..

But he came only with the others, quite late..

Dhanam had prepared a proper meal to compensate for the measly ones..

Moorthy praised Kathir during dinner..for being shrewd enough to try and stop Jeeva from accepting the bulk order..He also explained how he had gone the extra mile at Trichy..He had not just met the one person he went to meet..but through him he had also met a few other suppliers..by 7 am in the morning he had also taken a look at the goods to chec quality...basically agreed with them the quantity they would be able to supply and also kept a tempo ready before calling Moorthy to come over for finalisation...Moorthy had not believed that this would be a fruitful trip..but he was also clutching at straws by then...

Moorthy : ELe Kathiru..naan trichy pakkathula vanthutten..

Kathir : ahn anne..naan busstand la thaan irukken..

They had met and Kathir had taken him to the person he had primarily come to meet..

Moorthy, as he spoke to the supplier, realised all he had to do was inspect the goods..Kathir had even spoken payment terms and gotten a fine credit arrangement...

Moorthy : ele Kathiru..Vandi onnu sollanum da...

Kathir : vandi vanthuduchunne..neenga sollitta etha vendiyathu thaan..