The day I bought a harmonica - Part Three

Melody Mart is a small store that sells musical instruments. It has showcases that display guitars, harmoniums, and weird enough, torn tablas and dholaks. I walked up to it to find the proprietor attending to two ladies who had gone there to inquire about sitar prices. I made a humble but firm hand gesture at him to indicate that I was there for business. "Panditji, zara dekhiye inhe kya chahiye..", he said to the man called 'Panditji' who worked there.

I remembered him from my visit there about two and a half years ago. "Panditji, aapke paas harmonica milega? Mouth organ?", I asked. He shook his head. "Nahi humare pass toh filhaal nahi hai.." "Accha. Waise kya daam hota hai mouth organ ka lagbhag? Aap bechte toh honge..", I asked him. "Ab dekhiye saada wala toh adhai-teen sau tak mil jayega, aur changer wala char-saadhe char sau tak."

"Ye changer kya hota hai?" I really didnt know, so I asked.
"Woh iscale change karne ka button hota hai. Suron ki jo iscale hoti hai, usko thoda aage dhakelta hai bas. Aaj kal koi mouth organ hi nahi leta hai..changer wala toh door ki baat hai", Panditji explained.
"Accha mujhe mil toh jayega na aas-pass? Suna hai yahaan toh kaafi dukanein hain."
"Mushkil hai, par aage woh Shaukat sahb ki dukaan hai; sadak paar kar lijiye yahaan se dayein mod ke, udhar pooch lijiye", he suggested.

I followed Panditji's directions and went to Shaukat Ali Musical Instruments where his employees were busy tuning tablas, beating their edge with a special hammer. I spoke to a man who I assumed must be Shaukat Sahb, for he was dressed in a crisp kurta and was in a seat that appeared to be placed where the owner would place his. I asked for a harmonica, but he didn't have one either. Panditji was right, it seems. Not many people seemed to be interested in buying harmonicas. Let alone buying, people weren't keen on stocking them either. I scratched my head. I knew that there were some more shops a block or two past Melody Mart .

So I walked a bit down Latouche Road and took a right, and found what I wanted. There were two shops, separated only by a wall, and both sold the same items. Neither seemed to think that this was bad for business.

I walked into the one on the right that had a glass door; seemed neat. Guitars, mandolins and what-nots were hanged from the glass panels at the entrance. Boxes with pictures of keyboards, amplifiers, were stacked in one corner, which had a little stairway that led to the upper floor of the shop. The shop seemed impressive. A kid not older than sixteen or seventeen was sitting on a stool holding an acoustic guitar, staring blankly at the wall as he plucked strings at random.

"Dost, mouth organ hai kya?", I asked. He turned his head to look at me, but an old man's voice replied "Bagal mein dekh lijiye, humare pass khatam ho gaye hain." I hadn't noticed this man, who was standing in the dim right corner of the shop. A bit shaken, I replied "Shukriya" and went out the door.

The tiny shop on the left didn't have a door. On both sides of it, cartons and cases were placed to form a 'V' that extended onto the street. Shabby. A paan-chewing man who appeared to be in his fifties sat at one tip of the 'V'. More men were seated inside, dusting the items for sale. I didn't think much of this place, but thought it was worth a shot.

For the fourth time that day, I asked the same question, this time to the paan-chewing gentleman. "Kaunsa wala chahiye, saada ya changer wala?", he asked. I was relieved to know that at least these guys had harmonicas. "Dikhaiye changer wala.."

The man said loudly to one of the people inside, "Beta inko mouth organ dikhao, changer wala!" The man inside searched a couple of big cases, and pulled out a little cardboard case. "Ye dekhiye", he said. I held it. "Ye baja ke dekh sakta hu?", I asked. "Bilkul, tasalli kar lijiye.." It sounded decent. Not bad for a beginner. I decided I was going to buy it. "Kitne ka hai ye?" "Saat sau rupaiye."

I had seen my friend Vineet bargain and he's a real hardass, so I decided to put some of those observations into practice, and try my hand at bargaining. I placed the harmonica in the case, kept the case on one of the cartons, turned away saying "Rehne dijiye" and started to walk.

"Arey arey rukiye toh..chaliye six hundred de dijiye", the paan-chewing man offered. I shook my head "Nahi nahi chhah sau bahut zyada hai, main itne paise de hi nahi sakta", and took another step.
"Toh kitne denge, aap bataiyen?", he asked.
"Maine waha Melody Mart me puccha wo toh chaar sau bol rahe hain..aur aap chhah sau..chhodiye rehne hi dijiye", I dismissed.
"Chaliye na aapka na mera, four-fifty de dijiye, aapke hath se bohni karwa raha hu aaj ki", he made his final offer.

Now that was more like it. Four-fifty was a decent bargain. I mean, it may be a lot cheaper at other places; I may have been duped anyway but getting duped for four-fifty wasn't as bad as getting duped for seven hundred. I took the offer and bought the harmonica. "Is me koi problem toh nahi ayega na?", I asked him as he returned my change. "Bilkul nahi bilkul nahi quality piece hai..aap bay-fikr rahein. Aur koi gadbad hui toh hamare paas le aiye..National Harmonium" he said, and pointed to the signboard.

He took the assurances too far. I mean he obviously didn't give a damn what happened to the harmonica anymore, but that's normal. I put the case in my pocket, and walked back towards Latouche Road to get a ride home.

July the twenty third, the day I bought a harmonica.