PRICE OF EVERYTHING, VALUE OF NOTHING

Ionce learnt a lesson in Dubai that I won’t forget in a hurry. Of itself that isn’t very surprising. I am always learning things. I need to. But on this occasion it was from a young 20-year-old and until it happened I had not realised how wise he was. Like many of you, I assume that 20-year-olds can be engaging company, fun, even intelligent. But wise? No, that’s not a quality I usually associate with this age group. You’ll soon see how wrong I was.

I was visiting the city state on a speaking assignment and the first moment I had free I used to go shopping. But being a stranger the organisers asked a young trainee accountant to accompany me. Nitin Angurala was his name.

Now I am a slow, even irritating, shopper. I linger in boutiques I don’t intend to buy anything from. I pause outside display windows staring at stuff I don’t want. And even when I’m buying I do so uncertainly. I change my mind, opt for something completely different and then, just as the bill has been made up, change my mind.

Consequently no one I know will go shopping with me. Nitin broke the mould. For over four hours he accompanied me uncomplainingly. When I returned to the same shop three times he generously concocted reasons to justify my doing so. In fact, he behaved as if this was perfectly normal.

So unaccustomed am I to such behaviour that it took me a while to realise how different Nitin was.