When the boundaries between work and fun blur, you are fully immersed
in a feeling of energized focus,full involvement, and success in the process
of the activity. What Prof. Mihaly Csikszentmhalyi might call being in flow.
And some years ago I had the opportunity to witness one such soul
operating in "flow".
Mohammad Hussein was a dark short and stocky, had grey short hair and a
clipped ‘Zodiac man’ beard and worked a waiter at the restaurant of a resort
in Khandala. This resort is where I was conducting a meeting for
one of my client companies. Sharp at six on the first morning of my stay,
there was a soft knock on my door and on and on opening it,
I was greeted with a smiling ‘Good Morning’ by Hussein who bustled in with
his tray of what P.G. Wodehouse would call ‘the cup that cheers’. He then
proceeded to place the tray smartly on the table with a ‘Yeh lo sir, badhiya,
garam, garam chai!’ Apart from the tea, his warmth and cheerfulness itself
was a great start to the day! At breakfast, Hussein welcomed my entry into
the restaurant with a welcoming smile and my inquiry about the spread for
the day was heralded by the lifting of the lid of each of the chaffing dishes,
followed by descriptions like, ‘Yeh lo sir, badhiya corn flakes, aur yeh garma
garam aloo parathe, aur yahan sir, first class omelet and toast!’ At every
break for lunch or tea, Hussein would be the first one to greet and welcome
the group and serve us attentively.
By now, all these ministrations by Hussein had impressed me so much that
I called up my family to invite them to join me at the resort after the
conference was over. Seeing my family with me seemed to send Hussein into
a service overdrive! Even though the restaurant had enough empty tables at
meal times, he would put up a hand written sign on a tent saying ‘Reserved
for V1’ and on being seated at the table, he would first ask my wife,
’Madam, aaj kya lengi, chai ya coffee?’ next he would enquire with my
daughter, my son and finally me (the gallant old soul!). The best part was
when I gave him a tip on the last day of our stay, he thanked me profusely
and said that he wanted to sing a ‘Mohammad Rafi saab ka gana’ specially
for me. Then in a mellifluous voice, and a few furtive looks over his shoulders
to see if the manager was watching, he proceeded to sing ‘Woh jab yaad
aaye, bahut yaad aaye’ from the film Parasmani! A warm and sentimental
touch don’t you think?
It's been now more than six years since I witnessed Mohammad Hussein
in action but I have warm memories of him. That's what being in "flow" does
to you. You perform at your best, have fun doing it, please the recipient of
your actions.
And most important - stay in his memory. Forever.
