Mohammad of Khandala

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.