Entrance Test

Our correspondent loses his beard and learns a lesson or two about life as he becomes doorman for a day

Our correspondent loses his beard and learns a lesson or two about life as he becomes doorman for a day
One fine morning, boss handed me the ultimatum. 8220;Monday evening, you8217;ll be standing at Le Meridian gate welcoming guests as the doorman. Or else8230;8221;
For the next two days, I tried pepping myself up for the job. 8220;It8217;s just a question of three hours. It8217;s just role-playing. Shah Rukh Khan does it, Amitabh Bachchan does it. Why can8217;t I?8221; That helped. But you can always count on friends. Mine assured me that they would drop in at the hotel and tip me generously if I wished them nicely.

On Monday evening, at the hotel, the receptionist guided me to go to the changing rooms. 8220;Sir, these are your clothes and this is your cap,8221; the laundry guy said. I changed and came out of the room. 8220;You are looking good, but you are not up to the mark,8221; Rupesh Panicker, the front desk manager of Hotel Le Meriden, told me. 8220;You have to be clean shaven to be a doorman,8221; he said.

Beard gone, I was allotted a position and with me was Sunil Tayde, the doorman and my mentor. Tayde taught me how to open the door, how to say good evening, and good morning. 8220;When it8217;s morning you have to say good morning, in the evening it is good evening,8221; he said.
The actual job was a lot of fun. I am normally comfortable with any language but today I was told to speak only in English. People came in and walked out; I wished them meticulously. While some smiled back, the others did not even bother to say hello. I loved all those who smiled back at me, and hated the remaining. For your information, the doormen call such people akdu.

After some time, Tayde went to have dinner leaving me alone at the entrance. There were a few visitors around. A small cute kid playing with his father caught my attention. Just as I tried to get friendly with him, his father came and gave me a mind-your-business look. And not one person tipped me. Akdus all!
Another person walked up. I opened the door for him to go out. It was Tayde. He was not pleased. 8220;That8217;s not the right way. You don8217;t have to bend down so much. Whatever job you are doing, always have a smiling face. And remember, no job is inferior, That8217;s why never bend down,8221; he said.

In no time, my three hours were over. Before getting out of the outfit, Tayde told me to go to the canteen and have dinner to make my experience complete. I never knew five-star hotels had canteens. I had thought enviously that they gorged on five-star food every day. This was, however, very much a home8211;cooked meal.

Dinner done, I changed into my clothes and came to the lobby. I came to the door and Tayde opened it for me. I made it a point to smile and say good night to him. Standing at the door waiting for them to bring my car, the same cute kid came down with his father. Noticing that I was staring, the father said, 8220; His name is Navin. Navin, say Namaste to uncle.8221;

I left the place thinking. I was the same; the location was the same; what had changed was the uniform. Whether you are a journalist or an engineer or a doorman doesn8217;t really matter to the world. What matters is the front you put on. Being a doorman for three hours gave me a better understanding of life and people than being a journalist for three months.