From “Nobody” to “Somebody”

In due time, my situation at the Odeon Cinema started to improve. Not too long after my meeting with the fired assistant manager, he found a more suitable job and left. The news of my meeting with him and my subsequent meeting with the owner spread through the grapevine. People came to realize that I was not the boss’s spy.

The general manager was soon fired also, after being charged with complicity in thefts of certain expensive materials from the theater. I was never given his title, and did not want it, but I became the sole occupier of the manager’s office.

Television had not yet arrived in India. Movies were the main form of entertainment for the masses, and we were the prime theater for Hindi movies. Most of the seats sold out a week in advance, as soon as the box office opened. A substantial portion were grabbed by black marketers. But, four seats were always held back until the last minute, to be sold at the discretion of the manager on duty. For that reason, everyone wanted to be in good favor with the manager. The moment I received my appointment, I was transformed from “nobody” to “somebody.”

During the 11 months I worked at the Odeon Cinema, I helped several people get the highly-sought-after tickets, even to the point of paying for the tickets myself when people did not have enough funds for their family. But I never used my position to benefit myself or favor my friends or family.

For example, one day, I stepped onto the balcony outside my office and looked down at the lobby. It was full of people waiting to buy tickets at half-price for the next Sunday matinee. I watched the inevitable drama: people stood in line, the ticket booth opened, pandemonium broke out, and the black marketers muscled their way to the front of the line.

I noticed one person standing there in the broken line looking totally bewildered. He was the tallest person in the crowd, with a large frame more than six feet tall. He was dressed in a well-pressed, light gray Nehru suit and polished shoes. It was obvious that he was not used to standing in line to buy tickets.

Instinctively, I walked down and introduced myself to him. I offered to procure tickets for him if he would pick them up the next day. He said he needed four tickets for his family and offered to pay me in advance. I told him he could pay me when he came back to pick up his tickets. 

The next morning, he showed up at the appointed time and picked up his four tickets. He handed me Rs. 2.50 (80 cents) and offered to pay me something extra for my effort.

“I am simply doing my duty,” I told him. “I am well compensated for my work.”

The stranger asked for my name and said, “Maybe I can be of help to you someday.”

I just smiled. It was a part of my job that I certainly enjoyed. We shook hands, and then, like so many other people I had encountered, he melted back into the universe.