I had the most interesting morning today [given it is a Friday]. I had to buy mementos for some office work and so went to a nearby shop with my colleague. We had been referred to this place by someone. But when we got there was no shop that matched the description given to us. As we were walking down the corridor of the plaza [where this shop was supposed to be situated], a middle aged man appeared from one of the shops and asked us what we were looking for. When we mentioned mementos, he said- ‘you are in the best place in the world to order mementos’! We were a bit taken aback by his manner coz he said it like Rajnikanth says ‘Na Shivaji da’ in Shivaji. He sensed our reaction and immediately asked us if he could tell us a short story. Here it goes- ‘Once Pele was made to answer under oath in the Court. When the Judge asked Pele what position he played he said Center forward. Next the Judge asked him how well he played and Pele said he was the best in the world. Pele’s friend was in the Court watching the proceeding and later asked the otherwise humble Pele what made him answer in such a manner. Pele replied that he said so coz he was under oath!’ So this humble shopkeeper tells us his shop is the best place to get momentos coz he believes that his shop is the best in the world. Such people usually bug me, but this man said all this so passionately, that I found it endearing. And his stories got more n more interesting as we stepped into his shop. We almost forgot why we had stepped in, in the first place. We sure find interesting people in the most unexpected places!