Alvares, Rahul; Natural history -- India -- Anecdotes
A gentleman in Moira wanted to set up an aquarium at his home. He had a
tank. He also had definite ideas about how he wanted it to finally look
and Ashok was called to see how it could all be done. The man sent his
car for us. At his house we discussed the location of the tank,
lighting arrangements, the water filters, the kind and quantity of fish
he would like to have, and maintenance. After we were fully satisfied
that we had everything right and had noted down his requirements, we
returned to Mapusa. Later he came for the material which we kept ready
for him.
Another time I accompanied Ashok to a client's office to put a pair of
Dwarf Guramies in the fish tank and to fix a picture as a backdrop for
the tank. On such visits I watched care fully what Ashok did and soon
enough Ashok started sending me on my own to visit some of his clients
who had small or simple problems.
I went to clients to fix aquarium equipment such as air pumps and
filters, to fix toys in the tanks, to check fish for diseases or if
there was a sudden crisis such as fish dying in numbers, or if a client
wished to add more fish to his collection. I was sent to collect
overdue payments or simply to enquire the aquariums were doing.
Sometimes I went on my own to visit some of the places where we had set
up tanks and enjoyed watching the fish swimming happily in their new
homes.
One day my employer decided to send me as a spy to find out the prices
of fish and fish food at a competitive fish shop. I tried to behave
like a casual customer and walked coolly into the competitor's shop and
gradually began to ask the prices of fish and fish food. After I had
found out what was needed I bought a pair of cheap Black Mollies from
his shop just to show him that I was a genuine customer. From the
information I got, we found Ashok's to be comparatively cheaper than
the competitor.
During this period I improved my knowledge about aquarium fish
tremendously. This was mainly due to two things. Firstly, I had spent a
lot of time observing the fish at Ashok's shop and getting practical
experience from the places we visited. Secondly, I had been reading the
fish books that my father bought for me as a gift for getting a
distinction in my SSC exam. The books were quite expensive but well
worth the cost. Being able to get theoretical knowledge and practical
experience at the same time gave me a lot of confidence with regard to
aquarium fish.
One of the important highlights of my experience at Ashok's was
learning to make fish tanks. Ashok told me that since we were going
through a slack period, he would teach me how to make fish tanks. I had
to start from basics which meant purchasing glass for six tanks, having
the glass pieces cut to specifications and then having the pieces
delivered at the shop without a scratch.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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