Beware this trap awaiting you on the hotel tables..
It’s said that the aesthetics of
the dining space positively contributes to one's appetite. It’s quite common these
days for hotels in Calicut to have a bottle of ‘packaged drinking water’,
placed on the table. The placement is so inviting that it gives a hospitable feeling
to the patron. Well, how wonderful an idea is that to have a bottle of water ready for you
(ranging from the ones directly fetched from the source of the Ganges to the
ones which push your adrenaline in one single sip) as you walk in thirsty and
hungry.
Bearers of course used to ask if
you need bottled water earlier as well. However, this query was mostly meant
for patrons from abroad. These days,
they don’t even ask but leave a bottle on the table prompting you to grab it.
You have to ask for plain water, if you want it so.
As a policy, I try to avoid ‘mineral
water’. This means that most the time, I have to ask for plain water. Now here
lies the crux of the story. The moment you ask for plain water, many hotels in
Calicut get you warm water. Please don’t do the mistake of asking for chilled
water. “You will have to buy the bottles for chilled water”. Sorry, the steel
jugs with condensed water on its surface are extinct. (Please don’t mistake me
for generalizing, but it’s a fast emerging trend).
I am angry as I write this. I wonder
how much of profit a bottle of water could fetch. Does that compensate the cost
on compromising the warmth of Calicut’s hospitality?
Hoteliers of Calicut, I would
suggest, please don’t buy this idea of ‘Water sale”
