Three minutes becomes twenty

When I reached Bombay, I wanted to go to a hotel nearby named Samraj. I was going to be in Bombay for three hours, and I wanted to stay in the hotel for two hours. At the airport I asked a hotel representative, “How much do you charge for two hours?”

The man said, “Eight hundred rupees.”

I asked, “For half a day there is no special rate? I will be there only for two hours.”

He told me, “No, this is our fixed rate.”

I decided to go anyway. I asked, “How long does it take to get there from here?”

The man said, “It takes only three minutes.”

“Then please take me,” I told him.

He said, “Just wait, the coach is coming.”

Five minutes went by, then ten minutes, fifteen minutes, twenty minutes. Finally, I said to the man, “Instead of the coach, let me take a taxi.” I was ready to give him money, but he said, “We do not take money here. We only make arrangements for the hotel.”

After twenty minutes had passed I got disgusted. I said, “I am going to another travel agency to make arrangements.”

He cried, “No, no, no.” At that moment, somebody came and said the coach was there. Instead of three minutes, it became twenty minutes!

From:Sri Chinmoy,My express visit to India, Agni Press, 1995
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/evi