The Daily Diary of a Wandering Restaurateur
January 25 - Varanasi
The original plan was to take another trip on the river this morning, but we were so overwhelmed by what we experienced last night that we begged off and opted for what we thought would be a short tour of some other local sights. It turned into something rather different.
Jitendra took us to a local silk weaver where, after a short explanation of the weaving process itself and how the owner has provided looms to all sorts people in the area who produce products for him, we ended up in his showroom for an extended sales presentation.
Two hours later(!) we left, Margene having decided on half a dozen silk scarves (much to the displeasure of the owner/pitchman who was determined to sell us a silk duvet cover. Now the products were exquisite, the workmanship was excellent, the prices seemed reasonable and Genie was, in fact, planning to pick up some gifts like this before we left ... but we were put off by the whole experience.
The reason was because our erstwhile guide, who certainly was interested in the commission he would get for bringing us to this joint, never asked if we were interested in buying any silk. Had he asked, we might well have said yes and gone along knowing what we were getting into. But because he just sprung it on us -- and because we didn't just stand up and ask to leave -- it seemed like we had been snookered. There is a sales lesson here.
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