Free from School | Page 4

with such an important job.
I left in the evening for the hotel. I found it with no problem at all. It
was a large hotel with lovely lawns and a swimming pool. I walked into
the hotel proudly, with my head held high, and tried to act as if I were a
very experienced fish doctor. I went and met the manager. He told me
which fish had died. I searched for symptoms of disease but found none.
I then realised that the problem was very simple and one that is very
common: a case of overfeeding. Fish require food in proportion to their
size but often people put more food than necessary into the tank. The
extra food makes the water cloudy and polluted and this causes the fish
to die.

I cleaned the tanks, replaced the pump, checked the filters and showed
the hotel staff how to feed the fish. I even managed to do some sales
work by selling them some fish medicines which they could keep as
standby and made a bill for them on the bill book that Ashok had given
me. They seemed satisfied with my work and made me a cup of tea,
which I didn't drink because I don't drink tea. After I had finished I
couldn't wait to tell Ashok about my experience.
During this period, I took the opportunity once to visit fish shops in
Panjim which I had heard about but had not yet seen. The occasion
came when my 3-gear cycle broke down and I needed to go to Panjim
to get spares. I tried to persuade my mother to get them for me from
Panjim since she went there often. She refused, saying that I should
learn to do things on my own. That's when I thought of making a
whole-day trip to Panjim to buy the spares, visit fish shops and also
make a few purchases for Ashok.
The next day, I accompanied my mum to Panjim where she showed me
a few essential places and then left me on my own. I was a bit nervous
but was determined to manage somehow. I first went to the Kamat
restaurant to eat as I was hungry. I was amazed at how much it cost me
to fill my stomach outside home! After that, I searched for a shop from
where I could purchase silicone (Ashok's errand). After a lot of asking
around I found the place. Then I looked for the cycle shop, found it
quickly enough but discovered that the item I wanted was out of stock
and would be available only the next week.
I was then free to visit the two fish shops I had in mind: "Bislin" and
"Something Fishy". Bislin was well stocked and had many types of
exotic fish but I found it very expensive. I chatted with the people who
ran the shop (it is a family business). They also kept birds for sale.
After watching the fish for sometime I decided to go to Something
Fishy which was just around the corner. At Something Fishy, I was
disappointed at first sight to see very few fish. The shop assistant told
me that as they were expecting fish the following weekend almost all
their tanks were empty. But what I saw remaining in the display tank
amazed me. I saw man-eating piranhas with my own eyes for the first
time in my life! However, the piranhas were quite timid and shy.
Apparently, it is only when they are kept hungry that they become
ferocious meat-eaters. Something Fishy also had exotic fish called

Black Ghost which sold at Rs.3000 a pair!
Apart from learning about fish at Ashok's shop I gained a lot of other
valuable experience.
I had never done banking before. But one day Ashok casually asked me
if I would go to his bank to withdraw some money. I didn't feel like
telling him that I had no idea of how to go about doing this. Instead I
asked for directions to the bank and set out. Somehow I figured my
way around and got the job done. I was sent many times after that to
the bank to deposit and withdraw money.
Although I had all the time in the world at my disposal I found it was
not the easiest thing for me to effectively manage my time. Several
times I would be speeding away on my bicycle to Ashok's shop because
I had woken up late that morning. Or I had to push my lunch hour till
later because I had not completed all my tasks for the day. It was an
experience learning to plan my day properly and I would feel quite
pleased with myself when I got things right on my own.