Know-It-All&;#063;

Dover Lane is a well-known address in Calcutta. There are two
reasons for this. One, a celebrated music concert is held here every
year. The second reason is the presence of New Guinea Museum and
Amitlal. New Guinea Museum is a small jewellery shop selling mainly
precious stones. Amitlal is a very nondescript person who claims to
have a rare talent. He makes his living by reading people's faces and
making predictions. Sometimes he asks clients to wear various stones.
Amitlal's chamber is located in a portion of New Guinea Museum. For
every client that he meets Amitlal must hand over to New Guinea Museum
fifty percent of his fees. It is of course rather difficult to meet
Amitlal. An appointment has to be made a month in advance. On the
appointed day it is advisable to come at least three hours in advance.
The rush is always very great and Amitlal has commitments elsewhere
too.
It was a Saturday and the clients were getting restive. Amitlal was
supposed to come by six pm and it was already six-thirty. There were at
least six people in the tiny waiting area. As they discussed how
difficult it was for people living in the suburbs to visit Amitlal a
car stopped near the doorway. It was Amitlal with his trademark smile
well in place. As he entered his chamber a hush descended on the people
outside. The clients were asked to come in one party at a time in the
order that they had arrived at the chamber. The first to go was Mr Pin
and family.
As Mr Pin, his wife and son entered Amitlal appeared to be disturbed by
their presence. This was his normal manner. He asked them to sit down
and said, 'What is the problem?' Mr Pin explained, 'My son Nantoo has
been appearing for his school-leaving examination for the last five
years. Every time his performance gets worse. Sir, will my Nantoo never
leave school?'. Amitlal lowered his spectacles and took a good look at
Nantoo. He held Nantoo's face by the chin and seemed to examine it
closely. 'Mr Pin', Amitlal spoke, 'Make your son a weatherman. Even if
a weatherman fails to provide the correct forecast, he rarely loses his
job. Your son will pass this time.' Mr Pin seemed to be satisfied with
what he was told. He left with his family and the next party then came
in. This group consisted of Mrs Jana and her daughter. 'Sir,' said Mrs
Jana, 'I have been trying to get my daughter married for the last two
years. But either she seems to dislike the boy or the boy rejects her.
Will my daughter remain a spinster all her life?' Amitlal
replied,'Madam, your daughter has the face of a horror-movie star. Her
presence can scare the daylights out of anyone she meets. Her future
lies in a movie studio. I hope you are satisfied.' Mrs Jana was a
little puzzled but nevertheless sated. After she left, the last client
entered Amitlal's room. He was a young man in his mid-twenties. He was
good-looking and seemed to be confident. He was not the sort of person
who would be expected to visit people like Amitlal. He was concise
about his problem, 'I am an engineer. I have been looking for a job for
the past two months. I have an interview tomorrow. Can you tell me
whether I will be successful or not?'. Amitlal's face lit up as he
listened to the details of the client's problem. He said, 'Your face
tells me that you will be very successful in your interview. But do
call me and let me know how you fared in the test.' The young man was a
little confused at the interest shown by Amitlal but he reasoned that
he did it with everyone.
The next day the young man whose name was Arin called Amitlal to inform
him that he had been selected for the job. Amitlal told him that the
next day he must visit Victoria Memorial in the evening and look for a
girl in a pink dress. She would be wearing a yellow ribbon in her hair
and carrying a blue bag. This girl was most likely to be his life
partner. Arin did not know what to say. Nevertheless he agreed to do as
told. That evening Amitlal was a happy man. He told his wife that he
had found the perfect match for his daughter Rina. The boy he said was
an engineer and interested in face-reading. His name was Arin and he
would meet Rina next evening at the Victoria Memorial.