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Life Lessons
A Shopkeeper Taught Me a Life Lesson on Management and Productivity
A disorganized table doesn’t mean a disordered mind, a disorganized shop doesn’t mean a failed business, and a disorganized life doesn’t mean a screwed-up life.
Manju Cooray is in his 50s. He came to Germany a few decades ago. In his Kiosk full of fruits, vegetables, household items, and all the things one needs to survive, he works on an online business idea.
Originally from Sri Lanka, he speaks English, German, and a few other languages — including Tamil, his mother tongue. As a polyglot, I try to learn how he pronounces certain words and phrases in Tamil. It has an outer space taste to talk to someone in her or his own language. But I didn’t go to him on that snowy night to improve my Tamil.
Well, I had to go to him because he wanted to establish an online shop — and I had to meet him based on a pre-scheduled meeting. I went to talk to him about the advantages and disadvantages of some tools for a different shop he wanted to set up online.
As I entered the Kiosk, I tried to greet him in Tamil, as usual. He had some customers. I had a list of things outlined for him, so I took out a piece of paper from…
