Once, not very long ago, somewhere in Andhra Pradesh, two friends, Peddodu (Big Man) and Chinnodu (Small Man) were sitting near Nagaswami Military Mess, waiting for the famous non-veg dinner place to open for the night. It was part of their daily schedule, to come to the Military Mess and have the 'unlimited mutton-chicken rice plate'.
There were many other regulars waiting it out along with them. They were all sitting in small groups, talking about the various events of the day. Some were discussing the approaching elections and some were discussing the new movie with the 73+ year old hero with the 19- year old heroine.
Peddodu and Chinnodu were sitting all by themselves. All other groups of diners avoided them very carefully. They had suffered the mistake of chatting with them before dinner and had been severely traumatised. The two friends had never noticed that the others avoided them.
A stranger came up to the entrance of the Military Mess, wanting to get in. The street vendor selling bananas nearby told the stranger to wait for the dining place to open up. Looking at all the various groups of waiting diners, the stranger took the only option that he thought was logical. He came to sit alongside Peddodu and Chinnodu.
The two friends looked at him intently. He had a briefcase and a haversack. So he was probably a traveler, they guessed silently, nodding at each other. His clothes were like that of a person from a big city. He was also carrying something strange with him. They had never seen anything like that before.
So, they asked him. Peddodu questioned, "what is this strange thing that you are carrying with you? It's seems to be made of metal and looks like a container of some sort. Why do you have it? Do city people always carry this with them?"
The stranger laughed at the question and answered, "Oh! This is a thermos flask. I need it in my travels. The outer body is made of steel but the inner body is made of a special glass. It keeps hot liquids as hot as they can be. And it keeps cold liquids as chilled as they can be."
Chinnodu exclaimed in surprise and asked, "It can carry hot and cold liquids? And keep them hot and cold? That is absolutely amazing. Whatever will the city people come up with next? Where did you get it? What are you carrying in it now?"
The stranger replied with a smile, "Not at all. This is not a strange machine. This is quite common. You can get a thermos flask in your nearest town or the big railway station too. I keep cold filtered drinking water because I like it that way. I cannot drink warm or unfiltered water."
Peddodu and Chinnodu were busy for the next fifteen minutes, in a serious discussion with the stranger about the benefits of the thermos flask. Peddodu wanted to get one to be able to drink hot coffee thru the day. But, as Chinnodu explained to the stranger, he wanted to get a flask to drink chilled water thru the day.
The stranger smiled at them, looked around at the other groups of diners watching him with obvious pity and slowly moved away from the two friends. They did not object at all. They were busy discussing the various options in loud voices.
The Nagaswami Military Mess opened up for dinne soon. All those waiting rushed in to get to their usual tables. And, of course, the stranger got the only vacant seat available at the same table with Peddodu and Chinnodu. In so doing, he placed his thermos flask on the table, in open view.
Peddodu pointed at the flask and said, "Re Chinnodu, see that flask. I have an idea. This Nagaswami never serves its good fish from the sea. He always has very thin fish from the rivers. Let us buy a big thermos flask and go to Nellore and get good sea fish. We can fill up the flask with sea water and the fish will think that they are in sea water."
Chinnodu replied, "No. No. I want to only use the thermos flask to take tea and coffee. I think the sea fish will not be a good idea. Will they stay alive inside the thermos flask? Let us ask our new friend. He knows all about it."
Nodding in agreement, Peddodu said, "No. Not necessary. City people cannot always be smarter. We are better, much better. This is what we will do. We will get a much bigger thermos flask. We will use it to fill up with cold and hot stuff. It will keep the cold stuff cold and the hot stuff hot. That way, we do not have to buy two flasks."
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