: Absence of change for Rs. 100 made a whole lot of difference for Union Minister of Textiles Smriti Irani and a cobbler in Coimbatore on Saturday.
On her way to the Isha Foundation’s headquarters in the foothills of the Western Ghats just outside the city, Ms. Irani stopped by at a cobbler’s stall alongside the Perur Road. She got down from the car, reached the stall, sat down right next to cobbler P. Ganesh, and with the help of Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) State vice president Vanathi Srinivasan, asked him to mend her footwear.
Even as he was at work, Ms. Irani through Ms. Vanathi asked how much she should pay. When Mr. Ganesh said Rs. 10, she gave Rs. 100 and asked him to keep the change. The cobbler, who said he did not have change, volunteered to mend what she was wearing on both her feet, in return.
Ms. Irani agreed, said Ms. Vanathi, adding that they spent close to 10 minutes at the place, which was just opposite the Perur Patteeswarar Udanamar Pachainayagi Amman Temple. Ms. Irani then proceeded to the Isha Foundation to address a gathering on ‘The DNA of Success’.
