Worst of times.. « Bethel Homestay, Coorg

This blog reflects what we are and how we run Bethel, it would hardly be honesty to say we run a perfect place and we have always given the service we would be proud of..some times its just not your day..all your intentions and planning can come to nothing very easily

This is one such incident
It was the weekend in May when our first Web customers came to Bethel, per the plan we were not to take any more customers that weekend, however at the last minute we got a call from Rajesh..(for any one following this blog..there are two Rajesh’s involved, one is Rakesh’s brother and the other is the owner of the our sister homestay at Nelgi — in this case it was the latter), there was a team of around 15-20 guests who were going to come to Coorg and Rajesh didn’t believe in sending them anywhere else and so it was decided that they would be coming to Bethel.

Under normal circumstances this would hardly matter, we have handled larger groups successfully..but there was nothing normal about this occasion, it was a time when everything seemed to go wrong.
The morning the guests were arriving, our water pump conked off!!!
At Bethel our primary water source is a natural spring, we made a small tank around the water source into which we have a submersible pump, this pump pushes water to a sump and from there another pump pushes water to the overhead tanks that feed the cottages. It was the second pump that stopped working, we immediately got an electrician and got it repaired. All of us sighed a relief when the water start flowing again into the overhead tanks. Little did we realize then that it was a sign of things to come..

By the time Mr. Ramana (he was the primary contact for this group) and our guests arrived it had begun to rain in Bethel. As they were having their lunch the storm picked up and there was thunder and lightning, of all things that could ever happen.. Bethel took a lightening strike!.. Luckily for us it did not strike a tree or person, however it was too close to home….”Kutta” who had just stepped out to serve the guests was near the spot where the lightning struck, he was hit by the shock waves..and was on the floor..for a few seconds he lay there paralysed.. Rakesh who was in the kitchen near the Backup batteries also had a shock….and was limping for the rest of the day!! The lightening strike tripped the backup batteries and for the second time in the day..our repaired motor conked off… We now had 24 customers in Bethel, no power backup..and water levels running low..It wouldn’t be long before water would run out..and it did….

We had to faced a lot of irritated guests, running water is a basic requirement..and that was not in place..it was a really embarrassing time for us. We immediately placed an order for new motor….but that would come only the next day and in the mean time we started relay process…we had one motor which was working, we would pump the water to the sump..and then get the motor which was about half a kilometer away to the sump and use it to push water to the overhead tanks, once the sump was empty we would take the motor back to the spring and use it to fill the sump..and we would continue this process till the overhead tanks were full..It was Arun and Kutta who did this hard and laborious task, thanks to them we kind of managed to provide sufficient water to our guests…albeit a little too late…

The next day morning it was the same story was repeated, it was not long before the water ran out and we had to repeat the same process, fortunately for us, the next day the folks decided to travel to Wayanad, they wouldn’t return till the end of the day ..and we had a chance to rectify past mistakes and ensure that when they came back..everything would be perfect. ..but sometimes its just not your day…We got a new motor and started to install it, after a few hours of installing everything ..we found out that the motor was a defective piece!!! ..Talk about bad luck!!..we immediately ordered for another motor and had it delivered, it was already getting too late and the folks would be getting back soon..this time things went smoothly and finally we were able to send water up the tank.

The firefighters,: Rajesh, Hamsa, Raju (the electrician) and Rakesh, missing are Arun and Kutta..

On your weekend if you have a group of 24 for whom you are not anticipated..Your motor conks off, You have a lightening strike, You order for a brand new motor and that turns out to be a defective piece..if you have a weekend like this..you should realize its just not your day…. We realized that the water that was collecting in the tank had too many suspended particles..it was literally brown in color!!! All that removing and putting the motor had disturbed the well and it would take sometime for the water to settle.. At the end of the day..after all the effort that went it ..It was one big disaster!!!

This was by far the most horrible experience that we could have put our guests to, it was really surprising that at the end of the day our guests actually paid us for the stay!! We were not really expecting to be paid after all these disasters, our principle from the very beginning had been very simple, Value for money, so if we did not provide a good service, we don’t deserve the payment…. I know that I wouldn’t have If I had to go through the same experience..and we don’t expect any different from our guests.

The more we spend time in this industry … the more I realize that Hospitality is a n industry where Chaos reigns supreme ..and sometimes things work out well.

Now we have a backup generator and an extra motor at our disposal, just to make sure such things do not happen again…but then…this is the Hospitality industry….We never know what happens..

In the middle of all this we did manage to organize a nice trek ..some of the pictures and sights are here

Waiting for the trek to start