The Carpenter

We have mentioned in the past that we have had guys come to the apartment to do some work and they often come ill prepared to do the job or do shoddy work. We discussed our disappointment with an Indian friend here who sympathized by saying that it reached "a new low" in service.
In our first visit to Mahabilipuram we bought a sculpture of a head of Buddha. We wanted to have a wooden base made for it and Josef found a carpenter who seemed to understand what we wanted but he offered to make a sample for about $15. After a few days he brought the sample and it was almost exactly what we wanted! However, he said that it is not sturdy enough to hold the head, so he said he should make a permanent one. Assuming it is not a fluke, the guy seems to have real skill and an artistic flair. So, he made a quote for materials for a permanent base plus a couple more projects that Janet had in mind. He was going to get materials and do the work here. Then we learned that his wife was seriously injured when a lorry went off the road and hit several people- one or two were killed and his wife happened to be one who was injured! She has some broken bones and we heard she was released from the hospital for home care a week ago, but now they say she has some sort of spinal injury too and needs more surgery! Apparently there are not many family members in the area to help take care of the children and wife, so the carpenter has to do this rather than work as much as he might otherwise be able to do. So, we seem to have found a good carpenter, but life's tragedies are intervening to delay or prevent him from working on our project. We will add more to the story as it unfolds.