Turkish Delight

Confidential Instructions for the Seller

You are the owner of a small shop in the Grand Bazaar market in Istanbul selling
Byzantine Mosaic Lamps. The Grand Bazaar is incredibly popular with many
Europeans and Americans and is listed among the top 10 places to see in Istanbul.
Tourists are enchanted by the colours, aromas, and the bustle of the market and the
sheer variety of high-end, high-quality, and eclectic products that are on sale. It also
allows the many visitors an opportunity to flex their bargaining muscles. Since it has
achieved some notoriety in that sphere, it has portended troubled times too, as many
try to drive a hard bargain without being reasonable and the sales have dropped
considerably especially during the off-season.

It is nearing the end of November and the tourists have all but stopped coming; it is
barely a trickle and you have made no sales since the day started. Forced by the
changing trend, you have had to keep the small trinkets that people like to pick on-the-
go – from evil-eye key chains to platters of lokum (Turkish Delights), and of course
the flower teas. But your real source of profit still is the intricately designed and deftly
produced mosaic lanterns. They are also a quintessential reminder of the times and
culture of your country and truly evoke a sense of opulence and grandeur. They are
the most popular items too, but lately business has been slow in winter months.

A customer, who looks like an Indian, approaches your shop and is looking at the
heaps of lokum (Turkish Delight). You pay her little attention knowing that at best
she’ll buy one packet of these treats for 20 Lira and you’ll make hardly any profit.
You get back to reading your book. A few minutes later, the tourist is still there, she
hasn’t asked you to taste any lokum nor asked to pack some but is transfixed by the
lanterns in your store. You smile a sad smile thinking to yourself how beautiful the
lanterns are and yet how little people value them. You keep your book aside and walk
to the tourist breaking her reverie by asking, “which one do you like?” She points, as
if in a daze, to the bronze table lantern with an intricately patterned hanging blue
mosaic pendulum.

Having had zero sales since the morning you want to sell it at a tidy profit and would
like to get 600 Lira for this gorgeous piece. But, you are willing to settle for less, just
to have another piece of your craftsmanship reach a discerning buyer’s home in some
faraway land. But you shall agree for no less than 400 Lira. You have to close the
shop in 10 minutes. Try to sell the lantern to the Indian.