Once upon a time, there were no signs...

It is a little difficult to imagine this, but it may be a true story nevertheless. Let’s take it as far back as we can imagine. Man hunted for food, he came back to his cave, he cooked the food. He had already discovered fire. Then, he began to build his shelter and abandoned the cave. He also began to grow his own food. He sowed. He reaped. What he harvested, he ate. Then, there was more harvest than he could eat. So, he began to trade. He exchanged the harvest for something he had not grown and for something that the terrain surrounding him did not have. Nature gave different people different fruit. Man began to share and to live together as a community. Soon, there were exchanges between communities.

As a community, you now had choices to make. You could exchange food for craft, craft for livestock & transport, transport for learning. In the beginning, craft was a daily commodity. If you were a potter, you exchanged clay pots for food. If you were a weaver, you exchanged woven cloth for food. There was trade and then there were trade routes. People travelled far and wide to sell their wares. Soon, the barter system disappeared. Now, you could sell spices and nuts. What you gained was money. You lived happily or unhappily by how much you could buy, with the money you could earn.

Some people sold services. A doctor could cure people of an illness, he could relieve pain. An engineer could build a bridge. People paid money for their services and their kindness. Then, one day, there were many commodities and many services of the same kind. You had to now announce who you were, what you sold and for how much.

I kept wondering about the name of this shop Satori. This was the Wikipedia definition I found : Satori is a Japanese Buddhist term for "enlightenment." Satori is typically juxtaposed with a related term known as kensho, which translates as "seeing one's nature." Kensho experiences tend to be briefer glimpses, while satori is considered to be a deeper spiritual experience.

Other Varkala posts :
Bazaar Tour 3 : Varkala
The Tibtetans at the Cliff
Signage in Cliff Bazaar
Signages at Varkala, Signages anywhere
To the Cliff
and
Cafe Italiano & the Badam tree