Shopping with a smile, Delivering in Style !

This goes back to the days, when on-line shopping per se, in India was just starting. One had heard of Amazon and Ebay, Google was not yet born and a verb, unlimited storage happened only in your dreams, and the concept of strange people calling you to offer credit cards, personal loans and so on had not taken root.

They say, stuff is conceptualized,  and realized , based on a perception of needs.

I was staying in another city, away from my parents, there was a significant landmark birthday coming up for my Mom, and since I wouldn't be able to travel  on the actual date (I would go later), I was looking around for someone /something  that could  make the day special for my mother.

I chanced upon a portal called FloraFountain.com ***  .  I have no clue if it exists now,  whether it has burgeoned into a mammoth set up, or whether it has been bought up by a conglomerate and so on.

These guys offered, for various prices, to deliver (in Pune) ,  a grand bouquet (you could choose the grandeur level), along with either a cake, or fresh fruits, or mithai, or dry fruits, to the person, at the address you specified, on a given date.  This was started as a need that was felt, in the lives of NRI children abroad, who wished to send gifts to their folks on special occasions, specifically in Pune.

I was just so many hundred kilometres away, very much in the country, and the prices in Rs did not throw me into a dead faint. 

Since as a rule, I assume everyone exaggerates, I called them up at their contact number , and spoke to someone, to get some stuff clarified . Having no credit card, I could pay on a local bank by cheque or by cash. Since the folks receiving the gift were senior citizens, and not unduly enthused about cakes, the folks at Flora Fountain offered to deliver Mango Barfi from Chitale Bandhu !  I entered all the details and addresses and contact numbers online, paid, got an acknowledgement by email in a few days. 

My folks were active in all kinds of social service organizations through the day, climbing the Parvati Hill was a daily ritual early morning , and I specified a time window in which the delivery should happen.

A cool April morning in Pune. The bell rang at my parent's house, and they found a fellow at the door, carrying a huge bouquet and a package. At first they thought he had come to the wrong place.  Then they thought  he was a friend of mine. He politely explained and asked to come in.

 Once in the living room, he presented the bouquet and the packet of Chitale Mango Barfi to my Mom, then bent down and touched their feet doing a namaskar , and explained from where the stuff had come !

My folks were terribly impressed, and this was followed by offering the fellow, a nice cup of tea, a sharing of breakfast, and a piece of the Mithai that they just received . Typical chitchat revealed that my mother knew an aunt-in-law of the guy, there was much nodding and smiling and the fellow left soon after.

I contacted these guys again years later when an aunt was celebrating her 75th birthday. Her kids had some religious stuff planned at a hall, and I again ordered for a big cake (many kids in the house on that day) and a bouquet, and specified that the stuff needed to reach around 7 am , since they would ll leave for the hall by 8 am.

These guys again delivered, again with the wishes and namaskars. My aunt was completely surprised, investigated who the guy was, and it turned out that he was at one time, in college with her youngest, my cousin, who was specially there now for the event, from her marital home.

There have been  scores of online shopping places that have come up subsequently.  They have specials and sales. Most specify a plethora of payment options. There are fine-print terms and conditions. Wish lists. Specials. Delivery details. Even reviews.


 Belonging as I do to a generation where buying anything  (except a house)  on installments, was considered unwarranted and unrequired, shopping was an occasional need, conducted with a lot of advice and care, and tons of bargaining, if you know what I mean.  There was always a big deal about getting value for money. Those were days, when being indulgent meant you went to great lengths to make things at home, so they were special.

 I am completely in awe of folks who say they are compulsive shoppers or shopping addicts.  On the Net.  I am suspicious of credit cards, debit cards and the  like,  and   when I rarely use  one, I walk around with a load on my mind till I pay the bill at the end of the month .  I'm even more wary of paying via cell phones.

Unlike,  eating,singing,painting, exercising, to me , shopping and/or spending  cannot be an addiction.  Like my blogger friend R's Mom would say, "Boss, it needs money !".....:-) 

But despite having dealt with many well known shopping portals, some of them very prompt , efficient, and polite,  this experience with Flora Fountain has always remained my most memorable online  shopping experience. 

While the online buying today, is like getting a paid-for prize and going up to the podium to receive it when it is announced , my original online buying experience was like getting a prize, coming home, and having someone pat you on your back .......





***  More than 20 years later I tried to search for them . They exist, but as an entry  on a larger portal here. 

 

This post is a part of the contest at BlogAdda.com in association with Snapdeal.com

Agobaya ! Freedom to learn !

This is S., my household help for the last 25 years and counting. Has inspired many blog posts. And this entry on freedom for the Blogadda's Frames of Freedom contest....

Her first taste of freedom was when her aged parents brought her and her 4 children back from an abusive marriage.

Since then she has been helping herself to a special freedom, freedom to learn !

She recently called me one night , to ask me to go "wherever I go on the computer to find out stuff" (read Google) and verify some eclipse info for her; an expecting daughter-in-law made this important. ( I Blogged about it here).

She has seen me search online for medicine information for her.

She has "learned" Google; it doesn't matter who is typing.

Enjoys seeing photos of trips, and covered her head respectfully when I showed her some, of our visit to some famous Ganpati temples in Kokan.

Many photos which had her go ,"Agobaya !"




Illiteracy doesn't stop her from learning.

The keyboard doesn't matter, she can't read it anyway.

She knows how to select photos from the Thumbnails. And marvels at the photos.




The best kind of freedom ; Freedom to learn and enjoy the learning !

Discovering a Sensible Me

(Submitted for the Blogadda ‘Conserve. Recycle. Discover’ contest)

Conserve, Recycle, Discover.

These three things are heavily interrelated, closely connected, and taken together, they remind me of a lifestyle half a century ago, when we were, not, such a environmentally “pseudo developed” nation, either in thought, or civic habits.

We never did “Environmental Studies” in school, because we lived them. Water was drunk from traditional glasses made out of either steel, or copper. Plastics were not only unfashionable, but even basically unavailable. And what were available, occasionally in the form of containers, were innovatively reused. Trash and Garbage was so interwoven with life, it was never then a subject for having conferences on.

It is possible even today to follow some of the tenets we followed then. If we have the will.

Conservation and Recycling must start with our way of thinking. You do not “conserve” anything by subscribing to the use and throw philosophy, so avidly imported from the West.

I’ve seen staff in a small bank , on a green campus, looking forward to the midmorning tea break, as someone came around with plastic cups filled with masala tea. Really, the staff strength, did not decree this, and the bank could surely afford two dozen glasses or china cups, and someone to wash them. Better still, staff could rinse their own cups.

A local lake , getting silted, and weedy , dries up in the summer, and a project was initiated (by those living on its banks) to get together and clean out the weeds before the monsoons, on a daily Shramadan basis. While some dedicated types attempted this, there was more response to something where human chains stood lakeside, for miles together, holding plastic banners, lugging Bisleri, folks in their “protest” best, with fancy glares and outfits, 4-wheel drive gas guzzlers rushing the organizers around as they sacrificed a Sunday speaking to television folks.

A visit to any rural area, is an education in how you can organize environmentally decent mass celebrations. Leaf plates are used for meals , which are then collected , and the local cows have a field day partaking of them. No heaps of paper plates, plastic spoons overflowing from bins, waiting to clog up the city drains. These leaf plates are available even today, in places like the Reay Mandai (vegetable market) in Pune, and possibly at many places in Mumbai. In keeping with the times, there are even bowls made from these. Historically, Prasad from temples, was often given in such leaf containers.

Conservation and Recycling can also be part of your cooking. In the big excitement of precut veggies available in air conditioned supermarkets, we have forgotten that each part of the plant has a use.

Peels and scrapings of things like lauki, karela may be transformed into delicious and nutritious chatnis, by sautéing and mixing with roasted coconut, til, and jawas. Left over extra water from cooking veggies can be incorporated seamlessly into sambars and for making chapatti dough. Raw mango seeds , left over after using up the rest for pickles, may be used to make raw mango soup.

In today's high-rise- lifestyle, one often sees water flowing through pipes that come down from the top, whenever the cistern is full, or when terrace water is channeled down in the monsoons. How many times have we seen water wastefully flowing in the compound, while someone raises a hue and cry about shutting off the water supply somewhere ? Buildings even have pipes that collect balcony washing water and channel it down through incremental pipes. A little extra length of pipe, that leads into the garden area, would ensure that this water energizes the plants and enriches their soil, as opposed to flowing wastefully on concrete.

Shopping for food today results in a massive collection of low density plastic bags, which caused havoc in Mumbai in July 2005. A lot of us have switched over to cloth bags. And I would like to applaud something a friend of mine did regarding this. This lady had a large amount of polyester sarees she wanted to get rid of. She engaged an alteration tailor to cut these up and make shopping bags out of the lovely prints, with long handles and stuff. She presents these to her work colleagues and anyone who visits her , including fellows who come to sell things. They use up very little space when folded, can be carried in a bag or purse, wash and dry easily. The whole effort probably costs her less than the cost of one fancy saree, but her ability to help save the environment by the reuse and recycling of sarees is applaudable.

And lets not even talk about vehicles. From a childhood where I spent my entire high school and college years bicycling , to school, college, extra curricular activities and friends, we have now reached a stage in society, where people change cars every two years, because they must keep up with standards. Probably those of the manufacturers of the cars. And the proverbial Joneses. The bigger car, the better you are considered to be in the scheme of things. You have come up in the world. Slowly you get get sucked up into what I called the e-jungle, where you keep updating your phones, computers, music systems, toys, and contribute your share to the e-waste that is the next big environmental issue.

And this will continue, unless you discover something. Not a gadget in the real sense; there are too many of those.

We need to discover what may be called a “Sensible Me”.

Someone, who insists of turning off, replacing leaking taps in the house, who can resist installing AC’s , that run full blast through the summer, because of energy concerns, who doesn’t mind getting hands dirty in the mud, someone, who gets upset when plastic is thrown out of a running vehicle, goes up to the person, and tells him off.

Someone , who doesn’t care being unpopular….

A Roar of approval !

(Submitted for the Blogadda-Canvera " Wide Angle" contest) & won !




That his Bangalore team is called Royal Challengers, has nothing to do with it.

That the owners of the team, live life King Size, is totally incidental, and nothing to do with his stature.

The man has always reminded me of noble Mufasa , the Lion King . Who explained life to his son, Simba, saying, " Everything you see exists together in a delicate balance. As king, you need to understand that balance and respect all the creatures....we are all connected in the great Circle of Life."

The similarity is uncanny. While in this case the son is still too young, the father lives this philosophy, unaware , that, the world looks up to him. Not just in cricket, but Life....

Anil Kumble, is all about balance.

That he began his Cricket at 13, joining a club called Young Cricketers. That he studied when he had to study, graduated with distinction in Mechanical Engineering. That he made his first class debut in 1989, playing against Hyderabad. That he got selected in the India under 19 team. As a right arm leg spinner, who practiced a flipper, throwing a curved backspin Magnusian ball, at batsmen who simply fatigued from the onslaught of accuracy,intelligent variation and bounce. India colors in 1990, and he went from strength to strength, ODI's, tests, and now, back in the IPL.

The second individual in the world after Jim Laker to take 10 wickets in an innings, (against Paksitan, in New Delhi, 1999), he, along with Muthiah Murlitharan and Shane Warne, holds the record for surpassing 600 wickets in test cricket. The former two, who relied on excess, ferocity, misleading tactics, and , as Peter Roebuck said, "created error by destroying hope" , for the batsmen, while Kumble, simply kept the line , length and precision, dedication writ on his determined visage. Precise results from planned precise assaults. An engineer in action, maybe. Balanced in his attack.

Statistics and records are just one aspect of the man.

There are records and records. Where umpires tired of holding up the finger.

And then there are vignettes. Which we hold up today, to show our young.

Kumble, in Antigua, hurt on the jaw, bleeding, returns bandaged (with pins in his jaw) from the pavillion, and bowls his heart out, 14 overs in pain, and gets the wicket of Brian Lara. A team man, to the core. Hurt, dedicated, brave, but always in balance.

Kumble, appointed captain , with Dhoni interning in the wings. They couldn't have chosen better. It was a difficult time, with a difficult series in a difficult country coming up. His friend and colleague from Bangalore had resigned as captain, there were issues. But he lead the only way he knew. With his head, with sincerity, with discipline and intelligence. Knowing what was important . Always in balance.

Kumble sitting at the press conference in Sydney, Australia after Monkeygate. No snarls, no snide comments, no gestures. Just a tough, no-nonsense ,straight look and a line that summed it all up : "There are two teams out there, and only one of them is playing in the spirit of cricket...". And the whole of Australia listened, agreed, chastised their own, and the game, about to get a bad name, remained, in sporting balance.

Kumble, delighted to bits about his 10 wickets in an innings; someone who inspires selfless unheard of actions in fellow bowlers, like Srinath, who after noticing the record a wicket away, deliberately avoided trying to take a wicket, so that the 10th could be Kumble's. Always aware, grateful, happy, balanced.

Kumble, the family man, flying back in the middle of the Pakistan series,a quick trip, to be by the side of his wife, at the birth of his son. And then flying right back, to bowl his Magnusian deliveries at the opposition. A man in balance.

Kumble, the realist , understanding the limitations of an injured little finger, his difficulty in finding his form due to that, declaring his retirement from first class cricket, on the last day of the Delhi test against Australia in 2008. It takes a great man to realize that flying around and getting surgeries was not a solution. And that there was a time and a place for many things in life. All to be finely balanced...

Kumble, who was often seen, in the pavillion, delight writ large on his face, capturing cricketing moments of the unforgettable type on his camera, as the team stood up to applaud some other cricketing God performing in the field. And he himself, coming off the field in his last Test, chaired by those who he guided and led with exquisite wisdom and balance...

Kumble, who doesnt remove and wave shirts publicly, doesnt wink at scantily dressed girls in ads, doesnt revv up accelerators of cars in glamorous ads, doesnt sip colas and tell lies to sell them, and who doesnt appear mouthing threatening words to batsmen on the pitch with accompanying gestures. Just looks determined, serious, tough, and seemingly in balance...

But a Kumble, who knows how to celebrate an honest effort , be it by himself or someone else on the field, whose feet always remain on the ground, firmly anchored, who endorses wildlife, education, insurance companies, and gets appointed on retirement to the World Anti Doping agency(WADA). He supports the IDF Tuberculosis campaign, and honors the young participating project contributors, saying ,"Lets clean bowl TB !".....

The nation declares an Arjuna Award, and later, a Padma award for him. He honors both, by attending. Wisden honors him, also shortlisting him in a list for Wisden Indian Cricketer of the 20th Century, in 2002.

Anil Radhakrishnan Kumble, as Lion King Mufasa would put it, is well connected in the Circle of Life.

Wonderful cricket, great colleagues, a supportive family, perceptive photography, amazing meetings with legends inside and outside cricket, and an abiding respect for creatures of the green, some in sanctuaries and forests, and some, who have run between 22 yards, with a piece of wood, hitting a Kookuburra , for much of their life.


IPL is a commitment he made before he retired. It is not his life. And like he did for his country, he gives it his best.

He remains, for our children, someone to emulate, understand, and look up to.


He probably has more time now. Maybe he takes his children to school and drives them there. Maybe he thinks of the stacks of photos that he still has, which can make another wonderful book. Maybe he will introduce his children to the wildlife that excites him. The light changes to green and he moves on...

The most wonderful thing for him, is possibly an intersection on the busy and prominent M.G.Rd in Bangalore, that is named after him.

A signal honor from the common man, who, while travelling to work daily, stops by, just for a little while, outside the TV shop on that street, watching the last few minutes of the thrilling match, eyes all alight, hoping that Kumble, spinning that second last ball, can do the needful; Watching it all makes him feel good.....

In balance, for the man on the street, it makes the day go better......

Mufasa, the Lion King, would have roared, and approved .

This entry is posted as a part of the Contest by BlogAdda.com