Indian Of The Year

It is that time of the year (or maybe, was, a couple of weeks ago) when all TV channels, newspapers and other agencies would be jumping up and down to present their own such awards - to people like Amitabh Bachchan and Sonia Gandhi, to Sachin Tendulkar (that is just a fad) to Narayan Murthy etc. etc. the usual suspects – some deserving, some not so much. I feel this year the award should go to Umesh, the owner of our Kirana Maalacha Dukaan (Grocery Store). Okay, let me make it clear, that I wish to give the award not so much to Umesh, the person, but the category of people and the form of business he represents.

Grocery store owners are for long taken for granted in India, at least in Pune. They go about their job quietly, they deliver us goods of our day-to-day necessities at very reasonable prices and barely anyone even notices them. In many ways they are like good umpires or wicket-keepers whose inconspicuousness is a testimonial to their superb efficient work.

The reason for this post at this time is because of some of the experiences I had in Pune during my current visit here. These experiences emphasized and reinforced upon me the professionalism of these Kirana Maal Dukaandars in stark contrast to some of the so-called modern enterprises around.

Firstly, at Pappillon, one of the well-known and hi-fi parlors in the city – where when I went in rather than be greeted at the desk by the receptionist I was affronted by a couple of guys who refused to say anything but just muttered something under their breath, leaving it up to me to explain to them what it was that I wanted and also almost how they should go about it. As if that was not enough they asked me to go into the changing room while someone was still in there. So much for consumer-friendliness.

Then when I went to get a prepaid mobile phone card at the Idea showroom at the intersection of Bhandarkar Road and Law College Road, I walked in into utter chaos. Apparently there is a system there where you need to take coupons but nowhere was this written and I had to ask someone at one of the desks who indignantly asked me to take a coupon with an attitude that reeked of “Isn’t it obvious ? Why the hell do you have to disturb me?” Of course, I realized that with this attitude it was quite meaningless to ask how to go about using the coupon machine or which code denoted which service which was most unintuitive, needless to add. After working my way through this little puzzle, I waited for an hour (because that was all the time I had) and did not receive service (because specific desks were servicing specific types of requests and unfortunately for me the gals who were supposed to serve me were flitting on and off their desks every ten minutes or were downright incompetent). The same thing happened when I tried my luck again in the evening and only when I was about to leave frustrated a second time did one of the more sensible gals come around checked my request and told me that instead of waiting around I could simply go to the cashier’s desk at the back of the office and get things started. Duh!

So the next time that I needed to get my card recharged I was shaking in apprehension when my mother told me that recharging can also be done at Umesh. Within moments he had put me to ease. I asked him if we could recharge the card here, sure, he said. He asked for the phone number, the amount to be recharged and within seconds I was through.

As a consumer what I look for most is satisfaction – and that depends on various factors – professionalism, reliability, consumer-friendliness, efficiency all qualities embedded by Umesh and like and sorely lacking in these so-called new modernized places.

We should salute these people who do so much for the society simply by going about their jobs with such great proficiency and providing satisfaction and reliability to consumers. Not for them any great façade of sophistication or any altruistic manifestations. He is my Indian Of The Year.