Tuesday, May 08, 2012

Why India Works

*Why India Works - written by internationally-acclaimed film director
Shekhar Kapoor.*****

 ****

A greater ‘hole in the wall’ you cannot imagine. A small fading sign on the
top saying “Cellphoon reapars” barely visible through the street vendors
crowding the Juhu Market in Mumbai. On my way to buy a new Blackberry, my
innate sense of adventure made me stop my car and investigate. A shop not
more than 6 feet by 6 feet. Grimy and uncleaned.****

‘Can you fix a Blackberry ?”****

‘Of course, show me”****

”How old are you” ‘Sixteen’****

Bullshit. He was no more than 10. Not handing my precious blackberry to a 10
year old in unwashed and torn T shirt and pyjamas! At least if I buy a new
one, they would extract the data for me. Something I have been meaning to do
for a year now.****

‘What’s wrong with it?”****

‘Well, the roller track ball does not respond. It’s kind of stuck and I
cannot operate it”****

He grabs it from my hand and looks at it****

“You should wash your hands. Many customers have same problem. Roller ball
get greasy and dirty, then no working’****

Look who was telling me to wash my hands. He probably has not bathed for 10
days, I leaned out to snatch my useless blackberry back..****

” You come back in one hour and I fix it’.****

I am not leaving all my precious data in this unwashed kid’s hands for an
hour. No way.****

“Who will fix it?”****

‘Big brother’****

‘How big is ‘big brother?’****

‘big …. Umm ..thirty’****

Then suddenly big brother walks in. 30 ??? He is no more than 19.****

‘What problem?’ He says grabbing the phone from my greasy hand into his
greasier hand. Obviously not trained in etiquette by an upmarket retail
store manager.****

‘Normal blackberry problem. I replace with original part now. You must wash
your hand before you use this’. What is this about me washing my hands
suddenly??****

19 year old big brother rummages through a dubious drawer full of junk and
fishes out a spare roller ball packed in cheap cellophane wrapper. Original
part? I doubt it. But by now I am in the lap of the real India and there is
no escape as he fishes out a couple of screwdrivers and sets about opening
my Blackberry.****

“How long will this take?”****

”Six minutes”****

This I have to see. After spending the whole morning trying to find a
Blackberry service centre and getting vague answers about sending the phone
in for an assessment that might take a week, I settle down next to his
grubby cramped work space. At least I am going to be able to watch all my
stored data vanish into virtual space. People crowd around to see what’s
happening. I am not breathing easy anyway. I tell myself this is an
adventure and literally have to stop myself grabbing my precious Blackberry
back and making a quick escape. But in exactly six minutes this kid handed
my Blackberry back. He had changed the part and cleaned and serviced the
whole phone. Taken it apart, and put it together. As I turned the phone on
there was a horrific 2 minutes where the phone would not come on. I looked
at him with such hostility that he stepped back.****

‘you have more than thousand phone numbers ?”****

‘yes’.****

‘backed up?’****

‘no’****

‘Must back up. I do it for you. Never open phone before backing up’****

‘You tell me that now?’****

But then the phone came on and my data was still there. Everyone watching
laughed and clapped. This was becoming a show. A six minute show. I asked
him how much.****

‘500 rupees’ He ventured uncertainly. People around watched in glee
expecting a negotiation.****

That’s $10 dollars as against the Rs 30,000 ($ 600) I was about to spend on
a new Blackberry or a couple of weeks without my phone. I looked suitably
shocked at his ‘high price’ but calmly paid him. Much to the disappointment
of the expectant crowd****

‘do you have an I-Phone ? Even the new ‘4D one ?****

‘no, why”****

‘I break the code for you and load any ‘app’ or film you want. I give you 10
film on your memory stick on this one, and change every week for small fee’*
***

I went home having discovered the true entrepreneurship that lies at what we
call the ‘bottom of the pyramid’. Some may call it piracy, which of course
it is, but what can you say about two uneducated and untrained brothers aged
10 and 19 that set up a ‘hole in the wall’ shop and can fix any technology
that the greatest technologists in the world can throw at them. I smiled at
the future of our country. If only we could learn to harness this potential.
****

‘Please wash your hands before use’ were his last words to me. *Now I am
feeling seriously unclean.***** 

Disclaimer: Its a fwd I got from someone and any law violation should be aimed at that person and not him. In case anyone has any problem with this article, he/she should email me his/ her protest.

3 comments:

Laghu Sikarwar said...

really cool!!! thanks for sharing!

kiran said...

Cool!!!
Good stuff to read.
Thanks for sharing

Learn Digital Marketing said...

Great article, Thanks for your great information, the content is quiet interesting. I will be waiting for your next post.

InsurTech 2.0

The Life Insurance industry is going through a disruption, as we see a lot of tech giants getting converging in the Insurtech space. This...