Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Bargaining

Having studied two years in the US, I am often faced with the question what I missed most when I studied there. There are many things I missed—the food, the culture and lots more. Prominently, I missed seeing my mom bargaining at the stores. Bargaining, I have realized, is one of those essential parts of Indian living. It is more like a habit, a hobby to some, and that urge to get things at a cheaper price always exists in every Indian heart. Even if you get your vegetables at an admirably low rate, it is difficult to quietly pay up. We would like to prod the poor vendor even more, trying to get our onions at a lower price. I think bargaining is an art, because everyone cannot be good at it. I am terrible when it comes to bargaining, but the older ladies of the city, through years of experience have become adept in it. The philosophy they follow is that every vendor can be forced to lower his prices. Nobody is too tough to crack. There are many types of Bargainers—the vigorous bargainers, the persistent bargainers and the clever Bargainers. I have observed one very clever bargaining technique: (My mom uses this)
“How much is the price of potato?” you ask.
“Blah-Blah-Blah…” says Vendor so-and-so.
“Aha! That’s too much? Could you reduce the price to twenty-five rupees?’
“No, I really can’t.”
Then you bargain a lot; heave a long sigh and say, “Well, I can’t buy them! They are selling the same potatoes for twenty on Market road.” And then you smartly walk away (not too fast to be out of hearing range of the vendor, mind you!) and finally, a gruff voice from behind calls for you. “Alright madam! Alright! Twenty five it is!”

Well, walk into a supermarket or a mall and you will quickly understand that you need to be well-mannered. Visiting a supermarket demands many special things. For example, you can’t barge into a supermarket in that wrinkled sari of yours and a torn shopping bag. Oh no! All those well-bred creatures up there will stare at you. You strut between the Aisles, sweetly take a look at the ridiculously priced corn-flakes cereals, replace them in their position and walk away. There is no bargaining. Prices are fixed. Surely, all those daily bargainers will feel uncomfortable in such a situation. We have been bargaining since many years, if all those American supermarket chains like Walmart and Target do arrive in Bangalore, engulfing the local vendors, then it is no surprise that the old women and the bargaining lot will become uncomfortable and some may even curse these superstores under their breath! While we generally consider it as a convenience, the traditional ladies might end up feeling they were robbed of their right, and the art that they had developed over years of practice has been wasted.

7 comments:

RK said...

To hold on to market share and probably the mind share, Surf used Lalithaji in its advertisement. The character was a typical housewife from the middle class who was good at bargaining with vendors.

I have seen some women bargaining so audaciously with vendors that the latter is almost in tears.

Bargaining is so much a part of Indian culture that even today a brand in the personal care category uses it in its communication to convey its value proposition.

Simply loved reading this post.

Keep writing

Regards
RK
(just in case you missed it: Honoured to have you on my blogroll)

http://bellurramki18.wordpress.com/

Lakshmi Bharadwaj said...

Oh thank you so much sir. Really, I am honoured. I read your last comment, but I did not relaize what blogroll meant, so I searched on the net and I finally understood. Once again, I am deeply indebted.

Anil P said...

One way to look at it would be as a conversation we would otherwise not have with the vendor.

Interactions that help us feel the pulse of the place.

RK said...

in kannada, BARGAINING is CHOWKASHI MAADODU or KOSARADODU.

namm KASHI, KASHIge hogi yen bitta? CHOWKASHI maadodu bitta!

;)

http://bellurramki18.wordpress.com/

RK said...

being an RKN fan, thought of sharing this link:

http://bellurramki18.wordpress.com/2007/06/10/bangalore-mirror-writes-about-a-fan-his-5-heroes/

visit in leisure

cheers

Madhukar - VU2MUD said...

no wonder the traders in Kerala are striking against the mega stores - to our benefit?

Suresh Sathyanarayana said...

hey young lady,

i felt that there is a tinge of RKN in your writing ,,,, to be really frank i would call it you are kinda inspired by him right..... but nice to see a 16 yr old writing blogs... appreciate the thinking that is going into it... keep going

Cheers
Suresh
sureshsathyanarayana@gmail.com
http://turbulentturmoileverywhere.blogspot.com