I W 's

Do you often see a dark colored man on a pavement or outside a station... on a roadside shelter or anywhere else that you can imagine... selling hot idlis with chutney and sambhar... with medu vadas... and dosas too..... may be on a cycle with a huge dabba with already made stuff... or just a cart with a huge tava and rest ingredients and material... or may be just..... a table....

These are the people with the most incredible business sense... a true market perspective, a very raw entrepeneur... and a truly rich man... atleast compared to a middle class person working from nine to six... and earning a mere income....

Yes this is 100 % true cos i have seen such people in three important phases of my life... ie of my school days... college days..... and office days.... and know their lifestyle by a comman man's PoV ....

These IW's (Idli wala's) catch the most busiest place.. like that of station... outside office... or a college footpath... or outside sports ground... (all these places are where the people are really hungry and tend to find the cheapest place to eat and spend)

and will sell a plate for a maximum of Rs 8 and mininmum of 5 depending on the place.. and will provide handsome quantity so that no complaints are expected atleast in the start of the business....

These IW's have three shifts to work on... or full day... depending on the technique they use...
1) they work in 3 shifts .. if they bring ready made food and just sell it on a cycle....
2) they work all day.... if they prepare stuff on demand ... and have atleast a hand cart with the necessary material..

now comes the turnover part...

They charge max of 8 and minimum of 5..as i said .. so considering that... and the size of the idlis or vadas... and my personal experience... a person having the minimal appetite tends to eat atleast 3 plates...
so by that calculation... Rs 15 mininum and 24 maximum... from each person... so technincally average of 19.5 so 20 to be considered..

if even 50 people eat at this IW then ... 1000 is the total.. earning... and expenditure for that day itself will be just 100...

that means 900 per day.. and 30 days of month... meaning... 27000 per month... so thats a pretty hefty amount they earn... for just this work... and they need no promotion... no appraisal.. no reports to write.. no office politics.. and no tension stress..

Also the way i know... each and every valued person who eats at IW... will be knowing the IW's name , place where he lives.. knows about his family... gives him a tip or two... or atleast considers him a nice person since IW is offering him food at such mere rate of 5 or 8... in the world of recession and costliness of products... gives a relief to the pocket of a common man... with the home made taste.. and a healthy food... minus the oil.. and the preservatives.. and additives... and colours...

And for all this fame and money... he has to do absolutely nothing.... but just get up early... find a suitable place.... with no... business rival existing..... and cook nice.... thats it....

Some times i tend to wonder... what m i doing.. with the constant stress of performing... giving exams to sustain myself in the professional world... prove myself each and every time ... always thinking of work and nothing else... and think about ... everything else... except ME....

Hmmm..... a serious thinking that i have to do .... i must say....

Hats off to those simple humans who tend to live simple life and make it big in this complicated World......

Ciao