I have had this thought bouncing around in my head for months now. The value for money funda we Indians have, the "Bhaiya, theek theek lagao" syndrome, is absolutely absurd. As the price point of the stuff goes down we start haggling for a smaller share of the money. It is like we are on a conquest and that 10 or 20/- we do not pay the vendor/auto walah will actually redeem the cash splurge on some shitty "Khan" movie at PVR
The sad part is, these 10-20/- would actually make a difference between the other guy actually getting a decent meal or not. Have you ever bargained for 20/- at any of the glitzy showrooms? If they gave you a discount of 100/- did you say "No no, give another 20/- off"?
It is absurd that we get some sort of sadistic pleasure/sense of achievement from actually saving those 20/-, using it for ordering extra cheese on the next Pizza and then paying a 1000/- to the "fitness center" to burn that bloody cheese off our asses....
The bang for your buck could actually be the sound of a poor soul shooting himself! Ironic isn't it?
6 comments:
It's not really an "Indian" Syndrome...it happends everywhere around the world. Haggling is the norm wherever possible (and it can be fun...since both parties expect it)...
try payng an exorbitant amount of money to the lechy autowallah, who refuses to run the meter, without wincing and haggling...not good! :-|
Now, a rikshaw puller is an entirely different case...they totally deserve what they ask for...especially if they're pulling a really huge punjabi aunty (not me :P )
It's supposed to be an art and I agree with previous comment. There is nothing Indian about it.
Btw I think you are mixing two disparate things here. Nonetheless message I take away from your blog is download SRK movies :)
You have a point. but the reality is a lot of the stuff is super-marked up in the expectation of there being haggling. how many times have you walked away from a street saying, thanks but no, and have that fellow run back after you offering at one third the quoted price?
if you take autowalas for instance - never haggle with em in bombay. in pune, they will float around empty - and when you flag one down, they say nahin jaana hai first - and then say accha 30 rupya jyada dena. i have no issues giving him the meter ke hisaab se paisa, but if the damn distance is 20 bucks worth i really dont want to pay 30 bucks more. so its a question between haggling and being had a lot of times.
You know its I guess a way to redeem some of the guilt for spending otherwise.. :-)
"bhaiya" you are like a cocoon, struggling out of the middle class shell.. will take a lot more time for me :D
For me it's more the principle of the whole thing. Like I say to every autorickshaw driver who tries to take me for 10 bucks more -- I make an honest living, why can't you? If you desperately want 10 bucks just ask me for it ... say you need it to buy medicine for your kid and I will gladly give it to you. But don't try to cheat me on the fare. Even if it is 10 bucks, a pittance for me.
As for the hundreds or thousands we splurge elsewhere, that is for each of us to decide whether we are getting our money's worth or just being taken for a ride. I would never spend 200 bucks to watch that monkey Shahrukh, but others would - they think it's worth it. To each his own as they say.
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