November 02, 2010

India - Poor Country – Rich in common sense and business sense – Part - II

6.       Street food that is tasty and very affordable:  In most places in the world street food is either not available or is simply too costly. But in India Street food is always easily available and that too it is very cheap. One can get a full meal of rice and dal or roti and curry or Poori and curry all for Rs 10/- rupees (at a jaw dropping price 20 US cents). The food is cheap, mostly hygienic, served fast and is incredibly tasty.
7.       Vada Pau: that is more than a snack and less than a meal. The iconic food that originated in Mumbai Vada Pau gives competition to Mac burger and beats it hollow. Vada Pau is intoxicatingly, tasty, is fresh and is incredibly cheap. Vada Pau costs Rs 10/- in most places and that is at least three times cheaper than the most basic burger served by Mac Donald. Vada Pau is so famous that it has caught the attention of MacDonald which wants to make it a part of its own fare and call it a Mac Pau!
8.       5 rupees ice-cream and 50 rupees shirt: India is one of the few countries in the world that serves food very cheap. It is very common to se Rs 5/- (10 US cents) cone ice-cream that is tasty and very very affordable. At the same time a customer can buy a shirt (popularly called Kumar shirts) at a surprising price of Rs 50/-. Is the Rs 50/- shirt durable? Definitely not but at the same time it makes buying new shirts for the innumerable Indian festivals very pocket friendly. At the same time the typical Indian customer is very fashion savvy, so why waste Rs 1500/- on a branded shirt when you can get 30 shirts at the same cost and enjoy the feeling of wearing new shirt and the variety of new shirts, fashions and color thrown in free of cost!
9.       Car for2000 US $: When Ratan Tata announced a car at less than 2,000 US $ all the major car makers laughed at him. Toyota CMD made a bet that it was not possible and has to eat humble pie the day the car was officially launched. Initial hiccups aside Nano is doing great guns and is showing the world the Indian way of making rock bottom priced utilitarian products.
10.       Dabbawalas: The world famous Dabbawalas have proved many points. One need not be highly educated or highly placed or earn a six figure salary to deliver quality service to the clients. At the same time the cost of service need not be exorbitant to guarantee flawless, 6 sigma quality. The humble Dabbawalas charge only 6 US $ to take the home made lunch to the destination (usually the office) and take it back every day for 25 Days in a month. That is 5 cents per journey. And the distance covered could be as much as 80 kilometers one way. The most Amazing way of delivery of service in the world.

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