#2. Edible Gum Selling Service
The idea of a having a supermarket at your doorstep, or selling products door-to-door as a form of ‘customer service’ is very popular in India. In most parts of the country fruit and vegetable vendors go in their carts, carrying fresh supplies for the residents. But apart from these usual suspects, we also have unique products being sold at our doorstep. One amongst them is the ‘edible gum selling service’.
Meet Hari, a lanky 23-year old, father of one, who walks several miles from east to the west of Ahmedabad, selling special kinds of ‘masalas’ or spices such edible gum which is used as a binder in several sweets, cinnamon sticks, black pepper, dry dates and dry mango powder.
The system: He is hired by the grocery shop owner in east Ahmedabad, to carry a little bundle of spices and travel to the west of the city, for a daily commission of 25%. At the end of the day Hari manages to sell goods worth Rs 200 – 300 (£4 approx) and gets Rs. 50 (75p approx) for his work, just enough for his family’s evening meal.
Hari believes that his strongest assets are his ability to walk long distances, and his loud, compelling voice that attracts young children, who love chewing on dry dates. His other loyal clients include mothers who plan to buy edible gum for cooking sweets, specially during the festive season. (approx one every other month). But he also explores new neighborhoods in the hope of attracting more clients.
Hari is a service provider, a physcial ‘touchpoint’, an entrepreneur, a labourer and much more. There are loopholes within this service, functionally, legally and ethically. How does the grocery-owner trust Hari to stick to the same prices, and not sell the goods for a higher prices to his customers? On the other hand, why doesn’t Hari demand a bigger commission?
Many such small ‘business-services’ fit into the networks of our daily life in India, with deep connections to the food we eat (including sweets bound with edible gum!) and the social structures we live by. Often these are exploitative and corrupt, and India’s feudal heritage is often blamed for these flaws. But these loopholes allow for a large population without a home address and a bank account to earn a living, which otherwise would have been impossible. And importantly, this seemingly ‘organic’ system also creates less waste, minimal packaging and almost no carbon footprint, making it highly sustainable.
Anab,
I quote below from your blog
“But these loopholes allow for a large population without a home address and a bank account to earn a living, which otherwise would have been impossible. And importantly, this seemingly ‘organic’ system also creates less waste, minimal packaging and almost no carbon footprint, making it highly sustainable.”
Is there a lesson to be learnt here? Can we use these lessons/concepts as we build Smart Cities? Smart Cities, I suspect could become too Data Centric rather than becoming People Centric. The Edible Gum Wallah shows a desirable work ethic. He works hard to take care of his family, establishes good will with his customers and is probably well versed in Service Design Principles using Street Smarts.
Is there wisdom in having a Hawker oriented society or a tleast a Hybrid? Sometimes one wonders how we can have a good mix of age old traditions with the wonders of modern technology. I guess that is where our Service Designers can break the mold. Please tell IBM to take notes. Is there an answer to eliminating inner city poverty and drug use through gainful employment?
Thanks for your insights Daniel. I think there are a few lessons to be learnt from this. I have always believed in ‘people-centric’ over ‘data centric’ as an attitude to be adopted by urbanists and planners. At the moment, atleast in India, there is no choice but to be people-centric. But I wonder if we need to explore ‘people-centric’ a bit more? If people-centric is a design attitude then exploitation and difficult urban living conditions would not exist here in India. If people -centric is a no-choice attitude, then it can be quite top-down. (which I am observing)
Yes, the hawker’s survival skills have helped him become street smart and a service designer, from whom all can learn. And yes, it can help in gainful employment for millions of other such Haris. In fact the government’s rural employment scheme is one such answer. Am sure there are others.
This discussion continues here: http://wenovski.ning.com/profiles/blogs/edible-gum-selling-service?commentId=2123839%3AComment%3A11900&xg_source=msg_com_blogpost