Saturday, March 11, 2006

Swami Enterprises

Though the fever is down I am still a little foggy in the head. After a really long snooze in the afternoon I went to sit outside on my favorite perch, my balcony. From here I can see the green expanse of the villages and farms to my left and the houses to my right. The fields next to my house are a fresh green from yesterdays showers and the pond herons and Herons are having a field day catching small fries. It looks so refreshing to the eye.

I can see the road in front of my house. I see Swamy surrounded by about 15 kids from the village as he makes Pani Puri, Bhel Puri, Fruit Salad, Vegetable sandwhich etc from his push cart. When I was small Swamy used to sell Cucumber and Tomatoes. Then he slowly started keeping chilli powder and salt because people kept asking for it. So he would sell cucumber as well as a cucumber salad to passers by. Soon he added some bread and started making Cucumber sandwiches with his own 'masala'. Overtime he gave up selling vegetables and now makes a pretty penny making all sorts of shredded vegetable mixtures that he fills into bread, pani puri shells or simply sells the shredded vegetables tossed in his own 'masala'. He has put on weight, his kids go to school and he has a really good cart now. What is amazing is that people from all walks of life come to buy his stuff. He is an amazing example of enterprise that enfolded right in front of my very own eyes.

He stops in front of my house, sees my mom and asks her how I was doing. My mom points to me on the balcony and he chides me for sitting outside when I am just recovering from fever. To please him I go inside and get back after he has trundled back into the village to his pucca house which he built entirely out of his savings from this business. Hats off Swamy. You are the spirit of enterprise that I hope sweeps rural India.

13 comments:

Mind Curry said...

nice one..i also have seen some really hardworing and determined people, people who work hard that their family might have a better day, their children better education and so on. i really admire that kind.

i have also seen people who just complain about their situation (however good or bad) and refuse to do anything about it. i dont really like that kind.

Ganja Turtle said...

Swami...come to Cochin! Am hungry. :-(

silverine said...

@mindcurry: You know Swamy doesnt drink like people in his situation which worked in his favor or it would have been the same vicious cycle. He came with nothing to Bangalore.And I feel so proud to see the opportunity that he grabbed out of thin air.
@GT: I shall immediately inform Swamy about your plight. Perhaps he will open a branch office in Cochin near the GT Admirers Association on Marine Drive-Cochin :))

Jagan said...

theres a similar story in chennai - This guy used to sell oil to small shops in his cycle.Today he owns "jus-parathas" chain of hotels in chennai .

and also i believe there are some "lottery sellers " from kerala who have made it big . But ofc ..me not fan of lottery/gambling.

and u stay near the village ? i thought u were in bangalore.

Matter of Choice said...

inspiring!

(and yeah u shuldnt be sitting out in the cold when recovering from fever SF)

Anonymous said...

Hello, I just discovered this page of yours reflecting the other side of your mind.

Nice work.. Keep the writing going..

And yeah, Get well soon..

Mind Curry said...

gone with the swami?

Anonymous said...

It was a great read indeed

I have heard people saying that hard work pays back in future. Sure, it will. But i have a question for those so called hard workers, does this hard work come by decision? i guess, its not. Situations make the HW (hard-worker)to think big. And a series of such situations make him rich/successful. And in future point of time he will tell the world," hey world look at me....".

true?

silverine said...

@Jagan; Well, Swamy is not that big as jus parathas, but earns as well as a software engineer I heard. And guess what? I bet he doesnt pay taxes :))
@MoC: Inspiring indeed :)
@Anita: Thank you Anita :)
@mindcurry: I have posted :)
@chaayakada:You are right, situations also makes success stories. There is another such illiterate guy who used to buy old newspapers near my house. He soon set up a small tin shop and today buys old newspapers , bottles, metal scraps etc.from the cycle vendors and sends it for recycling. His earning is reportedly about 2 lakhs per month!!!

Anonymous said...

me wants pani pani, behl puri... buy some and send a parcel to qatar madam... puhlllleassse

silverine said...

@Alexis; So true, these are unsung heroes among us who make a big diference without being noticed.
@Jinu: Wish I could do that but then you don't want to eat mouldy pani puris do you? :))

Sachin R K said...

Beautiful post. Reminded me of 'Martyr's Corner' by R K Narayan.

silverine said...

Sachin rk: Thank you and thanks for the comment on the other older posts too :)