Experiences of a Lifetime

It is a scorching summer afternoon. I roll up my sleeves and along with my sales officer and salesman, enter a kirana outlet; its blackened walls are covered with posters of ads of toothpaste, a soap and a local brand of oil. Women of all ages crowd around hustling to negotiate with the store man. Accusations of overcharging and adulteration are flying across the counter. I hope we will make a productive call and get a good order of toothpaste. I struggle to get the attention of Mohan Bhai, the store owner; hoping to chat with him about our new launch. I am finally greeted with a fervor as he lights up seeing a well-dressed potential customer. “ Haan madam, shu levaanu che? ”. I explain to him I am from Colgate and am here to take his order. He instantly loses interest and re-starts negotiating on the price of a Saffola Oil 1L pack with the bulky woman next to me – happy to have got his attention again. He has this bewildered look as he turns to me and wonders what/how to talk to ...

It is a January Sunday morning and I’m home after a week-long travel across hinterlands of the country. Winter mornings are particularly precious - it’s the only time I get the sun and like Jaadu, I can’t live without the sun. So I make myself a hot cup of tea, wait for sun to stop playing hide & seek and sip my tea. Tea lovers say Tea is Life. Like any tea lover, I agree. The first sip is steaming hot, one doesn’t really understand the taste or the flavor. It’s just hot; and all you can do is blow into it and wait till it becomes drinkable. The first few years is to figure out whether your life is flavoured with elaichi or adrak or lemon? Does it even have enough sugar? Or is it just bland? Only the maker of the tea knows what it’s going to taste like. You can then start to enjoy the flavor of the tea with the adrak, elaichi, lemon. You realize there is less sugar and reach out to add some. Some are content with less sugar, some aren’t. This sugar & flavor is what i...