Mylapore Mamies and MNC Negotiations (Chithra, Please Forgive Me)

Dear Porkodi,

You are right.All Bharatiya Naaris (or at least a vast majority of them are good hagglers) And among men the percentage of hagglers is quite less. May be another "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus" aspect.

These hi-funda Malls do take away the pleasure of bargaining. Not only that they encourage you to buy more. You see in an old fashioned store, we used to ask the shopkeeper about a specific item and buy it. In a mall you just go around with a trolley and just put whatever that catches your eye into the trolley.

Two years back I was standing behind an IT guy at the Big Baazaar in Double Road. The guy had bought left right and centre. Where mine had been a very cautious buying, in spite of the fact that my wife and my daughter were with me. May be he earned so much that he need not have to look into the price tags. But I always go by the price tag. ('That's why I tell you, never marry an accountant.' My wife's quotable quote)

Full fun in shopping is when going to some place on a trip and visiting vendors outside sightseeing places and buying total useless things never needed ( souvenirs) after haggling in two or three broken languages and bharatnatyam actions for half an hour and proudly getting for Rs. 25 what the fellow said was 26.

You are right. Souvenir shopping is a different ball game. When I went to Delhi for the first time about a quarter century back, I did not have enough money to buy things.But I knew manageable Hindi.My senior colleagues had enough money but they did not know Hindi. So I was their official dhubash for 4 hours. Actually my Hindi improved dramatically during that time.

Once when we went to Nepal, we were looking at street shops and asked price of one small metal buddha head. He said 500. We told him , are you joking it is only worth 40 or 50. Immediately he packed it in newspaper and said Ok give 50 ! We said, then why you quoted 500 ! He said " saabji, Indian people never buy without haggling, if i said correct price, then also they will waste time asking less. This way, you are also satisfied, i am also satisfied ! "

The Nepali is dead right.That's why I tell people that you will have to haggle everywhere as the vendors would have already adjusted the prices upward to give room for haggling.

I am only thinking , very sad your grandmother did not give any good training to your grandfather before he went to buy grapes !

My grandpa had been a good haggler. But then he lost his hearing. And that was his problem.
Thanks for the fb, Porkodi. I liked the way you described our Souvenir shopping. Quite humorous.
love,

Thanks, Sriniketan. I don't exactly go with the majority. But I always go with the world. I have never been a rebel.That's my strength and that's my weakness.

regards,

Originally Posted by Sriniketan

Sridhar,
I got the bargaining of your grandfather....
i truly accept that some of the mamas are good at that and some mamis are not too good at this....there are exceptions in all fields, isn't it..
Your title is the proof of it...you go with the majority...right...

sriniketan

Dear Mindi,

What I love about MMs is their adaptability and their mobility. They can survive in a mosquito-infested 400 square feet flat or occupy a mansion in Southern California built on an acre of private woods. And in both these places they wont lose their identity.

At times even if you know the language there'd be a problem. When I was in college our family was vacationing in Chennai. 9 of us had gone to the Marina Beech. During those days there was not much crowd.An icecream vendor came. Dad wanted to get icecreams for all. He asked the price. The man said onnu ambathu kaasu. We all thought that 50 paise a piece is a steal and each of us had two icecreams each. It was only when Dad was about to make the payment that the vendor told that the cost of once piece was Rs.1.50. Onnu ambathu. Dad had to shell out the money. We just had enough money to go back home in a bus.

Haggling without knowing the language is even more tougher. I admire your aunt's courage though.

Thanks for the fb, Mindi.
regards,

Originally Posted by Mindian

Dear sridhar Sir,

that was a very humorous tribute to the MMs ...we women love to bargain and the thrill in saving that few dollars is like a job well done for us...loved chithra mams fb..i must admit the MMs are a true blend of tradition and the modern..their contribution to this site is a proof of that....
of course your grandfathers bargaining was THE BEST...the same thing happenned to my aunt when she came to bombay as a new bride and did not know hindi...but we tease her saying not knowing the language yet u had to haggle with the price?....

Mindi

Dear Sridhar,

Sorry to mookanozhcifying............... I wholeheartedly agree with Indhu not to marry an accountant that tooo a banker ........ no never because my DH will top the list in that. (he also works in a bank - in your terms kanaku pillai)

Sometimes....... na na always it is frustrating when one has to see the price tag and buy. That is why I don't take hime for window shopping, impulsive buying because I know it will be only be literal window shopping......... no buying at all, only seeing.

[quote]

Originally Posted by varalotti

Dear Porkodi,

Two years back I was standing behind an IT guy at the Big Baazaar in Double Road. The guy had bought left right and centre. Where mine had been a very cautious buying, in spite of the fact that my wife and my daughter were with me. May be he earned so much that he need not have to look into the price tags. But I always go by the price tag. ('That's why I tell you, never marry an accountant.' My wife's quotable quote)

Dear Sudha,
I don't buy the argument that you are an ex MM. Because once a MM, always a MM. Life without haggling can be quite dull and some psychiatrists say that if you don't haggle for a long time, you might get a mild depression.

Jokes apart, by haggling you are reinforcing a human relationship with the vendor. I have seen many vendors in Mylapore when they see you, they simply say, Welcome Mami? How is your daughter doing? and so on.
But in a fixed-price mall environment the shop assistant is more of a fixture like the lamp and the airconditioner.

MNCs bargain. The difference is that MMs would still be humane. MNCs are ruthless and heartless most of the time. I have had the opportunity to fight with a few big corporations. It was only when I put my foot firmly down, they stopped to listen what I was saying. The only languages MNCs understand are threats and violence.
We have somehow complicated our lives.
Thanks for the fb, Sudha.
regards,

Originally Posted by sudhavnarasimhan

Dear Sridhar,

I too can be included as EX MM! Having lived in Mylapore before i shifted here, how can i forget all the jaggling i have also done and then becoming good friends with the same. It was all for the fun of it knowing fully well sometimes these people would hike their prices when they see us! How i miss all that fun here! No question of bargaining and haggling.....all fixed prices only! I wonder if the MNCs haggle for the Fun of it! No way, it is always profits for them.........and tension!

anyway great comparison.....liked some of your examples too!

Dear Lalitha,
No need to be sorry. Thanks for mooka nuzhachifying. You are right in one way. We accountants are bad in the sense we constantly look for value for money.At times it could be too tiring for our spouses.
When it comes to hotels, I always prefer a small,simple place where the food is great.
In fact when my client hosted me an expensive dinner at Connemara the other day, I lost sleep on seeing that he had paid for Rs. 4000 for dinner for three persons. The taste was just about okay. The price, definitely not.
There's no other go, Madam. You have to put up with a kanakkupillai.
ha ha ha
love,

[quote=lalitha shivaguru;340604]Dear Sridhar,

Sorry to mookanozhcifying............... I wholeheartedly agree with Indhu not to marry an accountant that tooo a banker ........ no never because my DH will top the list in that. (he also works in a bank - in your terms kanaku pillai)

Sometimes....... na na always it is frustrating when one has to see the price tag and buy. That is why I don't take hime for window shopping, impulsive buying because I know it will be only be literal window shopping......... no buying at all, only seeing.

Dear Sridhar,
Its a great writeup from you once again.And a big yes about your observations on MM's.I too admire them for they carry out the haggling tasks with a unique style what you can call a Win-win stragegy!
And being a IT professional myself, i tell you with all my heart, i hate my counterparts for their lavish spendings!! They simply show to the world, its okay to pay Rs.200/- to a autowallah for a distance of less than 10 kms.No wonder inflation is at its peak.As for me, i spend when its a must and i act a kanchapisnari(nari) when its not a must/need.

Enjoyed this lovely thread of your's on MM's haggling and skills! You rock!

Dear Varalotti
Something funny happening in your thread............hahaha
It is disappearing, my fbs, even in the previous thread that is the perfect ending story had put in the fb it disappeared so had to write it again, that time thought I might have done some hurry in posting it. But it happened again no idea what is the problem. i had posted yesterday and today not to be seen, looks like my fbs are playing hide and seek in the thread............hahahaha

ok Nice write up on the smart mamies but that poor mami doesn't know with whom she is dealing with...............much smarter guy of the town. I hope this fb stays..........

wow, my dear sridhar sir,
i loved this one for a lot of things....
- your appreciation of MMs - am a mylapoeran by birth, displaced due to marriage,and so will never miss an oppurtunity to take pride in my mylaporean roots....though i don't think of myself as a maami yet(inspite of the fact that marriage bestows that title on us by default)
- maamis(whether mylaporean or not) and their haggling skills - no second opinion on that - they stand unsurpassed :)
though not an expert at this skill, am ok to a considerable extent....
- your reply about being an accountant's wife - though am an also ran accountant, i undoubtedly have this streak in me, and i can never buy things without looking at the price tag...it may also be the result of conditioning by parents who were both bank employees... :)
i even make a quick cost-sheet in my mind as to how much the production cost would have been, allow for overheads and a margin, and pass a verdict myself as to whether the price is justified... !
but after marriage, i have been blessed with an indulgent husband who insists i should buy what i like and not look at the price tag so much... :)
- about you being born in Isabels - i almost got up and did a little merry jig, for i was born there myself....aha, en sandoshathirkku alave illa...

and, just a few days back, in the midst of a conversation with my dh and his friends, i was telling that "once a mylaporean, always a mylaporean"
reading the exact same words from you made me happy to no end !!

That was an enjoyable read. I sometimes wonder if the practical wisdom of mamis is what is missing in the business world - what if Enron CEO had been a MM? - that's another topic for you to write about!!