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

I have been really blessed in that I have witnessed a typical, matured, balanced Mylapore Maami haggling at Renganathan Street, Chennai and have also witnessed some ‘high-level’ MNC negotiations. With my professional and personal background I could hardly notice any essential difference between the two.

The language, the idioms, the manner of talking, the prices haggled, the size of the transaction – all these may differ. But these are all of the form. The substance is the same.

In fact I like it better with the Mamis than with the MNCs. The former are more humane yet very skillful.

When clerks talk, it’s gossip; when executives talk, it’s discussion. Similarly when Mylapore Maamis do that, it’s called haggling. But MNCs do that it’s called strategic price negotiation, or some other jargon, that comes a mouthful, but conveys the same meaning as the h word. The same old Maamiar-Marumagal Mankudam-Ponkudam story.

And believe me ladies. The shop-wallas in Chennai are afraid of you. I had a discussion with a friend of mine who supplies sarees to Nalli, Kumaran and Pothis. He tells me that a typical MM can spot even a Rs. 5 price difference on a Rs.5000 silk saree. That is the reason Nalli and Kumaran have wafer-thin profit margins. They only make it up on the volumes.

MMs do it with grace and with elan. I have been mesmerised by the way they talk (and at times even by the way they look; but let’s not deal about that here. One, my mod may spring an infraction. Two, my wife, when she reads this, may actually spring upon me. Poor me!)

I have been travelling from Madurai to Chennai and back for the past thirty years. Every time at the Railway Station I have to haggle with the auto drivers.

But after being trained by some good MMs, I have learnt to do it with grace. Last time when I came alone from Chennai I told the auto driver,

“I have been living in Madurai all my life. The distance from here to my house is exactly 4.6 kms. If your vehicle is in good condition it may consume about 200 ml of petrol and oil mixture. That would cost Rs.12. I add a 300% to that for your investment, maintenance and profit. I am ready to pay Rs. 50 and not a Rupee more. Will you come?”

The auto-driver responded even faster than the ILites when I asked them in one of my threads, Will You Come With Me.

Being trained by MMs many of the vendors have elevated haggling to an art form. A few years back I had been to the market to buy mangoes in Chennai.

My DW had warned me to be wise with the vendors. Probably I had gone overboard in my haggling with a middle-aged, good-natured fruit vendor. After hearing me quote an impossible price, she flashed a benign smile, suspended the negotiations and took out a lottery ticket for me to see. I was puzzled. She continued,

“Raja, I bought this ticket only now. I am sure to win the bumper prize. Then I’ll grow mango trees myself on my own land. And probably then I’ll be able to give you mangoes at your prices. But for now….”

She folded her hands in my direction.

You see the one problem with the Madurai people is that for them arguments taste better than the sweetest mangoes.

In retalliation to her argument I took out a five Rupee coin from my purse and showed it to her. It was her turn to look puzzled.

“Good lady, I am going to plant this coin in my garden. I have been assured that the ‘money-plant’ will grow fast and I would reap a rich harvest of coins and currencies. And probably then I’ll be able to buy the mangoes at your prices.”

I should say to her credit that she laughed out aloud. The deal did not go through; but we both had had a good time and went about our ways.

One of my uncles is a hard-core haggler. And this happened some thirty years ago. Uncle’s chapals needed some repair work. He and the cobbler had several rounds of negotiations. But they could not arrive at the consensus.

After all the cobbler demanded Rs. 2 and my Uncle came up to Rs.1.50. (Those were the days. Petrol was selling at Rs. 1 per litre; now it costs Rs.55.50 per litre)

From out of the blue Uncle suggested a brilliant via media solution.

“Ok, I’ll give you 1 paise per stitch. And this is the final offer.”

“Agreed. Let this boy be our witness. You should not go back on your word.”

The cobbler was quite happy and went about his job. I could almost see a wicked glee in his eyes. He made the stitches way too close. I looked askance at my uncle.

Finally the poll was over and the votes were counted (read, the stitches). Uncle had to shell out Rs. 2.50, fifty paise more than what the cobbler asked for at the first instance. Uncle paid the money and the cobbler went with a permanent smile on his face.

“What’s this uncle? I never thought you’d be so…”

He did not let me finish the sentence.

“I’m not a fool, sridhar. Even if I had cried hoarse that the stitches should be close, he would not have listened. Now you see in the place of some 100 stitches he has made twice as much. With this I will pull along for another one year with this old pair. Just for Rs.1.50 I have postponed buying a new pair for a year. Now tell me who’s foolish?”

It looked as if the adjective would suit me more than either the Uncle or the cobbler, for having played the role of a dumb witness between two master negotiators.

When it comes to haggling I would always give the prize hands down to my maternal grandfather. (Blessed be his soul; for he died in 1972). Once I was travelling with him from Chennai to Madurai. The train stopped at Dindigul and my grandfather wanted to buy grapes. He was slightly hard of hearing.

He called the vendor.

“I want to buy four kilos of grapes. Tell me your best price.”

The vendor made some quick calculations in his mind and told him.

“Rs. 3 per kilo.”

“No way. Do you think you can cheat an old man? Never. Ok, the final price is Rs. 5 per kg. Take it or leave it.”

I could never for my life forget the expression on the vendor’s face.

Pls come to a firm conclusion about MM s and MNCs.. Looks like cat on the wall.. Me being a MM wanted to debate however you are to be sure of your opinions..

Its not only Chitra mam but all Mylapore supporters will be you..

rgds
Uma

Dear Sridhar,

A nice light one after all the heavy writing you have been giving us.

Though I am not sure of MMs as I have not got the opportunity to interact with except one (?) I just cannot comment much on them. But in general of Madras Mamis I can do. They have an eye for precision and what elan they have when negotiating......... the shop keeper will be put to shame.

Do you know one of their traits, they will extract information from others so sweetly that we will be dumb fools not realising that we have let off all our secrets ( No Offence meant) i.e, the vambu......... specialised they are in this. Hence I dread these mamis you know but you have exceptions.......... Let me hide before somebody comes after me with a stick.

Sridhar this is news to me that Madurai mamas (MM) are good at haggling or kanja pisnaris.......

Hi Uma,
Haven't you figured it yet? I strongly belong to the side of MMs and not MNCs. MMs have reinforced strong middle class values in their children and have made them great people. Even the great MNCs prefer MM's children because of their skills and values.

On the other hand MNCs have polluted the environment, corrupted the Governments and have exploited the people.

So Uma count me on your side. (In a sense I also belong to Mylapore for I was born in Isabels hospital there)
regards,

Originally Posted by twinuma

Pls come to a firm conclusion about MM s and MNCs.. Looks like cat on the wall.. Me being a MM wanted to debate however you are to be sure of your opinions..

Its not only Chitra mam but all Mylapore supporters will be you..

rgds
Uma

Dear Sridhar,
The question of forgiving does not arise between good friends! So, rest in peace – Oh, no, sorry if it is wrong English, but I meant – have peace of mind!!
Uma has perhaps written about her personal thoughts of getting with you. I don’t know, why she dragged my name!!

You have really paid good tributes to MMs in patches like

typical, matured, balanced Mylapore Maami

MMs do it with grace and with elan. I have been mesmerised by the way they talk (and at times even by the way they look;

What more tribute can we ask for?
Once in his earliest posts to me in this forum, Cheeniya had written, that I am a typical MM – kolam potundu, shlokam sollindu, bakshanam pannindu !
Yes, I am all that + what all, you know!

Though old fashioned in our attire ( not wearing jeans, T shirts etc), our jewellery (typicl vairathodu, mookuthi etc), our thought process is comparable to our western counterparts.We are strongly rooted to our culture and respect our traditions a lot, inspite of modern younger generations in our families.
We do not haggle, but “negotiate” – why don’t you say, MNCs haggle or bargain?
We have never been career women and want to save for our spouses ever rupee of their hard-earned money. But we have the greatest compassion for a very old keeraikari and an elderly pookari – we just pay them more or whatever they ask for, knowingly because we are “dayaa roopaeNa” by nature.
If a hawker thinks he can take us “for a ride” we can be “rudra roopaeNa”.
As a woman, rather, experienced, mature, graceful woman, a MM has many facets!
Not only are you multi-faceted! We are, but in our own way!!
Love,
Chithra.

Dear sridhar,
That was a wonderful post.But why mylapore mamis,why not mambalam mamis,why not ayanavam mamis.No I am not from mambalam or ayanavaram,the question was asked in a lighter vein.
While ladies are born with gift of haggling in an innocent naive manner ,making the shopwallah take pity on us and bring down the price where as some women actually put the fear of GOD in shopwallahs who try and cheat them.
You have described how you convince the autodrivers about the reasonable fare and they agree.Hats off to you.My husband gets tense even when I suggest that we take an auto because he feels they cheat a lot.His BP increases when somebody mentions auto.
About hagging rices,it was with surprise that I found my younger daughter who is at Mumbai ,the way she haggles.My God,the shopkeeper would say,"Rs.400,madam"and she would say,"No,I will give only Rs 200"and that would be the right price and they agree to give.
It takes guts also to haggle like that.I simply can not,no Iam not mylapire mami,Iam now,guindy mami,may be thats why.
Regards
mithila kannan

Sridhar,
Hats off ( or what we may call ...mmm) to MMs but in my opinion all the ladies in India do the same....maybe Mamas are not well-versed in this field, where we can take it as a pride...
I couldn't understand the grapes...negotiating...too bad...

sriniketan

Dear Sridhar,
Whe it comes to Mylapore mami, being typically one myself, why not a share a few more thoughts?
Even more than 50 yrs back, the following song became popular:

Mylapore vakil aathu mattu poNNaven!
மைலாப்பூர் வக்கீலாத்து மாட்டுப்பொண்ணாவேன்!

I become nostalgic when I remember the good old Mylapore, where I entered as a young newly married bride, decades ago, – now, the same place has changed into a blend of tradition and modern! Dear old Mylapore is a land of eternal mysticism, of infinite smells and the typical old fashioned food flavour. Mylapore, one of Chennai's oldest pockets, a quintessential representation of the spirit of Chennai is a mix of tradition and modernity.
I would anyday prefer to be called Mylapore Mami & not Madras Mami.
You must visit Mylapore once in the monthof Adi, around any festival time, say, Varalakshmi Nombu or Vinayaka chathurthi or Gokulashtami.
You can write about haggling to your heart's content. But the charming combination of culture and tradition, modern trend not to be forgotten, (you can buy Ganesha with a mobile phone or operating a computer mouse) makes one than God for living in Mylapore.
One of my old friends who has shifted to ECR says, before festivals, she comes all the way to Mylapore, to shop around, mainly fot the "flavour" of it.
Though Triplicane, Mambalam, KK Nagar, Anna Nagar.... may all boast of their own mamis, we the "mylapore Mamis" are outstanding with our very name.
You wrote
Chithra, please forgive me.
My reply is
Sridhar, I thank you profusely!
Love,
Chithra.

Your arguments/interactions with the fruit vendor and the auto driver brought out peels of laughter! It brought back memories of R.K. Narayan's story -"Swaminathan"!(I am not able to recollect the exact title though the story is something in the lines- Swaminathan being the main character is a small boy whose father is not happy with his mathematics and the poor boy's trying times and his failure to understand his father's bargaining with a mango seller, where he defies mathematics! That was also a humorous one!)
Bargaining is a special skill. I am very poor at that! In fact I am like your grand pa! At least he had an excuse! He was hard of hearing. I simply get into their net by opening my big mouth and they pour out (or should I say spin yarns) sorrowful tales about their life and I end up paying more than they had actually asked! Once I took an auto rikshaw from Kellys to Shenoy Nagar. The fellow demanded Rs.70/- (Outrageous!) and I said it must be just a kilometer or 2 from my place and so I would pay Rs.40/- even though 30/- would be fair. The man trapped me with my first statement that Shenoy Nagar would be 4 kilometres! I said- Okay, switch on the metre and if the distance shows 4 kms, I would pay, what he had asked for! That man, by hook or crook made it happen! And I was 30 Rupees poorer. Had I kept my mouth shut, either he would have refused to ply me in which case I could have taken another auto or he would have agreed to my qoute, even though grumpy faced! now I never open my mouth even to bargain! If I feel the price is high or unreasonable, I just walk past!
Regards,
Malathi