The Mumbaichi Bhajiwali, Who Taught Me To Be Positive And Market My Skills Best!

My bhajiwali, who is a working mother, taught me an important lesson in positivity, managing time, and marketing, that I had forgotten as a stay at home mom taking a break from work.

I have been hibernating for some time now, as I’ve been have been tied up with shifting home and settling down. It’s certainly a task with two children with me. I have moved between so many cities, but this one was undoubtedly the toughest one, because of my younger one who is all of six months now but a hundred-fold more demanding than my older one.

But finally I am here, and today I decided to pen down this little piece.

I salute the professionalism of people here. Though everyone seems to be just running a mad race against time, they still manage to deliver more than one expects, every time.

The day I landed and shifted here, every single service provider in the neighbourhood dropped their business card (really, business cards? Mumbai certainly has gone up to the next level, in just a few years from the time I lived here before moving to the North) from the scrap dealer, launderer, chemist, to the everyday basic needs service providers. Talking with them and getting to know them made me come across this lady who delivers vegetables and fruits every day, or bhaji as called here in Mumbai.

This lady is a young mother of a toddler, always dressed up in bright sarees and wearing the best makeup in the world which is a bright smile. I make it a point to collect the bhaji myself from her as her positivity is contagious, and I somehow feel quite pepped up after the 2 minute conversation I have with her.

Boy! I am bowled over by her marketing skills. Every single night a message pops up on my whatsapp asking, “Bhaji, fruits chahiye?” She manages to send the list with emoticons of fruits to make it more tempting and attractive. To add to this, there is a call from her the next morning with live updates from the mandi (the vegetable market) if she doesn’t get what I have asked for, and asking me if I want Y instead of X, which is unavailable.

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It makes me think of my writing. I often put aside the idea of adding a picture to my blogs, thinking that a reader would be more interested in reading what I write rather than checking the picture. I am also rushed most of the time, needing to fit in my writing time between the endless chores which are ever ready to embrace me… It is a wonder that she takes the time to offer something new everyday although she knows that I will end up sending her the list anyway. And here I know that half of the people whom my post will reach will not read it, but still do not take the pains to make it more visible to them.

Well I guess it’s time to take the hint from her and start adding some pictures to my blog too. In fact I should be thankful to her for reminding me that presentation is extremely important, something which I have known as I have been a sales woman all my corporate life, but somehow have given it a back seat over time.

Do you agree with me on this? Sometimes I feel that there are people with the natural gift of a creative mind who end up doing almost the same things as corporate honchos, the only difference being the domains, magnitude and the volumes or money involved, and the lacs paid to graduate out with a degree in marketing, reading books by the gurus like Mr Philip Kotler. But so many things are just a matter of practical learning from everyday life.

Coming back to my bhajiwalli, whenever I see her so charged up I really wonder about the strength of these super women managing their home, children and business, without the luxury of the domestic help that we have. Here I am in my messy pyjamas and shaggy look as if the sky has fallen on me, as mornings are the time when my little one keeps me on my toes. I have hardly anytime ‘Me’ time left after the daily chores are over, feeling as if I am on a time bomb which is ready to explode anytime. I have also kept my career aside when it came to my children, thinking that if I step out probably the roof of my house will come crashing down. And on the other hand, I see her managing herself and her business so well that I am sure she would be managing her home well and taking good care of her child.

It is just a matter of how we use our mind, and stretch our boundaries.

I guess there is a lot to learn from every single person around us and to tune our mind to let go of certain things in life, adapt to new ways, and to think a little differently. It is all up there and no one but we decide our own horizon and capabilities. There is a huge gap between I can and I will. Most of us know it, and still want to be in the comfort cocoon of I can, and I will but may be later….

So here I am writing again and back to ‘I can’. All this when my older one is off to school and the little one is still sleeping, and I am sitting on the time bomb again with my cup of morning tea, replying to the text with the live update from the mandi as I happened to miss her call. To top it am trying to add a picture…

Published here earlier.

Image source: shuttertsock

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