The new- age rakhi

In my last post, I was talking about how shop keepers, too, have to be innovative all the time, however small or big the products are. The traditional rakhi which is to be tied on the brother's wrist in return for a promise of keeping the sister safe from all trouble, has moved from it being made from a simple white thread with a small coloured dot; to multi-coloured, big dialed rakhis; to fancy, expensive rakhis with zari and sequences; to 'designer rakhis'; to rakhis with cartoon characters like Spiderman, Chota Bheem, Doreamon, Shaktimaan, Hulk, etc. As a kid, I remember going to the store to buy rakhis for my brothers and always buying some simple white rakhis for my mother, along with ours, which were slightly more colourful, but still traditional, elegant and simple. This time, I had stopped at a small general store selling rakhis to buy some for my brothers, when I noticed a kid throw a tantrum, park himself in the middle of the road, and wailing until his mother, out of embarrassment, succumbed to the demand, and got the boy a Ben 10 rakhi, which, I over heard, he wanted for himself. He didn't even have a sister! I wonder if there will be any tradition left for this new generation which will be pure and simple, untouched by unnecessary adaptations and tricks by marketing companies.

Sweet innovation!

The other day, I walked into a local mithai store right opposite my office just to buy some 'farsaan' (salted munchies). What took my attention away was what was displayed in the glass cabinet. Sweet toothed that I am, my eyes immediately caught the label that read 'Bournvita Barfi', 'Horlicks Pedha', etc and my eyes gleamed with delight and my face lit up with a smile! I, being in the creative industry, always thought that we probably were the only ones who needed to be compulsively creative all the time, until I saw this. It made me think how every person has to be innovative at their job, no matter what kind of job it is. It has to be new, interesting, innovative, with constant variety and has to catch the consumer's attention. Just to appreciate the creativity, I almost bought a piece of the new mithai, when I got a phone call asking me to get 'Diet chiwda' on the way!

Tricks

My mum just asked me to pick up some 'mithai' from her friend's place on my way to work yesterday.
So, it works like this yea, first you get to the building, look up and holler at the person you want to call.
So here I went, "Rupa auntieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!" Rupa Auntieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!"
"Yes yes, hold on a minute!" 
She went and got the box of 'mithai' and put it in a cloth bag which was tied to a rope. She simply let the rope down below, I got the 'mithai' out of the bag and signaled to her to pull the rope back up!
I love such innovation! So much for not climbing three floors. I love it!