Basic needs of a human being, as we know, are food, clothing and
shelter. Getting these basic needs satisfied was not just the goal but the
process to acquire these (provided one has money) used to make one go through
sweet pain in olden days. For the guests who come home, talking about the
vegetable and fruit prices in different places was an ice-breaker.
Not just women, even men used to indulge in this discussion over
lunch and dinner, as it was a matter of not just food but economy in the
surroundings. Either of them would go to the city market, go around for two or
three rounds, make friends with repeat visits to same vendors, bargain and lug
around all the veggie bags before going home. Travel to these market places was
cumbersome in some places, but two or three members of the family used to go
together, which used to be fun.
Turn 2012 and the vegetables and fruits can be bought online -
sitting at home. The folks of delhi, chennai and mumbai have tasted the comfort
of ordering these items through clicks. http://veggiebazaar.com,
http://freshndaily.com and http://freshsubzi.com have taken the vegetable
vendor business online. Old-days vendor had to invite his customers physically
and hence could not scale his business; the modern vegetable vendors - selling
vegetables online - can advertise online and invite their clients to enjoy the
luxury from home. 1% of traffic on the roads become less if no one travels to
the market now - less pollution !
Pranab Mukherjee has referred to UK aid as 'Peanuts'. How about
selling peanuts online ? :-)