Just few days back I got this forwarded email about a Story written by internationally acclaimed film director Shekhar Kapoor. Its a story about his experience of getting his BlackBerry fixed in a very unconventional way.
Shekhar Kapoor is an Osacar nominated hollywood director from India who has epic films like Bandit Queen, Elizabeth to his name. I liked the story so much that I thought why not post it on my blog for all my readers. So here we go.
A greater ‘hole in the wall’ you cannot imagine. A small fading sign on the top saying “Cellphoon reapars” barely visible through the street vendors crowding the Juhu Market in Mumbai
On my way to buy a new Blackberry, my innate sense of adventure made me stop my
car and investigate. A shop not more than 6 feet by 6 feet. Grimy and uncleaned.
‘Can you fix a Blackberry ?”
‘Of course, show me”
”How old are you” ‘Sixteen’ Bullshit. He was no more than 10. Not handing my precious blackberry to a 10 year old in unwashed and torn T shirt and pyjamas! At least if I buy a new one, they would extract the data for me. Something I have been meaning to do for a
year now.
‘What’s wrong with it?”
‘Well, the roller track ball does not respond. It’s kind of stuck and I cannot operate it”
He grabs it from my hand and looks at it
“You should wash your hands. Many customers have same problem. Roller ball get greasy and dirty, then no working’
Look who was telling me to wash my hands. He probably has not bathed for 10 days, I leaned out to snatch my useless blackberry back..
” You come back in one hour and I fix it’.
I am not leaving all my precious data in this unwashed kid’s hands for an hour.
No way.
“Who will fix it?”
‘Big brother’
‘How big is ‘big brother?’
‘big …. Umm ..thirty’
Then suddenly big brother walks in. 30 ??? He is no more than 19.
‘What problem?’ He says grabbing the phone from my greasy hand into his
greasier hand. Obviously not trained in etiquette by an upmarket retail store
manager.
‘Normal blackberry problem. I replace with original part now. You must wash
your hand before you use this’. What is this about me washing my hands suddenly??
19 year old big brother rummages through a dubious drawer full of junk and fishes out a spare roller ball packed in cheap cellophane wrapper. Original part? I doubt it. But by now I am in the lap of the real Indiaand
there is no escape as he fishes out a couple of screwdrivers and sets about opening my Blackberry.
“How long will this take?”
”Six minutes”
This I have to see. After spending the whole morning trying to find a Blackberry service centre and getting vague answers about sending the phone in for an assessment that might take a week, I settle down next to his grubby cramped work space. At least I am going to be able to watch all my stored data
vanish into virtual space. People crowd around to see what’s happening. I am not breathing easy anyway. I tell myself this is an adventure and literally have to stop myself grabbing my precious Blackberry back and making a quick escape. But in exactly six minutes this kid handed my Blackberry back. He had changed the part and cleaned and serviced the whole phone. Taken it apart, and put it together. As I turned the phone on there was a horrific 2 minutes where the phone would not come on. I looked at him with such hostility that he
stepped back.
‘you have more than thousand phone numbers ?”
‘yes’.
‘backed up?’
‘no’
‘Must back up. I do it for you. Never open phone before backing up’
‘You tell me that now?’
But then the phone came on and my data was still there. Everyone watching
laughed and clapped. This was becoming a show. A six minute show. I asked him
how much.
‘500 rupees’ He ventured uncertainly. People around watched in glee expecting a
negotiation.
That’s $10 dollars as against the Rs 30,000 ($ 600) I was about to spend on a
new Blackberry or a couple of weeks without my phone. I looked suitably shocked
at his ‘high price’ but calmly paid him. Much to the disappointment of the
expectant crowd
‘do you have an I-Phone ? Even the new ‘4D one ?
‘no, why”
‘I break the code for you and load any ‘app’ or film you want. I give you 10
film on your memory stick on this one, and change every week for small fee’
I went home having discovered the true entrepreneurship that lies at what we
call the ‘bottom of the pyramid’. Some may call it piracy, which of course it
is, but what can you say about two uneducated and untrained brothers aged 10
and 19 that set up a ‘hole in the wall’ shop and can fix any technology that
the greatest technologists in the world can throw at them. I smiled at the
future of our country. If only we could learn to harness this potential.
‘Please wash your hands before use’ were his last words to me. Now I am feeling
seriously unclean.
I hope you all liked the story too its not just a story but the way India is going ahead and how the technology is affecting businesses from small to big vendors.
A greater ‘hole in the wall’ you cannot imagine. A small fading sign on the top saying “Cellphoon reapars” barely visible through the street vendors crowding the Juhu Market in Mumbai
On my way to buy a new Blackberry, my innate sense of adventure made me stop my
car and investigate. A shop not more than 6 feet by 6 feet. Grimy and uncleaned.
‘Can you fix a Blackberry ?”
‘Of course, show me”
”How old are you” ‘Sixteen’ Bullshit. He was no more than 10. Not handing my precious blackberry to a 10 year old in unwashed and torn T shirt and pyjamas! At least if I buy a new one, they would extract the data for me. Something I have been meaning to do for a
year now.
‘What’s wrong with it?”
‘Well, the roller track ball does not respond. It’s kind of stuck and I cannot operate it”
He grabs it from my hand and looks at it
“You should wash your hands. Many customers have same problem. Roller ball get greasy and dirty, then no working’
Look who was telling me to wash my hands. He probably has not bathed for 10 days, I leaned out to snatch my useless blackberry back..
” You come back in one hour and I fix it’.
I am not leaving all my precious data in this unwashed kid’s hands for an hour.
No way.
“Who will fix it?”
‘Big brother’
‘How big is ‘big brother?’
‘big …. Umm ..thirty’
Then suddenly big brother walks in. 30 ??? He is no more than 19.
‘What problem?’ He says grabbing the phone from my greasy hand into his
greasier hand. Obviously not trained in etiquette by an upmarket retail store
manager.
‘Normal blackberry problem. I replace with original part now. You must wash
your hand before you use this’. What is this about me washing my hands suddenly??
19 year old big brother rummages through a dubious drawer full of junk and fishes out a spare roller ball packed in cheap cellophane wrapper. Original part? I doubt it. But by now I am in the lap of the real Indiaand
there is no escape as he fishes out a couple of screwdrivers and sets about opening my Blackberry.
“How long will this take?”
”Six minutes”
This I have to see. After spending the whole morning trying to find a Blackberry service centre and getting vague answers about sending the phone in for an assessment that might take a week, I settle down next to his grubby cramped work space. At least I am going to be able to watch all my stored data
vanish into virtual space. People crowd around to see what’s happening. I am not breathing easy anyway. I tell myself this is an adventure and literally have to stop myself grabbing my precious Blackberry back and making a quick escape. But in exactly six minutes this kid handed my Blackberry back. He had changed the part and cleaned and serviced the whole phone. Taken it apart, and put it together. As I turned the phone on there was a horrific 2 minutes where the phone would not come on. I looked at him with such hostility that he
stepped back.
‘you have more than thousand phone numbers ?”
‘yes’.
‘backed up?’
‘no’
‘Must back up. I do it for you. Never open phone before backing up’
‘You tell me that now?’
But then the phone came on and my data was still there. Everyone watching
laughed and clapped. This was becoming a show. A six minute show. I asked him
how much.
‘500 rupees’ He ventured uncertainly. People around watched in glee expecting a
negotiation.
That’s $10 dollars as against the Rs 30,000 ($ 600) I was about to spend on a
new Blackberry or a couple of weeks without my phone. I looked suitably shocked
at his ‘high price’ but calmly paid him. Much to the disappointment of the
expectant crowd
‘do you have an I-Phone ? Even the new ‘4D one ?
‘no, why”
‘I break the code for you and load any ‘app’ or film you want. I give you 10
film on your memory stick on this one, and change every week for small fee’
I went home having discovered the true entrepreneurship that lies at what we
call the ‘bottom of the pyramid’. Some may call it piracy, which of course it
is, but what can you say about two uneducated and untrained brothers aged 10
and 19 that set up a ‘hole in the wall’ shop and can fix any technology that
the greatest technologists in the world can throw at them. I smiled at the
future of our country. If only we could learn to harness this potential.
‘Please wash your hands before use’ were his last words to me. Now I am feeling
seriously unclean.
I hope you all liked the story too its not just a story but the way India is going ahead and how the technology is affecting businesses from small to big vendors.
