It was a bright Sunday evening. My dad took me to the huge ground in Madurai where the 25th home exhibition was going on with full gusto, with just one more day to go. As I walked past the exhibits of new cars and bikes, I was thinking about the drastic change in the consumer product market. In the 1990s, my dad would say that he booked his Bajaj scooter six months in advance and waited three more months to get it delivered. On the day it was delivered, it was a mini Diwali at home.
A little further into the exhibition were a pool of innovations: A small sharp plastic cylindrical tool that could pierce a lemon/orange—you could drink the juice immediately without using any knife, plate or a tumbler, a six-legged slender flexible rod arranged such that when moved up and down massages your head like fingers do, a strong compressor which evidently cools the air without water! All modern kitchen accessories were also on display.
My dad reluctantly controlled the urge to buy stuff as he narrated how my mother last month brought home fancy products with low utility. I then realised that the real utility of these products only mattered.
After 25 more stalls and rounds of drinks and snacks in the name of sampling at the juice and papadam stalls, we probably were the only visitors to come out empty handed! Still lingering in my mind was the sheer marketing of the products and the amount of impulse buying that was happening inside—from toys to cars!
As we exited the ground to proceed to our dinner, at the corner of the exit was a paralysed young man, with no legs, in a wheel chair selling a pack of five lead pencils for `10. There were no neon lights; he was just shouting, “Five pencils for 10 rupees!” To my dismay he was the loneliest of all the sellers despite selling a product with utility and at the right price! As my practical examination was nearing, we bought that pack of pencils, and started back home watching kids carrying long fancy colourful pencils for `10 each, which in my experience never lasted for the time equal to its height.
The purchase of these pencils was more fulfilling than the food and the excitement at the exhibition. Later, despite little preparation and a day out on Sunday, I was the only student to score a centum in the practical exam! Not sure if it was due to a hidden charm in the pencil but my classmates thought I scored well since I spent the whole Sunday preparing for the exam!
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