Spare a thought for the kirana store
Back in the 1980s, we moved into our own independent house in a newly-formed locality in south Bangalore. Those days, three factors were crucial for receiving any appreciation for the house. One, proximity to a bus stop, two, the ease of finding an autorickshaw and three, the distance from a kirana store.
In the current apartment-crazy and Uber-connected Bengaluru, I am fairly sure all the above factors won’t make the cut for any appreciation. My father was proud to have built a house. However, our relatives used to chide him for building a house outside the city as the house never fulfilled any of the three factors. However, things started to improve.
Although the bus stop was over 1.5 km from my house, a few routes were later added and that was enough to bring cheer amongst the residents. Getting an autorickshaw was always difficult. The sound of an autorickshaw near the house got us excited. Despite the well-known “refusal problem” with auto rickshaws, just a sight of the three-wheeler in the locality became the most enjoyable moment.
The most significant event to unfold was the opening of the first kirana store, “Nandi store” in the vicinity after a 10-year wait! We would purchase biscuits and milk to cater to unplanned guests at home. The humble Nandi store was very popular in the neighbourhood and also emerged as an adda for intense discussions on politics and cricket. The store continues to operate even today, with the owner’s son taking over from his father, However, the young owner is a worried man. The number of houses in the locality has grown manyfold over the past two decades, but his business has shrunk significantly.
This is attributed to the significant shift in the purchasing trend—online shopping and supermarkets. Between 2010 and 2012, Bengaluru witnessed a spurt in the number of supermarkets. I believed this would have a negligible on stores like Nandi. But I was wrong! With the rapid advancement in Digital India, where everything will be delivered at the doorstep, kirana stores are poised to vanish soon. Perhaps a few lucky ones may survive. Spare a thought for all the small kirana stores.
These self-made entrepreneurs, with no exposure to slogans like ‘Start up India’ and entrepreneurship training, could go jobless very soon. Well! Not really! They are the true blue-blooded entrepreneurs and let’s hope they find their way out with smart ideas. Wishing Nandi store and all the kirana-wallahs the very best!
Krishna Kumar G
Email: krishnak.krishnak@gmail.com