‘So, you are doing me a favour. Thank you very much. Please take it all back.’
Lavanya was laughing. Pinto was surprised that she was not annoyed. She said, ‘Harsha will be mad at me. Use your Ghumantu system to order Chhola Bhatura from Mewaram.’
Harsha enjoyed bhatura. Lavanya was still smiling. ‘The superstore people will haunt you unless you find some innovative solution. People call you a scientist,’ she taunted him.
‘So, you are taking on Mrs Verma’s role.’
‘If it helps.’
‘So you want me to solve only our problems. What about the rest of the world?’
‘There is no difference. The common man has common problems.’
Pinto had to go out to buy dancing-bells for his friend’s daughter in the US. Harsha insisted, ‘I want to come with you, Papa. You know what I want to buy for myself.’
Harsha would often get a chicken sandwich from McDonald’s drive-through. While entering it, with Harsha next to him, Pinto was thinking, ‘Could they create a drive-through for groceries as well… at least for major items?’
They then went to the music shop and picked up a pair of silver anklets that rang tunefully when they were shaken. The courier was next on their trip. Pinto asked the attendant, ‘If I send this parcel by ordinary post, how long will it take to reach the USA?’
‘Around twenty days.’
‘Do you sort them manually? Why does it take so long?’
‘No, sir, all sorting happens automatically in Mumbai—it doesn’t matter which option you go for. The difference is the mode of transport. It could be air or surface transport according to how much you pay.’
‘Oh yes, I remember a programme on Discovery channel where they showed how they do all the mail sorting using automated conveyor belts. The orchestration, speed and symphony of various sensors, belts and connectors seemed like magic.’
Pinto got up a little early the next morning. The garbage lady was ringing at the door. The maid collected the garbage bag and handed it over to her. Lavanya asked their cook to make two cups of tea. She set up the tray in the balcony. Pinto began to complain, ‘One thing really irritates me… no privacy in India. The cleaning maid, cook, garbage lady, gardener, driver, couriers, laundry man, and so many other irritants are pressing the call bell all the time. In the US, for something simple like garbage collection, we used to have a chute in our apartment complex on each floor. You’d throw the garbage bag into the chute which would take it straight to the dumpster and later be collected by the truck.’
‘Calm down. The US needs automation. In India we get personalized services.’
‘It costs me my privacy. By the way, I want a big breakfast today.’
She was curious, ‘Why?’
‘My brain is going to be busy. More processing needs more food.’
‘What are you planning to do?’ Breakfast was on the table by then: aloo parantha, masala omelettes and coffee. Pinto was delighted. ‘You’re right, can’t think of this kind of breakfast in the US... You know, I’ve got an idea.’
Lavanya was in a good mood that morning. ‘You are a man of ideas. Compile all of your ideas. Give them to Imran to execute.’
‘What a great idea about ideas!’
‘No, it’s the Idea of Ideas.’
‘You are turning shayari.’
‘Tell me what’s going on before I ask you to bring me next week’s groceries—and write the list in verse.’
‘Maybe, in a couple of months, you’ll not worry about it.’
‘Come to the point.’
‘I’ve a hunch that a combination of a drive-through, garbage chute and mail-sorter is going to solve the grocery problem.’
‘How are garbage and grocery related?’
‘In the US, they use drive-throughs for pharmacies and banks where they transport papers and medication through a chute. If we make a chute big enough, people could deliver groceries everywhere.’
‘My God, what a great idea! And you’d use the mail-sorting technology to send the grocery order to the end-user.’
‘You got it. That’s why I wanted an engineer wife.’
‘I think you didn’t want any wife. It just happened.’
Pinto laughed, and called Imran, who was there in an hour. Pinto greeted him, ‘Think of the devil and the devil is there. As I told you over the phone, let’s create this chute system as a pilot. Create a station near the superstore and run the chute to our community.’
Imran was enthusiastic. ‘So in the beginning, we can deliver all the groceries to the club house and the security guard can help distribute to every house. If the concept is popular, we can run the chute to every house so the goods are delivered directly to homes.’
‘In the meantime, find some investors as well,’ added Pinto for good measure. We’ll need to expand it in such a way so that anybody can use it for delivery of their goods to end-users. In fact, don’t worry about a minimum order. One should be able to order just a single packet of milk. How soon can you start the pilot project?’
‘As the technology is already available, I think we can do it in three to six months. Any suggestions for the name?’
‘Let’s call it Goodsnet… a network used for goods.’
‘Fantastic. Let me start on the work.’
The idea gained popularity. Imran expanded the network quickly. He created several ‘source stations’ across popular markets, adding more and more end-users as well.
Lavanya was happily surprised even though she’d approved the idea. ‘I never thought it’d become a revolution, Mr Selfish Innovator,’ she marvelled. ‘You know, even Mrs Verma praises you now.’
‘Really?’
‘She is so disorganized… she still doesn’t order online but her husband is making fewer trips to the market now.’
‘How come?’
‘You know, if her husband went out to buy their weekly supplies, she’d make absurd demands, like, “I’m cooking, I need cumin powder right now.” When her husband pointed out that it would take time as he had a lot to buy, her response was, “Go again. I want cumin powder now.” You know how she is.’
‘Compared to her, you are very organized,’ Pinto joked.
Lavanya ignored the remark. ‘So now, you know what her husband does? He goes to the market, buys cumin powder, adds Goodsnet charges, sends it immediately and then does the rest of his grocery.’
‘Customers are very smart. They find new ways to use any system. And you know, it saves petrol as well.’
Next day Imran threw a success party for the project. Pinto asked Imran, ‘How often are people connecting to Goodsnet?’
Imran didn’t hide his happiness. ‘I’m a bit surprised that even neighbourhood shopkeepers are using Goodsnet even though they have delivery boys,’ he added.
‘I’ve done my own research. Do you know why these guys are using Goodsnet?’
‘Not sure.’
‘Let me tell you a story.’
Lavanya was holding a margarita in her hand and was about to join in the general dancing, ‘Story? Not again.’
Imran requested, ‘I want to know the secret. Please.’
Pinto grinned, ‘Once, I was visiting my village after twenty years, with a friend. I was amazed to see that the connecting road from the city to the village was in pretty good shape. My friend said that we should be thankful to the corruption, which acts a motivator for businessmen to do their work. I was taken aback. I said, “What? Somebody is improving the roads and you are accusing them of corruption?”’
Imran completed the story, ‘Yes, your friend was absolutely correct. If they didn’t make extraordinary amounts of money in government tenders, nobody would work on them. Spend five lakh, charge twenty-five, give a share to each of the officers in the government department. Easy money is the only motivation, otherwise, who would want to deal with the government? Even if corruption is bad, it sometimes yields good.’
Pinto corrected him, ‘No, th
at wasn’t the point I was making. Avarice is the root of all evil. What I was trying to say is that the reason why we have succeeded in our venture is that customers do not like delivery boys at the door. They are a nuisance. So customers of even neighbourhood shops are asking for delivery through Goodsnet. There is cutthroat competition in these shops, so even if they don’t like Goodsnet’s charges, they don’t have an option.’
Imran liked the logic, ‘That means we can increase the price soon.’
FIFTEEN
P
into’s house was flooded with visitors again. They were politicians, journalists, businessmen, social workers, professors, students and the general public. It was becoming an essential part of his work. These people played an integral role in popularizing his ideas. Again, Pinto was so busy that he could not get any time for Lavanya and Harsha.
Lavanya was irritated. ‘Not all the visitors are decent people. That can impact Harsha. In particular, I hate politicians.’
Pinto was also a bit worried. ‘Let’s put her in a proper school. We have only been experimenting with mom-and-pop shop types of playschools.’
‘Both of us could not go to nice schools in our childhood. Let’s make sure that our child gets the best.’
‘I agree. Other than academics, I want her to learn horse-riding, swimming, sports, athletics and acting.’
‘You can get all those only in a boarding school.’
‘I’ll not send Harsha to a boarding school. At this age, she needs her parents.’ ‘You’re right. We can’t just leave her somewhere, no matter how great it is.’
‘Let’s try to find out a school in our vicinity.’
Pinto went to Imran, ‘Which school would you recommend for Harsha? I want a right balance between academics and extracurricular activities.’
‘You know my son is in Florence Boarding School in Panchgani. He is twelve now but I sent him to boarding when he was five. I am very happy with the school.’
‘Yaar, it’s very difficult to convince Lavanya. She doesn’t want Harsha to be away from home.’
‘But Panchgani is close to Pune,’ argued Imran.
Pinto found a way to broach the subject with Lavanya. ‘I checked out on five schools in Pune,’ he told her. ‘Victory doesn’t have a dance instructor, Ambassador doesn’t have air conditioning, Gramagical is too new to prove itself.’
Lavanya asked, ‘Where would she go, then?’
‘Let’s see... only Florence Boarding School in Panchgani has everything we are looking for, but I’m not convinced. How can we send such a young child to boarding?’
‘Exactly.’
Pinto changed direction. ‘We’ll finalize one of the schools from our neighbourhood. It’s just that I wanted to make sure she does well in English debating as this was the skill I could not acquire and really regret every day, and I’m not sure who’ll provide that.’
‘You want to become a politician, that’s why you miss that so much. I want her to learn classical dancing. That brings sophistication to girls,’ retorted Lavanya.
Pinto didn’t give up, ‘Dancing is good but how we can give priority to dance over debating skills? Debating will help with her future career whatever she does.’
‘Well, I suppose we’ll have to send her to a boarding where she gets everything. Why should we play with her future because of our selfishness?’
This was what Pinto wanted to hear. ‘Let’s see how it works for one year.’ And they set out for Panchgani. Midway, Lavanya experienced bouts of guilt. ‘I think I want to go back. I cannot leave my small child with someone else.’ Pinto was prepared to act like an obedient husband, ‘Driver, make a u-turn, we’re going back.’
‘No, that won’t be fair,’ Lavanya came back on track. ‘We need to do it for Harsha’s future.’
SIXTEEN
T
hey missed Harsha terribly when she started going to her boarding school. They visited her often, sometimes three times a week. They were allowed to meet Harsha only during the weekend so they’d drive all the way to Panchgani, park their car close to the school playground and wait for Harsha to come out to play there. She was so far away that they could only just get a glimpse of her.
A few weeks after, Imran entered Pinto’s house, ‘How is the boarding school experience going?’
Pinto was edgy, ‘We miss Harsha badly, although she seems happy.’
‘You’ll get accustomed.’
‘You know, it’s also spoiling our budget. We are driving to Panchgani three times a week.’
‘Here is the bonus cheque.’
Pinto used to get the profit-sharing from his projects sent directly to his bank account but once in a while Imran would give him the extra bonus by cheque. That was his way of making sure that Pinto continued his partnership with him.
‘Right on time. It’ll be a great help. I’m not sure what’ll I do when I become old.’
‘You’ll keep getting your profit share.’
‘Who knows for how long a business will keep getting money? Every business goes through a life-cycle. I’ll not have any new source of income.’
‘Invest in annuities then. That’ll give you a fixed monthly income.’
‘Not a bad idea. But I was thinking of something different. Annuities don’t secure your lifestyle. Suppose air travel becomes disproportionately expensive. I won’t be able to travel as much as I’d planned. In several countries, prices have changed drastically and disproportionately during political turmoil, recessions and bad economy.’
‘You think too much.’
‘Of course, that’s how I make my living. What if an insurance company started a service in which you could deposit funds every month for ten to fifteen years, depending on your scheme, and after retirement you could buy your monthly needs every month with a card provided to you by the insurance company. For example, 40 litres of petrol, electricity and phone bills upto a fixed amount, 20,000 km travel by air, and so on. One needs money not just to spend on food. You consume other things as well.’
‘Let me tell you a story.’
‘Looks like you are taking my job.’
‘Let me try. Have you been to JayBond’s to buy a shirt?
‘No.’
‘They let you fully customize a shirt. You can choose collar style, cuffs, design and colour. Their stitching process is fully automated.’
‘Your story is going a bit tangential. Nice try, though.’
‘Let me finish, Pinto. One of my friends had a very revolutionary idea but it didn’t work. He noticed customized items such as decorative pieces were very expensive in the US. Using his engineering background, he developed a prototype as well, but nobody invested.’
‘How did he create a prototype?’
‘I don’t know all the details but he used a Computer Numerical Control machine which is like a lathe machine. Instead of setting it up manually you create a computer programme to produce any part. He demonstrated how a model of the Taj Mahal can be broken into multiple pieces and how its size can be precisely customized.’
‘That needed investment.’
‘I agree. But he couldn’t get it. Although, the technology was already available, nobody took interest as it was ahead of its time.’
‘Enough for today. What’s the plan for the rest of the day?’
‘I’m thinking of visiting my son in Panchagani.’
‘Do you mind if Lavanya and I also join you?’
‘My pleasure.’
And they started off. By now it had become a routine.
SEVENTEEN
P
into and Lavanya were sipping tea in the balcony on Monday morning. The talk, as usual, was about how Harsha had looked to them on Sunday. By Tuesday, they’d start thinking about the next visit again. Pinto was thoughtful. ‘I want to do so much, but have such little time.’
Lavanya took it lightly, ‘Come on, you are just a little older than forty. You have plenty of time.’
‘Not
really. If I live till seventy, I have only thirty more years to go, which means roughly eleven thousand days or 1,565 weeks left. Even if I spend ten weeks on each idea, I’d be able to work on a little more than 150 different ideas. That’s it. Also there is no buffer time for vacations and sickness.’
‘I never thought along those lines,’ said Lavanya wonderingly. The picture is scary. Think about inventing a pill to increase the human lifespan.’
‘I heard scientists are working on separating bad genes out of the body so that we can live longer. Ancient saints lived up to 200 years by practising yoga but that’s not my area,’ said Pinto dismissively.
‘Then think of generating more time,’ rebutted Lavanya, the practical housewife.
‘Einstein thought about it. But I’m not that intelligent.’
‘Well, I come just after Einstein in the brains department,’ said Lavanya, tossing her hair. I know how to generate more time.’
‘How?’
‘Hire more and more help. Focus only on core activities.’
And both of them burst into laughter.
But Pinto magnanimously admitted, ‘You have a point, though.’
‘If we hire enough help to save another three hours every day, that may create a big difference,’ said Lavanya, thinking longingly of a complete break from household chores.
‘You are absolutely correct. So let’s hire a lot of maids. One for every job… ’ said Pinto sarcastically.
‘Hiring a scientist like you is easier than hiring a maid.’
‘Talk to other maids, security guards… it’s all word-ofmouth,’ said Pinto, as if he knew all about it.
‘It’s easier said than done. You have worked only with white-collar people so you don’t know the challenges with the blue.’
‘Like what?’
‘Like...’ Lavanya sighed with impatience, ‘if they work for six months and have some money, they’ll just disappear for three months without telling anyone. Once they learn something, they leave jobs. Basically, they get training at our expense.’
‘Well… that happens in white-collar jobs as well,’ argued Pinto, as rationally as he could.
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