No newspaper today. Its a strange feeling to get up in the morning and get no morning paper. You feel kinda incomplete. As if the world has chosen to pass you by without as much as a kind goodbye. So I decided to investigate further as to exactly why dont we have a newspaper. To make matters worse this was not the first time this had happened. So rousing my sleeping mind from its limbo I set it to the task of discovering the culprit behind this grave sin. What was unearthed was a shocking nexus of crime and villainy throbbing and pulsing with unholy life right beneath our noses. Alright so maybe its not that bad, But humor me.
It all started when my father, the strict army man who does not tip and maintains a strict overwatch on the inflow and outflow of cash in my household noticed something strangely amiss. He noticed he was paying more for the newspaper than he was supposed to. Now all this happened a while back. And my dad being cut from the iron of our ancestors decided to dig his heels in and make a stand. Inviting a confrontation with our paperboy (a forty something dude who loves chewing pan all the time). For you see we were not just being overcharged, we were being hoodwinked.
Just to set the record straight, My household survives on a daily dose of tabloid news from Times of India. I dont particularly like it, nor am I blind to their shameless whoring and money grabbing. But hey its news and it gets me an appropriate summary of the world that was. Allowing me to set my mind on the world that will be. Now the newspaper insists that I should only be charged 5 Rupees per paper. This price is inclusive of any and all commissions that need to be paid up to get the paper in my hands. They are very clear about that fact. According to which my monthly expenses for TOI came to about 150 bucks. However the paper boy sent a bill of 180 bucks. My initial reaction to this was "well what's another thirty bucks". Fair enough right? I mean its just thirty bucks I probably blow that much on smokes or samosas or whatever. Fortunately my father is not as foolishly apathetic as I am. To him thirty bucks meant the difference between letting the paperboy go and planting his military boot right up his ass.
You see my co-op housing has fifty flats in it. Thirty bucks extra a flat means our paperboy covers about 1500 bucks from our society itself. And considering the fact that I knew he supplied to at least three more societies with around sixty - seventy flats each makes his haul around 8 - 9 k/month. Mind you this is not money he needs to pay off to TOI. This is his profit margin beyond the profit margin already allocated to him by the newspaper. So this is his...I dunno...payoff? protection money? paper delivery tax? Also he charges this rate per paper. So if you order two newspapers, you pay sixty bucks extra. All in all I would not be surprised if he was hustling in about 10 k a month, conservatively.
With this figure burning inside and stoking the fires of rightful retribution Dad and I decided to confront our paperboy. However we were not ready for the depths of his shamelessness. His first reaction was to vehemently deny that he was overcharging us. That worked for all of five seconds until we literally calculated the amount due right in front of him and showed him his bill. Next he assured us that he was not overcharging us and that he had to ask for that extra amount as Times of India was charging him the amount. A claim that was again disproved right in front of him as we talked to a TOI customer care operative then and there. Thus cornered our paperboy started to get creative.
"Alright saab, how about I dont overcharge you anything. And you keep your mouth shut about this eh?"
Wow. Now that really pissed me Dad off and even shook me off my apathetic throne. Until now I was just going along for the kicks. But it was clear to me this guy was desperate. And desperation usually means there is something to hide. Which he proved to us when he followed up that sweet sweet offer with a most generous threat.
"Dekh lo Saab, poorey ilakey mein koi bhi paper nahi dalega appke ghar pe. Jyada panga liya to ghar to chodo aapki society mein koi paper nahi dalega."
Aint that a bitch. For those of you who have no concept of Hindi the paperboy's trump card was to threaten us with a newspaper embargo. And not just my house, but the entire co-op housing we live in. That's right, no newspaper for anyone because we dared stir up the paper mafia hornet nest. Of course after that there was no backing down. There could be no backing down now. Usually at this stage you would be left wondering what possible action can you take. Sure you could complain to the Times of India people (we did) and hope they take care of things but that's not how the world works. If something around you is broken you fix it, ya dont wait for someone else to show up and fix it. So we got down to organizing ourselves. First our society, then the one next door and then the one next to that one. Slowly but steadily we talked our way through to the societies in the neighborhood, tracing down the paperboy's route and figuring out his customer base. Until all twelve co-op societies in the area were now finally sitting down at one table and discussing this problem. (Yeah, same paperboy, twelve societies, 1500 times twelve, shit just got real). Since he decided to threaten us with an embargo, well we have an embargo for you Mister Paperboy. Fix your prices or you will have no customers. None.
The solution? Simple, switch paper vendors. In all twelve societies.
Essentially robbing the guy of his entire customer base and thus ending his little monopoly. Now personally I dont care of the Times of India group is involved in this whole mess. maybe they do like to overcharge their paper delivery agents. Or maybe its just a local mafia of deliverymen who banded together and decided to start raking in some healthy profits. Either way this is the symptom of our lives and times, corruption seething and bubbling about right under our noses. And most of us will choose to do absolutely nothing about it. Because shit its just an extra thirty bucks right? What are you gonna do if you save those thirty bucks right? Buy another samosa...easier just to look away and pay that extra cash right? Easier still to dont ask and dont tell right? Easiest of all to just let things be right?
But not all of us will be able to do that. Not anymore. I know I wont be able to do that anymore. I would rather not read a newspaper than contribute my money in developing a goddamned syndicate running right under my nose. I know now for sure that no matter where I go I will look more closely at the paper bill. Because this is the way we are supposed to be. We are not supposed to bow down to corruption, no matter how small or minuscule it might be. We are not supposed to take shit lying down no matter how sweetly it is dumped on us. We are not supposed to swallow bullshit, and we are supposed to ask questions. We are meant to know.
So when the odds are all stacked up against you and you are the only one thinking of not running away. Remember, you are not alone.
Because some of us will fight, no matter the odds.
And those us will change things in times to come.
edit: Fixed some loopy mathematics, thanks to Somil. Like my teacher always said "EK AUR CARELESS MISTAKE?"
It all started when my father, the strict army man who does not tip and maintains a strict overwatch on the inflow and outflow of cash in my household noticed something strangely amiss. He noticed he was paying more for the newspaper than he was supposed to. Now all this happened a while back. And my dad being cut from the iron of our ancestors decided to dig his heels in and make a stand. Inviting a confrontation with our paperboy (a forty something dude who loves chewing pan all the time). For you see we were not just being overcharged, we were being hoodwinked.
Just to set the record straight, My household survives on a daily dose of tabloid news from Times of India. I dont particularly like it, nor am I blind to their shameless whoring and money grabbing. But hey its news and it gets me an appropriate summary of the world that was. Allowing me to set my mind on the world that will be. Now the newspaper insists that I should only be charged 5 Rupees per paper. This price is inclusive of any and all commissions that need to be paid up to get the paper in my hands. They are very clear about that fact. According to which my monthly expenses for TOI came to about 150 bucks. However the paper boy sent a bill of 180 bucks. My initial reaction to this was "well what's another thirty bucks". Fair enough right? I mean its just thirty bucks I probably blow that much on smokes or samosas or whatever. Fortunately my father is not as foolishly apathetic as I am. To him thirty bucks meant the difference between letting the paperboy go and planting his military boot right up his ass.
You see my co-op housing has fifty flats in it. Thirty bucks extra a flat means our paperboy covers about 1500 bucks from our society itself. And considering the fact that I knew he supplied to at least three more societies with around sixty - seventy flats each makes his haul around 8 - 9 k/month. Mind you this is not money he needs to pay off to TOI. This is his profit margin beyond the profit margin already allocated to him by the newspaper. So this is his...I dunno...payoff? protection money? paper delivery tax? Also he charges this rate per paper. So if you order two newspapers, you pay sixty bucks extra. All in all I would not be surprised if he was hustling in about 10 k a month, conservatively.
With this figure burning inside and stoking the fires of rightful retribution Dad and I decided to confront our paperboy. However we were not ready for the depths of his shamelessness. His first reaction was to vehemently deny that he was overcharging us. That worked for all of five seconds until we literally calculated the amount due right in front of him and showed him his bill. Next he assured us that he was not overcharging us and that he had to ask for that extra amount as Times of India was charging him the amount. A claim that was again disproved right in front of him as we talked to a TOI customer care operative then and there. Thus cornered our paperboy started to get creative.
"Alright saab, how about I dont overcharge you anything. And you keep your mouth shut about this eh?"
Wow. Now that really pissed me Dad off and even shook me off my apathetic throne. Until now I was just going along for the kicks. But it was clear to me this guy was desperate. And desperation usually means there is something to hide. Which he proved to us when he followed up that sweet sweet offer with a most generous threat.
"Dekh lo Saab, poorey ilakey mein koi bhi paper nahi dalega appke ghar pe. Jyada panga liya to ghar to chodo aapki society mein koi paper nahi dalega."
Aint that a bitch. For those of you who have no concept of Hindi the paperboy's trump card was to threaten us with a newspaper embargo. And not just my house, but the entire co-op housing we live in. That's right, no newspaper for anyone because we dared stir up the paper mafia hornet nest. Of course after that there was no backing down. There could be no backing down now. Usually at this stage you would be left wondering what possible action can you take. Sure you could complain to the Times of India people (we did) and hope they take care of things but that's not how the world works. If something around you is broken you fix it, ya dont wait for someone else to show up and fix it. So we got down to organizing ourselves. First our society, then the one next door and then the one next to that one. Slowly but steadily we talked our way through to the societies in the neighborhood, tracing down the paperboy's route and figuring out his customer base. Until all twelve co-op societies in the area were now finally sitting down at one table and discussing this problem. (Yeah, same paperboy, twelve societies, 1500 times twelve, shit just got real). Since he decided to threaten us with an embargo, well we have an embargo for you Mister Paperboy. Fix your prices or you will have no customers. None.
The solution? Simple, switch paper vendors. In all twelve societies.
Essentially robbing the guy of his entire customer base and thus ending his little monopoly. Now personally I dont care of the Times of India group is involved in this whole mess. maybe they do like to overcharge their paper delivery agents. Or maybe its just a local mafia of deliverymen who banded together and decided to start raking in some healthy profits. Either way this is the symptom of our lives and times, corruption seething and bubbling about right under our noses. And most of us will choose to do absolutely nothing about it. Because shit its just an extra thirty bucks right? What are you gonna do if you save those thirty bucks right? Buy another samosa...easier just to look away and pay that extra cash right? Easier still to dont ask and dont tell right? Easiest of all to just let things be right?
But not all of us will be able to do that. Not anymore. I know I wont be able to do that anymore. I would rather not read a newspaper than contribute my money in developing a goddamned syndicate running right under my nose. I know now for sure that no matter where I go I will look more closely at the paper bill. Because this is the way we are supposed to be. We are not supposed to bow down to corruption, no matter how small or minuscule it might be. We are not supposed to take shit lying down no matter how sweetly it is dumped on us. We are not supposed to swallow bullshit, and we are supposed to ask questions. We are meant to know.
So when the odds are all stacked up against you and you are the only one thinking of not running away. Remember, you are not alone.
Because some of us will fight, no matter the odds.
And those us will change things in times to come.
edit: Fixed some loopy mathematics, thanks to Somil. Like my teacher always said "EK AUR CARELESS MISTAKE?"
6 comments:
Good job. Chuck printed paper anyway. Online news!
Thanks, although I really like the print media I get what you are saying its not really a practical way ahead. Still I am curious as to how much of this price difference is TOI's doing. Im sure they are putting some sort of pressure somewhere, cause I have heard stories of monthly TOI bills reaching 200, 250 bucks in places too.
Jabbaassshhh!!!
It is not understood why the ToI cannot take action against such agents. It can be presumed that it is with connivance. Hence the mafia as brought out in the blog.
Rana.
I like! Small battles but large victories.
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