There have been posts, videos, and content floating all over the internet asking us to help small business owners by buying their products or using their services. Sounds noble indeed but it has its grey area. Humans in all forms – rich or poor – are evil disguised as nice. As I always refer to the quote mentioned in a Hollywood movie that goes – ‘We are not sinners because we sin, but we sin because we are sinners.’
I was on a pilgrimage recently in southern India, and with age and wisdom I neither drink water supplied in restaurants nor trust those fake mineral water bottles that look the same with different spellings and same colour as the branded ones. They either are green that resembles Bisleri brand or dark blue that which resembles Aquafina brand. 150 crore Indians and they could not think and come up with a new colour to sell their packaged bottles but had to leech on others success story and cheat the illiterates.
I prefer to drink Coke (Coca Cola) instead, which thankfully has not been counterfeited yet in India. The MRP (maximum retail price) of a 500 ml Coca Cola in India is Rs 40 (as on February, 2024) and it is a cold drink, which is supposed to be sold and served cold. Well, in India they charge more to provide cold, cold drink; Rs 2 extra to sell a Coke that is kept in a refrigerator, which itself is donated by the Coca Cola company. It is cheating, but then paying an extra Rs 2 is fine. So a retailer probably gets a bottle of Coke at Rs 35, sells it at Rs 40 – which is Rs 5 profit (that is more than 10% profit). Now add Rs 2 on it, and it becomes Rs 7 as profit, which is close to 20%. Fair enough. So I enter this small time shop near a temple, and the lady says Rs 50 for a bottle of Coke that which is priced at Rs 40. So 50-35 = 15, which is close to 30% profit margin!! At the age of 48 I honestly am not aware of any business in the world that runs on 30% profit margin. Even if you invest your hard earned money in stock market, the maximum you can earn is 12% per annum. So this lady is in fact robbing.
I asked, “why Rs 10 extra?” And she replies, “for cooling.” Indian government provides electricity at different rates in the country. The per unit rates are high in cities, while it is subsidised in villages. So these dacoits exploit both the government and also the consumers in the garb of poverty. I replied, “do you charge ‘heating’ charge for tea? Or you serve them hot?” She gave a disgusting smile. I said, “I will go thirsty, but not buy your Coke.” She rushed inside the shop to keep the bottle back in the refrigerator.