Thakkali Bhai

He has supplied us vegetables for more than 3 decades. There is no such strategic CRM with jargons, frameworks and all that here. Just plain simple trust and honesty. We were just finishing off our dinner when he came home lifting a huge heavy bag of vegetables. He told us that he saw mom lifting the bag with difficulty and hence he came home.

He started reeling off his stories for 30 minutes, didn’t accept dinner and had just one banana. One Tulasi thailam went to soothsayer and one went to him for his toe wound. Now the other two are missing. It came and now it is all gone in just one day. When he got wounded, one airport police guy gave him bandages, HAPP guy got him medicines, one malayali lady quickly washed her hands and tied the bandage to arrest the blood flow.

I can sense the marked difference in his attitude though his appearance was still the same. People change so much in a few decades and become so philosophical. One of his daughter had developed breast lump it seems which she did not tell before her marriage. He spent 5k for that surgery and paid Rs.50/- interest per day for that loan. He was relating about his daughters lives. How even in this old age, he had to work till the last day for a living, since they could not stay in of his daughter’s home for more than 2 days. He related with joy how angelic his grand daughters were unlike him, taking after their mothers. He recollected the affection those tiny tots showered on him, mentioning with pride each words of love. He promised to buy me more fresh and natural vanilla from market on Monday. Eggless cakes as well. I told him, it does not matter. Still he persisted, describing the cake with gusto.

I was still dressed in my shorts after permaculture and dinner preparation. He saw my oedema, enquired about my job and said, look after it, since during pregnancy, legs get swollen even more naturally. Need to research on oedema now. If it comes for just 100 kms bus travel, it is bad. Would Charukesi (beautiful hair??) raga help in this?

It was written that i would have Thulukiyar friends. But two (Rose and Thakkali bhai) dropping home in one day was amusing.


Thakkali Bhai’s History

He is a pathani. As a kid he worked near Pudukottai assisting in selling vegetables. Once the shop owner in his anger over some issue, threw the measuring stone on bhai. Our bleeding bhai got a ride in a passing lorry and alighted in a place where his future father-in-law took over his life.

Inititally, bhai sold only tomatoes (thakkali), onion and potatoes, carrying them to his customers quarters in his cycle. Once he realized that vendors were buying vegetables in market for Rs 6/- and selling it for Rs.14/- in OFT, he started selling other vegetables also, sitting in one place instead of cooing in streets pedaling his cycle.

Bhai's Customer Relationship Management Strategy

He does not do Rs.10/- business. 99% of his dealings are in Rs.100s. For making his well deserved profits, he sells all vegetables at a uniform rate. Hence, once the factory gets over, there is a huge queue in his shop and the waiting time is at least 30-40 minutes, while other vegetable vendors get only the impatient customers. He has a sweet way of speaking with everyone. Knows everyone by name, where they live, their kids, their jobs, their personal problems, speaks their languages.

He adds extra vegetables, or adds few fruits if the total cost of the vegetables and fresh fruits bought is less than Rs.100/- to make up. He gives kind of smashed tomatoes or otherwise slightly damaged vegetables, coriander curry leaves for free over and above the vegetables cost. Thus avoiding his wastage and improving customer satisfaction (giving more than expected). It is a win-win situation for both the customers and bhai. While other customers are selling green leafy vegetable for Rs 8/- bhai sells it for Rs. 2/-, stating that was the cost in market and that everyone should benefit by eating healthily. If some customer starts complaining about price or the way bhai weighs, bhai swiftly throws extra vegetables and the weighing scale balance which goes down with his swift force remains down and the customer is also satisfied. Bhai seldom gets angry, always sweetly reasoning out his prices, stating how much profit he makes for each vegetable he sells.