Cigarettes and Pressure Cookers

Well... Since i have come to Ranchi, I have discovered the charms of this city. Some of them amusing; some of them hilarious - but all of them mostly entertaining.

Today I will write about a small shop which is located on the Main Road. It caught my eye as the board above the shop said "Stockist: Cigarettes and Pressure Cookers". I was completly flabbergasted. What could cigarettes and pressure cookers have in common. My management trained mind boggled at the though of a shop selling a fast moving consumer good (FMCG) and a consumer durable item. But hold on... more to come - As i approached the shop i was left speechless. In tiny letters was written "We sell fresh fruit juices" and it was followed by a list of juices and their prices. A look at the shop was most entertaining - on one rack were all makes of pressure cooker; on the other side half the rack was filled up with cigarettes and the remaining with fruits. Presumably to be crushed and made into juices.

Well that was not all. I crossed the road and came across a small bookshop. All kinds of smutty magazines were openly displayed but a small cover caught my eye. It said "Harvard Business Review, September 2006". Wow.. HBR's are difficult to come by in any metropolis and here in Ranchi it was sold side by side with magazines like Grihashobha, Madhur Kaliyan, and Jawani ka Husn. Hats off to the entrepreneurship of the people of Ranchi.

If you can make sense of the topsy-turvy world of Ranchi retailing... drop me a line and enlighten me. I am still trying to digest the information.

See you in the next blog... till then... Ciao

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