GREEN PUSH

The locavore movement helps reduce your carbon footprint and can keep you healthier while putting money back into the local economy

- BARRY RODGERS

When I was younger, my mom used to buy vegetables for the household from a lady vendor who came to our doorstep every day. On a particular Sunday, the vendor brought bundles of spinach. Her quote was, I think, ten rupees per bundle. My mom’s counter-bid was exactly half that figure: However, she promised she would buy four bundles at that price. For a while, both were harping on one’s figure. Finally, the vendor politely declared that she didn’t even recover her cost at that price, loaded the basket on her head, and walked away.

After taking four steps ahead, the vendor turned back and shouted, “make it seven rupees a bundle, and I will give it to you”. My mom shook her head and stuck to her original five rupees bid, reiterating the theory of quantity discount. The vendor walked on.

The two of them precisely knew each other’s strategies. The vendor turned around and came back to our house while my mom was waiting at the doorstep with a smug smile. My mom clinched the deal on her bid.

And while the vendor waited, she checked each bundle by gently tossing it with her right hand with a critical eye for quantitative and qualitative compliance.

From an initial short-listing of the bundles, she finally selected four bundles to her satisfaction, clearing that point to the fatigued vendor. Then, after exchanging coins, both women went about their day.

A NEW PHILOSOPHY