The Art of bargaining

“I am your Best friend da..You should give atleast 10 chocolates extra”
“I have got only 50 chocolates. *refers the No. on roll and No. present on the blackboard and uses fingers to count the extra chocolates available*
‘I will give you 3 extra’ in an apologetic tone.
“Ok da… Give me 5.. Done! But I will tell that thimiru pudicha Rahul that you gave me 10 *both hi5 finalizing the deal*

And thus, begins our journey of excelling in the art of bargaining. From that day onwards, we are moulded and transformed to ask, re-ask and then give in 😛 Be it bargaining for extra 5 minutes if you are being woken up or bargaining for an extra pan-puri, we are always on our toes to deliver excellence 😛

Why is it called Bargain 🙄 “Bar”-”Gain”… Is it to denote that the result can make a person to feel high and to get addicted to it 🙄 Anyway, lets leave out the etymology for experts to ponder 😛 With my close cousin’s wedding round the corner, we are totally roaming around the streets of TNagar…If you find anyone looking like me, roaming on the roads of Pondy Bazaar without the slightest bother about the scotching sun overhead , you can stop and tell a hi…It will be me *completely at your own risk…I am not responsible if you get slapped by someone* 😛 Such kind of huge shopping spree is an indirect test to your bargaining ability. It’s all about how you manage. You talk, they talk, you talk , again they talk *goes on * and after a while,you should have the final say. Mid summer Sun, balancing shopping bags and at the same time bargaining with full josh….You should drink 3 Dhoni mug full of Boost to keep your stamina up without dropping till the end of the day. My mom is an expert in this field…No, not in drinking Boost but in the art of bargaining…If a phD is offered, she would have got it for sure .

Scenario: When I go shopping with my friend/cousin
Seller: Totally Rs550 Me: Anna Anna…550 is too much for this anna… Make it 450 anna pls *repeated use of Anna to touch the emotional side* Seller: Ok ma.. for your sake I’ll make it 500…Final price *Feels very happy and special , picks up the product and leaves the shop feeling victorious* Recreating the same scenario

*initial small talk and gaining the confidence of the seller that you are a regular customer* Seller: Totally Rs550
Mom: *Rechecks the bill value like my maths teacher correcting my paper* Rs150… Not worth more than that.
I will exit the scene and stand at a safe distance from them due to the fear of getting beaten
Seller: That is not even my cost price… Rs450 *will pack and handover as a lame try to finish it*
Mom: Rs.200… That’s all! If not ok… leave it!
Seller: Madam madam… Atleast pay Rs 300! *Tempo lam vechi kadathirkom modulation*
Mom: okay…Here you go, Rs 250! I’m giving Rs.50 more just cos I’m a regular customer to your shop but it is not worth more than Rs.200 … but you are a sweet boy and I’m seeing you for so many years.*ultimate weapon*
Seller: *smiles forgetting the scenario* handovers the bag taking Rs.250. My mom will take the bag and again do small talk which will be useful next time 😉
She will victoriously handover the bag to me and say ‘Had you been there, you would have happily paid Rs. 500 and bought it’ !

So there are these 3 categories of people … ‘People who are experts in this art (like my mom), people who know to bargain but are not upto the mark (like me) and finally people who end up doing reverse bargaining like this aunt of mine. She is this soft and sweet person who doesn’t even know to scold people. Till today, I have never seen her raising her voice for anything. She had gone to the road side seller selling lemons
*gives Rs 5*
Seller: 5 for Rs10 but I will give you 4 for Rs 5
My aunt *with full confidence*: Will you give 3 for Rs 5? If not keep it!
*Seller shock* *Aunt rocks*
Her friend had to re-state the fact that he is giving 4 in place of 3 which is 1 more than what she was expecting 😛 Till today, we tease her with that incident 😆

That’s all from me for now… Let me go and do reverse bargaining with my mom 😛
Mom : 5 rotis
Me: no… 3
Mom: (finally surrendering).. u should have 4 😉