ExpertDabbler

I had a great time in A.. systems.

Logs would have gone about on a spree, buying all the peripherals and accessories which makes our PCs boot, sing and crash. It was a 15 day credit purchase. His hope and mine is that our customer will pay the amount in that time so that we can pay for the purchases and make our margin.

Some customers were nice and paid promptly.

And then there were some like this,

‘Javvu’ Customer: “Yedho problem irukkunga. Performance satisfyinga illai. Friends branded PC vangirukalamenu solraanga.”

Logs(manasukkul): (Dei therinchudhaane vanginae?)”Illa Sir idhuvum nalla system dhaan. Onnum problem varaadhu. Naan service guarantee.

‘Javvu’ Customer: Hmm. Seri oru vaaram kalichu payment tharen. Adhaan erkanave oru amount kuduthitene.

Logs: (Andha kaasile en phone bill kooda katta muiyadhu) “Seri sir. Ama sir. No problem sir. Payyanai kettadha sollunga sir. Endha games venumnaalum sollunga sir naan install panni tharen. Appo next week vangikaren sir. Ungallukku illadhadha sir?”.

That amount will not come before the next month. If at all it did, it just trickled in several instalments, like water in a Chennai household. I will be fuming inside. I was new to all this. But small business and politics can’t be run without crap talk.

Every morning, we will start with the inventory of how many cheques will come for clearing that day and what is the balance in bank. What is the gap between the two
(Folks, see this is what is called the “Gap Analysis”) and how we can meet the shortfall. A bounced cheque means that seller will not give us the goods on credit again.

We did not have the cash to buy things in cash and stock them. Also, in that business, investing in gadgets is next only to throwing cash in Coovum. Prices will keep coming down everyday. Minimum margin Maximum Volume is the strategy adopted by all the players. But at the same time we cannot press the customer beyond a point. A small business, after all.

The Gap analysis results will show its teeth.

Me: Dei Logs, oru 10,000 Rs. short agudhu.

Logs will start calling his friends one after the other for that amount. It became so regular a feature, that people started to duck and hide.

Logs on phone: Naan Loganathan pesaren, oru china help. Urgenta cash thevaipadudhu. Oru 10k irukuma, check clear ana vudanae nalaiku kuduthudaren (Big fat lie).

Other person in a different voice: Sir velila poirukaar.

Other person 2: Logu, naane unnai ketkanumne irundhen. Enakku cash thevai. unakku kedaicha sollu.

Other person 3: (Noble soul. The kind of people who bring rain to this world) : 10k? Koncham kurayudhu?

Logs: Seri evlo irukku?

Other person 3: Rs. 1200 irukku

Logs: (Idhaan ‘koncham kurayudhu’va da?. Grr…)Parava illai, naan Karthik ai anuparen. Rombo Thanks da.

And he will start looking for his next prey.

The treasure hunt will start for me. And I cannot over emphasize the fun and the thrill part. Coz all the gap has to be filled by 11.30 AM when the cheques come for clearing in the bank. It was during that time that I started believing in blind faith and miracles.

Those of you who had been wondering about the overdraft facility in the bank, let me tell you no bank will give you overdraft facility without proper books of account and a reasonable cheque clearing record. Our IOB was very tough in honoring us with that status.

When we were fighting so much for cash everyday and there was this customer who had been dodging us for a good 6 months for 6000 bucks. Logs had sold the machine for a measly 500 rupees margin. Think about losing 5500 on a single transaction after all the hard work.

It was just 3 months after Appa’s death. Me and amma shifted to a flat in Saibaba Colony for 1500 bucks rent. A much smaller flat but a good one nevertheless. That way we can save 1000 bucks. And yours truly has started earning too.Full lavish 1500 bucks pm salary. Cheapest GM - Finance in the world.

One evening, fateful evening I would say, there was an invitation to attend my friends sister’s wedding in Kuniamuthur, a suburb in Coimbatore. The guy was a mutual friend to me and Logs and this was the first auspicious function after dad’s death so I really wanted to make it.

Me and Logs closed shop around 6 PM and started early for the function. We were in NSR road in our bike when

Logs: Dei, Andha Janardhanan 6 maasama iluthutte irukaan. 6 K pending. Avanga sister veedu NGGO la colony irukku. Anga dhaan system delivery panninen. Innaiku anga vara solirukaan. Ange poitu apdiye kalyanathukku poidalaam

I was ok with that. I was looking forward to a good, full “saapadu” that evening and some rest at home. Little did I realize that kind of “saapadu” I had in store was of completely different genre.

Folks, the bang part comes in part III.

Authors note:
Sorry i could not finish off Part II y’day. Work at office and Deepak was here and that kept me busy.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 25th, 2005 at 6:55 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.