Going Green

Larrie plans to Go Green when we return to Minneapolis and not use disposable plastic anymore. He had seen these heavy duty bags around town and decided to go to the source in City Market. For some reason he arranged to acquire 50 of them even though they will probably NEVER wear out. (Hmmm... anyone want to know what they are getting for Xmas in 2011?) The vendor didn't have that many but said he could make them in an hour.  They we about 30 cents apiece.  I could see a potential long term import business model here...

The story behind the story:  I wanted to get these bags, and I asked Imtiaz where we could get them, which turned out to be City Market.  I learned something about City Market that day.  I thought City Market was a general reference to an area, but it is a specific building.  We pulled in, and attempted to find a parking spot.  In order to park, we needed to move a two wheeler out of the way; so, Imtiaz and I picked it up, and moved it.  When the owner showed up, we almost got into a fight over the fact that we had moved his bike.  The stuff on the ground under our feet was indescribable - a combination of manure, garbage, straw, leavings from the vegetable and fruit markets, and other stuff.  You glided through this stuff.  So, picking up and moving a two wheeler was problematic when you were standing on slick sludge.

At any rate, we parked and headed inside.  This was an incredible indoor market, and you can see from the pictures, this is this guys whole business.  His stall is about four feet wide, and maybe eight feet deep.  Imtiaz negotiated the price, Rs. 15 each, and the guy said about half an hour.  Imtiaz and I went up to the third floor to the tools market, which was like walking around Weisman's in Great Falls - I loved it.  If I had found the third floor earlier on, I would have owned more tools.  On our way back down to see progress, we encountered a cow wandering about the hallways, and there were multiple birds, and I'm pretty sure a fine colony of rodents.  Unbeknown to us, the power had gone off, and it takes power to run the sewing machines - "not ready, sir".  I had to get to the dentist; so, we headed off.  The original idea, as told to me by Imtiaz, was "just 10 minutes, sir".  Another deep dive into the markets proved to be just that, deeper than originally planned.

Upon our return from the dentist, an hour and a half later, they were still sewing.  We did a quality check on the completed bags, rejecting some, which took a lot of discussion to assure them that they were unacceptable.  In the end, we walked out with the bags through a different entrance, and on the way to the car passed a street vendor who had about 10,000 of these bags ready - cash -n- carry.  Oh, well; not the first time I have been fooled by preconceived expectations.  The bags on the street were Rs. 45 each.  So, convenience costs more, but there is some guy at the Sultan Khan Bag Works who is getting his bags sent to Minnesota, and he is smiling!