a new day has dawned- " a penny saved is a penny earned" ???

The sands of time have proved the contents of my previous post. It's with a renewed hope that i start again to chronicle some of my thoughts and some events.

Todays newspaper had a very interesting advertisement that got me thinking. An advertisement of Big Bazaar wherein they were encourage us of getting rid of our junk at home. Frankly speaking i think they are giving quite a good price for stuff that we will never use and never throw away. There are 2 thoughts that cropped up on seeing this. Firstly a thought on the current state of the economy and is this "exchange offer" a result of the current situation? Secondly the Indian capacity of collecting junk at home.

January is usually a time when there are end-of-season sales happening all over the place. The January this year seems to last till eternity. "last 2 days" signs have been flashing for weeks and 'sale extended by popular demand" is a common sign at empty shops. Bottom line is that people are not buying and for a good reason. The all important "cash" is no more free flowing. Big bazaar's "exchange dhamaka" is , in my opinion, a good move to improve their sales and to get the counters ringing. In the past one could exchange a radio for a radio, an old tv for a new one, an old iron box for a new one etc etc. whereas here you can give anything to buy anything. Basically i can sell my old car tyres to buy dal!!! It is fabulous. In times when you are avoiding luxuries you can sell the old junk to buy the necessities. I think it is a move where they should see some crowds at big bazaar.
I'm quite sure, big bazaar has some solution for the junk. The options available are plenty:

1. re-selling - I'm not sure how much of it will go to reselling, but i would still appreciate it as stuff not being used in certain homes will be used somewhere

2. recycling - again something that everybody would appreciate. It will at least kick start a few businesses. Kabaadi wallahs to recyclers to smelting plants etc etc.


3. Donation - I'm not sure they will do too much in this aspect as they will not be making any monetary gains. They might sell it for cheaper rates. So in any case i think it can be appreciated.

4. Throw away- Pure business prudence would not allow them to do this.

So all-in-all it is a win win situation for everybody. The current economy will always shoot up a few surprises and a few opportunities. This is one I'm not gonna miss.

It's quite remarkable how we Indians in our small houses manage to collect mountains of junk!!! Some are keepsake items that we never see again to refresh our memories, others are items that will come "handy" in the future. The next time we see it , instantly the dialogue " Oh, i never knew that we still had this!!!!" How could it come handy if you didn't know it existed??!!!!
It's not entirely our fault that we end up saving these humongous stuff. It's something that has been followed for generation. India traditionally has been not a very rich country. Richness existed only in pockets of the society. The economic divide has always existed. Therefore, to the majority of the population every paisa has been valuable ."A penny saved is a penny earned" principle has been thriving and for the right reasons too. However things are changing and this principle may not be suitable for most people living in urban areas. In this case "a penny saved is never used again". So at least by disposing off the "saved pennies" results in someone else earning a penny or you going a little lighter on the environment.

Now i shall get back to collecting the junk my family has saved up for years.