“Increased
internet penetration, improved
security measures, convenience of shopping in lives pressed for time, and, of
course, dozens of retailers to choose from” are some of the factors which,
according to the Government of India’s e-Commerce Report, have given fillip to
e-retailng. Another factor that seems to have been overlooked is the
convenience that e-retailing offers to seniors like us who are unable to walk
around markets from shop to shop for buying their essential requirements. As
being advertised over the television, as many as 10 crore (billion) items are
on offer for consumers to choose from. And, they belong to whole range of
commodities, from essentials to items of luxury. In fact, one is spoilt for
choice.
The latest to hit the e- market is an
item which many would find odd but it is essential for some households. Cow-dung
cakes are what are being sold through e-retailing sites. With progressive
urbanization, shifting of cattle from urban centres, increasing availability of
liquid petroleum gas and upswing in household incomes cow-dung cakes made the
disappearing act. They are just not to be seen anywhere in urban areas whereas
earlier they used to be ubiquitous, especially in small towns, district towns
or even in some major towns. In metros they were hidden from public view but
they were certainly there as these were the sources of energy for poor people.
It seems, gone are those days when one
would find children picking up cow-dung, carry it home for the women of the
house to make cakes out of them. The walls of the houses in settlements of poor
would be plastered with them. The idea was to dry them up to make them little
more solid. Mixed with clay cow-dung was also used for refurbish floors and
walls.
I remember my mother buying cow-dung
cakes off a hawker. A woman used to hawk them around loading cow-dung cakes in
jute bags on a donkey. The donkey would be barely able to move with the heavy
load of these cakes-full of sacks hanging down his flanks. The cakes used to
cost around Rs. 5.00 for a hundred and about twenty of them would be given away
as bonus. Used for lighting up the coal-fired (soft coke) ovens or for igniting
the wooden logs in the earthen chulha
(Indian clay oven) these were, therefore, essential items for at least middle
class or poor households. The only hydrocarbon for use as source of energy used
to be kerosene which was too messy as also smelly. Without the cow-dung cakes
cooking would seem to have been impossibility. Of course, the women of the
household would take in the smoke that used to be raised rather copiously by
the cow-dung cakes and burning soft coke or logs of wood.
Drastic changes have been wrought during
the last half a century or so. Formerly what were traditional sources of energy
have since been discarded and today, generally, it is liquefied petroleum gas
or liquefied natural gas or electricity that have become sources of energy for
almost all the people. And, yet there is demand for cow-dung cakes. Since
retailing them from shops or through hawkers has been discontinued, suppliers,
sniffing rising demands in urban centres, have taken recourse to e-tailing the
stuff.
Traders say the demand is picking up in
cities. Even representatives of Amazon say that demands are mostly from metro cities.
Here cattle are scarce and mostly it is the dairies on the outskirts which deal
in this precious commodity. Used also for religious purposes, cow-dung cakes
are an essential component of articles required for Hindu ‘puja’ (worship). In the southern provinces where affluence has been
witnessed after economic liberalization the demand is particularly high and it
is reported to be building up. In any case, according to Hindu Ayurveda,
burning of cow-dung cakes with a bit of camphor has always been reckoned as air
purifier. Perhaps, people up north in Delhi should not try it as they have
already enough of smoke and particulates in their air.
The scarcity of cow dung is somewhat
surprising. Once Late Mahesh Buch happened to mention that he was unable to
procure cow dung for his organic farm. Apparently, it has become a big
business, more so with the onset of organic food culture. Once, again, cow’s
excreta are an essential component of organic manure. With the rise in
awareness of the harmful after-effects of chemical farming the consumption of organic
food has taken a big leap. Even the new fad of natural food is also stoking
demand for this commodity. Whether in kitchen gardens or farms owned by restaurants
in big cities, cow-dung cakes are in big demand. And, that is where the online
portals come in to fill in the gap created by the absence of former retailers.
Sensing big time profits businessmen organizations
have, as is their wont, started profiteering. The prices of cow-dung,
seemingly, are leaping up to touch the skies. Already there are cries for
monitoring and for price control. Self-restraint, an attribute that should be
essential among businessmen is something unfortunately alien to them. Online
cow-dung cakes, or patties as they are called, are being hawked around at
exorbitant prices. On eBay 35 cow-dung cakes are available for Rs. 325/-.
Another site on Amazon offers 9 cakes for Rs. 999/-, Rs 100/- a piece. People
in the trade admit that e-retailers hike the prices to uncomfortable levels for
the customers. While the price of five or six cow-dung cakes actually is around
Rs. 20/-, e-retailers offer them for Rs. 1000/-. Perhaps, the business with great potential is being killed in its
infancy. Perhaps that is the price one has to pay for the change that has come
over the country.
*Photo from internet
*Photo from internet
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