Earthen pots with stainless steel pipes for Chennai summer

Chennai, Mar 31 (UNI) Subhash, Khalil and Kannaiah are no celebrities maketing high-end refrigerators to the residents of sun scorched Chennai. They are here to sell some down-to-earth technology for parched tongues during summer.

These artisans, who have been here for the past two months, are potters from Rajasthan marketing attractively designed mud pots for households which cannot afford a fridge, so to speak.

The trio have come to this metro from Jodhpur carrying with them the cool ware paying Rs 35,000 for transporting them by lorry.

They seem to have taken a leaf from self-help guru Deepak Chopra's book in which he had stated "winners don't do different things, they do it differently" as the eco-friendly pots come with a stainless steel tap.

"The customers want them with the taps," Subhash says with the tone of a seasoned salesman who has his pulse on the market place.

According to him, Chennai is a good place for marketing with many of the residents, especially those from the lower middle class picking up the earthenware paying Rs 120 or Rs 140 as against the mark up price of Rs 150.

"We manage to sell at least five or six pots per day," he adds.

He is also hopeful of seeing his sales zooming when the mercury really starts soaring in the coming months. Then he would be selling at least ten to 15 pots a day.

"Even the well-heeled driving a car often stops to pick up one," he claims.

The pots are not of pure clay. They contain some other material which Subhash is not able to identify. Unlike clay pots, the water in these wares does not smell. There is an element of hygiene also with the tap fixed to them.

Subhash and his two fellow artisans stay in a tent pitched on the pavements. They will be here till August. Call it down-to-earth marketing! UNI VV NK HT1645