Author: Adi Sathe

  • E-commerce for Agro – a new way forward

    E-commerce for Agro – a new way forward

    In my last blog, I talked about how important MSMEs are for the Indian agriculture sector and how they can be the change drivers and flag bearers of the next agriculture revolution in the Indian economy. Today, I would like to focus on one particular aspect of MSMEs which can become a major market area, E-commerce.

    Emergence of E-commerce and Indian consumers

    I remember the days when Amazon and Flipkart started as online booksellers in India and bibliophiles like me just welcomed these platforms with open arms and warm hearts. It was a pure joy when you would receive a neatly packed book with some cute bookmarks added as a bonus to the package. Soon the companies grew big and ventured in many more product ranges from electronics to clothing and recently, to groceries. These pioneers are now almost like online supermarkets. 

    However, there are quite a few specialty platforms who are focusing on only one or two products like Myntra in clothing, Lenskart in eyeglasses and Medplus in medicines. These companies have carved their niche even in such a competitive market. E Commerce is now going to rural areas of the country too. Starting with just delivery services of established platforms, many village craft producers are now getting into their own e-commerce outlets.

    Agro E-Commerce

    Even though handicrafts and artistic stuff is getting into this field, the agriculture sector has rarely explored this method of product delivery. Bigbasket is one of the major players which has grabbed the initiative in doorstep delivery of food produce and groceries. However, there are many such avenues in the agriculture sector which can grow leaps and bounds with e-commerce. Even some small startups initiated by vegetable producers run on the same doorstep delivery model however. Sahyadri farms from Nashik and Green Tokri from Pune are just a couple of examples. They can become a model for many to follow.

    Firstly, a doorstep delivery service of fresh produce is sadly the only idea that pops in a general mindset when we think about e-commerce in the agriculture sector. However, if we start thinking more and more about the sector, many other ideas will also emerge. For example, agro-processing MSMEs can start e-commerce of their processed goods. Small self-help groups can come together, start preparing good old traditional recipes of condiments, pickles etc. These quality products with traditional flavours will sell like hot cakes on the urban e-commerce market with attractive packaging. One most lucrative plus point of e-commerce is these small groups and MSMEs can just avoid middle-man from the trade cycle and make good money.

    A bonus cascading effect

    These increased profits in rural areas will always work fantastically in improving the quality of life in our rural areas. In turn, this will lead to the development of rural areas and reduce the pressure on Indian cities as more and more people will be ready to stay behind and live a good life. 

    Written as part of Blogchatter’s campaign #ECommerceInnovation. Read more posts in the campaign here.

  • Indian Agriculture – a golden market for MSMEs

    Indian Agriculture – a golden market for MSMEs

    India, a prosperous country with a wide range of geo-climatic zones. Various mighty rivers flowing through her terrain have given us a very fertile land. It has witnessed a growth of an agrarian civilization on the banks of Sindhu River, huge alluvial plains of Ganga and along many other riverbanks throughout the history. Even today, the Indian economy is considered as an agrarian economy. Industrial revolution and advancements have created a few opportunity magnets in the form of industrial towns. However, even today the majority part of our population is agrarian. On one hand a new trend is saying to go organic. On the other side is aspiring to bring modernization to the agriculture sector. This opens up a good opportunity for agro micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to come in.

    Indian agriculture – a golden market for MSMEs

    When we talk about industrialization or modernization of agriculture, we paint a very broad monochrome picture. Huge land parcels tilled, sown, and harvested with large machines. Large factories making goods out of the produce which are spread over acres, etc. However, in the Indian context, small and medium farms are a unique character of our agriculture sector. Employing large machines and having homogeneous cropping over a large size farm is difficult. This brings a very lucrative and unique opportunity to get MSMEs. They can create a successful business in this market.

    Flexibility and size of MSMEs is a key quality which makes them proper fit for this market. MSMEs work with an open mind for new ideas and enthusiasm to put them to work. Hence, There’s a high potential to bring entirely new aspects to the market. Entirely new service or product can change the lives of small and medium farmers of India.

    Service delivery – A good chance to make a name in the market

    The term agro-industry largely focuses on produce processing and value addition. However, I believe there’s a huge scope for service sector enterprises to flourish in the agro-industry sector. A robust delivery chain is a backbone for the success of the agriculture sector of any economy. Even the government has understood it and took some steps to strengthen and enhance the logistics around the sector. In 2012, it established the National Centre for Cold-Chain Development. The report of the National Task on Cold-Chain established earlier made this happen. With help of MSMEs local farmers can establish delivery networks with food processing industries. Vegetables have to be sold quickly in the market due to their small shelf life. Vegetable farmers can directly transport their fresh produce to the retails customers through delivery partners.

    One more big issue of Indian farming is the labour problem. I believe this can also be solved by creating a service industry where human resources are trained and equipped with proper skills and tools for efficient farming activities. India is progressing in the service sector. Our BPOs and Software companies, exporting their services in the global market. These agro-service MSMEs will see a growth of the service sector in the main economic base of the Indian economy.

    Co-operative enterprises – Path for village self sufficiency

    We have a very weird notion that only a wealthy industrialist can start an industry or enterprise. However, we have our very own example of cooperative achieving a magnificent growth. Local farmers of Anand, Gujrat started India’s beloved Amul as a cooperative. It started back in 1946 under the leadership of local farmer Tribhuvandas Patel. Later it achieved a glowry of white revolution with the guidance of Padma Vibhushan Verghes Kurien. It created wealth for local villages and made them self-sufficient. Mahatma Gandhi had written about his concept of village swaraj. He dreamt that every village will be self-sufficient in every aspect including finances. Today, if villages come together and form these MSMEs which will handle, process, package and sell their own produce. Then, Indian agriculture will see another revolution. It will pave a way towards a sustainable development of rural India. 

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  • An Invitation to Die – Captivating Murder Mystery

    An Invitation to Die – Captivating Murder Mystery

    I have observed that as I approach mid-October, I naturally gravitate towards mystery and thrillers. Maybe this is the motivation I need to keep reading till the end of year. I have mentioned in my earlier posts about how much I love a good mystery or thrillers. They keep me glued to the pages or screen if I am reading them on Kindle. This year, thanks to the Blogchatter’s Book Review Program, I got an opportunity to review a captivating murder mystery written by Tanushree Podder.

    An Invitation to Read

    Harper Collins is famous for their wonderful books and this one surely keeps up to that tradition. An Invitation to Die is the third mystery that Col. Acharya, a local sleuth of Ramsar solves ASP Timothy Thapa. I suppose, I was living under a rock till date. I haven’t read the earlier two books. And yet, Tanushree is successful in grabbing my full attention in this third one. She has done a wonderful job as a storyteller. Plot goes on thickening as you keep turning pages.

    With a lot of mystery reading, you kind of become sleuth yourself. It becomes a curse when your little grey cells start working when you pick up a mystery novel. You start guessing the plot in advance. But hold your horses my fellow sleuths. Podder has lots of twists and turns which will leave you surprised whenever you start guessing the next step. 

    I am eager to go back and grab other books from this series and read them. Tanushree Podder has captured a spot on my favorite authors list with this book. I highly recommend this one to you. I am sure you won’t regret your decision.

    Blurb

    It begins with a simple mystery – elderly widow Violet William’s van goes missing after her granddaughter Pia forgets to lock the door when using it to cater for a wedding reception. But this is Ramsar, and soon, a simple case turns sinister when ASP Timothy Thapa finally finds the missing van, and promptly discovers a dead body inside it. Enter Colonel Acharya, Ramsar’s resident amateur sleuth, with his merry band of bridge-playing Watsons. As the detective begins his investigation, he finds that things are not what they seem, and with few clues, several suspects, and no leads to go on, Colonel Acharya might be facing his most challenging case yet.

    My Ratings

    Story: 4/5
    Writing style: 4/5
    Cover Design: 5/5

    Overall rating: 4.5/5

    About the book

    Book: An Invitation to Die: A Colonel Acharya Mystery
    Author: Tanushree Podder
    Publisher: Harper Collins
    Genre: Crime Fiction
    Pages: 288

    Where to buy

    P.S. This book also marks the completion of my TBR Challenge. I had pledged to read 25 books in the year of 2021.

    This review is powered by the Blogchatter Book Review Program.

  • मनातले गांव – Hidden town in my mind

    मनातले गांव – Hidden town in my mind

    I believe that everybody has their own version of Utopia in their mind. For me it’s a small town which we can see around us in real life. Its habitants are also familiar faces. Nothing fancy or extravagant. People are happy and helpful. Courteous and smiling. I always wonder why we don’t experience this in real life.

    This is such a small expectation. But what we see around us is disbelief amongst each other. Grim faces of people walking around. High levels of road rage. Everything lacks a bit of happiness. I tried penning down this feeling in this poem. Hope you have enjoyed it.

    कविता

    माझ्याही मनात आहे
    एक गांव लपलेले,
    तसे दिसायला सारखेच
    आपल्या भोवती असणारे.

    माणसेही त्यातली वाटतात
    तशी ओळखीची,
    बोलतात आपुलकीने,
    करतात मधून चौकशी.

    एक प्रश्न पडतो मला
    उत्तर मात्र मिळत नाही,
    भोवतालची माणसे खरी,
    अशी का वागत नाही?

    Rough translation

    A small town is hiding
    in my mind
    similar in looks
    which is ahead and behind

    People residing there
    have faces familiar
    How are you doing?
    they ask, is everything fair?

    It all seems merry
    but I always wonder
    I don’t see them around
    Why real world is harder.

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  • Shanta Shelke – Marathi Literary Ganges

    Shanta Shelke – Marathi Literary Ganges

    Yesterday was the beginning of the birth centenary of a legendary Marathi poetess Shanta Shelke. A decade ago, I had written an article about her in Marathi. On this occasion, I would like to introduce you all through an English translation of the same article.

    Shanta Shelke – Marathi Literary Ganges

    During my morning walk, a piece of paper landed on my body over a breeze. With a simple curiosity about the text on that paper, I glanced at it and halted immediately. Piece of paper was an old one. They were a few lines of a very sweet poem. Poem from my childhood. It was a piece of paper from an old Marathi Textbook and the poem was Shanta Shelke’s “लाडकी बाहुली”. Suddenly after a long gap of so many years, I was seeing those lines. I sat on the bench and read the whole poem. Followed by this, I started recollecting so many poems and songs written by her. As if I was witnessing a concert of songs and poems penned by her in the music hall of my mind. I returned home after finishing my morning walk and that amazing mind concert and now I am writing this article.

    I remember, I was introduced to Shanta Shelke in school through our Marathi textbooks called Balabharati. There are only a few poems from my school days which touched my heart even though they were taught dryly. Shantabai’s poems always have a place amongst those poems. For all children, she is like Shanta Aaji (grandma) who writes sweet small poems, rhymes, etc. Infact, I was totally unaware that I already knew her writings even before learning those poems in school. Lot of my childhood favorite kids songs like, किलबिल किलबिल पक्षी बोलती, विहीणबाई विहीणबाई, are penned by her. I learnt this fact much later in my life. However, we were formally introduced to the name of Shanta Shelke in this way. However, it always felt that she’s pampering us through her poems and songs.

    As I grew up, I stopped learning Marathi as a set subject in the curriculum and with that, lost the touch with prescribed poems. However, the poems which touched my heart, I kept reading them again and again. I read the poetry collections of all those poets. Shanta Shelke was still close to my heart. Varsha and Rupasi are the two of her poetry collections which are my favorites. Sometimes, I listen to one of my favorite songs aired on the radio which turns out to be written by her. She penned numerous lovesongs, solos and duets, which are dear to young hearts. Her folk koli songs area equally hit just like her devotional songs like “मागे उभा मंगेश पुढे उभा मंगेश”. She wrote  songs for two musicals composed by Pt. Jitendra Abhisheki. “काटा रुते कुणाला” written is a Ghazal form still rule the hearts of music lovers. She wrote many lavanis like “रेशमाच्या रेघांनी”, “नाव सांग सांग सांग नाव सांग” and upbeat modern songs like “बांबूच्या वनात”.

    Just like poetry, she is equally masterful of prose. You can’t put her book down until you finish it. Gulmohor, Kaveri, Basari are few of her famous short story collections while Odh (ओढ), Dharma (धर्म) are famous novels. Her autobiography written with the title of धूळपाटी is very fascinating. You will connect to her short articles compiled under titles like “पावसाआधीचा पाऊस” (Rain before rain), “आनंदाचे झाड” (Tree of happiness) and “वडीलधारी माणसे” (Elderly people). She also translated literature from many languages. It wasn’t just a way to earn. She took it as a way to learn languages. Most famous of her translations are collection of Haikus with title पाण्यावरच्या पाकळ्या (Petals on water) and  Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women under title of “चौघीजणी”. She even translated the immortal Sanskrit literary masterpiece Meghadoot of Kalidasa into Marathi.

    She was honoured with many awards for her literary service. She received Ga. Di. Ma. Puraskar in 1996 while Government of India awarded for her lyrics writing for the film भुजंग. “मागे उभा मंगेश, पुढे उभा मंगेश” gave her Soor Singar Award. In 2001, Yashawantrao Chavhan Pratishtan honoured her with a lifetime achievement award.

    It won’t be wrong if you call Shantabai a Literary Ganges as she has created a vast volume of literature. It is believed that Bhagiraath brought the Ganges to Earth from the heavens for the wellbeing of humans. But it seems heavens were in need of Ganges now and hence, some Bhagirath from those higher planes came in a form of cancer and took this Literary Ganges back to heaven on 6th June 2002. However, Shantabai is still with us in the form of her writings and will remain forever.

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  • Eye On You – Chilling Thriller by Kanchana Banerjee

    Eye On You – Chilling Thriller by Kanchana Banerjee

    Good thrillers, crime and investigation are the most engaging stories for me and they are pretty rare to find. But when you find one. You just can’t stop until you reach “The End”. Anita Nair, Salil Desai, Sujata Messi, Vaseem Khan and Abeer Mukherjee are a few names which are setiating our hunger for Indian thrillers. Today I want to add one more name to the list. Kanchana Bannerjee has given us her second crime thriller “Eye On You” and man, it’s a gripping tale.

    My favorites from “Eye On You”

    Eye On You is the story of Myra, a leading sales head of a reputed company and social media influencer on the side. It revolves around the event of her getting raped in her own bedroom without any signs of forced entry in the house, no signs of struggle and no forensic evidence. The story is set in today’s Gurgaon with all of its problems like overcrowding, worsening air quality along with many others. New found glamorous career of being a social influencer plays an important role in the story to take it forward through various plot points. It connects with the reader because of the contemporary settings and events which we read and hear around us.

    The style of writing is fluid and fast paced which makes the book interesting to read. The way of narrating a story with the perspective of different characters takes it to a next level. Grab your copy to enjoy a gripping thriller story.

    Blurb

    You’re seen, tracked, and followed everywhere you go. Every line & picture you post; someone is watching. All that information in the wrong hands is a recipe for disaster.

    You have a smart door, a CCTV; everything is controlled via an app on your mobile phone. All they need to do is to hack into your phone. Anyone can get in, anyone can see you inside your home.

    How safe are you inside your home?

    Myra is a young, independent, single working woman living in Gurgaon. After a party in her home, she wakes up the following morning and discovers that she has been raped. But she was at home, surrounded by her friends.

    Who could have done this to her? Was it one of her friends or a stranger?

    My Rating

    Book Cover: 2/5
    Writing Style: 4/5
    Story: 3/5
    Overall: 3/5

    About the book

    Book: Eye On You
    Author: Kanchana Banerjee
    Publisher: Self Published
    Genre: Crime Fiction
    Pages: 188

    Where to buy

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