Bharat Repairing Shop. Why am I writing about a repair shop? On Sunday, I took a very, very old, (30 years +) waffle maker, which had stopped working, and a Philips toaster, where the pop up mechanism was malfunctioning. I took this to the shop in Bazaar Road in Bandra. I've been to the shop earlier as we've done some repairs earlier on a microwave and other stuff.
My wife is a great believer in can fixing and repairing electrical items instead of buying anything new. There was only one guy at the shop, I think it was Sandeep. The older partner is Shankar. So, I gave Sandeep the two items and I asked him, how does the shop work? He said, Sundays we work till 2, otherwise they are available open till 9pm. He says he cannot do anything about the repairs on my items on Sunday, but he will try and give at least one of them by Monday evening, which is next day.
So, I went back on Monday. The waffle maker, which I was later told, was more than 50 years old, had been repaired. There was something wrong with the heating element and it cost me only ₹ 250. And Sandeep said the toast maker requires a part, which will take another day. I picked up the toast maker on Tuesday as well for an additional repair charge of ₹250. In the past I had given a water heater from Kent to be repaired and they said, look, there's just no way this can be repaired, just throw it away.
So, it's amazing. I mean, here are a couple of guys who repair things and who are so passionate about what they do. They get things done. They tell you what is right and what is wrong. And they're committed to their core, to their workmanship. And it's not like they're charging a lot of money or, you know, doing something which will lead to scale up, valuation etc. Everytime, I meet skilled people I am humbled, the simplicity of how they come across. I mean, people need to get things repaired really value Bharat Repairing. You can say these are service providers. But they are really committed. They're so passionate about their work. I have rarely seen this humility and simplicity in people holding white collar jobs.
Folks like Bharat Repairing is what keeps the economy going. I mean, they reduce costs and they also enable recycling and reduce wastage. It's such an important link. I think we need to value skills who make a difference in our life, improve sustainability, reduce wastage, and increasingly help them move forward. Support them. If you live in Bandra, please go to the store. I am sure there's a store like this in every part of India which we have used at some point or the other
They were also the same people who were most affected by COVID (how can you work from home for a repair shop) but somehow their lives seem challenging, but they do make a honest living. As a country, we pride ourselves in lower costs and getting the best value. However skilled labour in the SME segment does not seem to be getting its due nor do small farmers for that matter. How do we make their lives better?
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