Maha Mandi experience - 8 Aug 2015

It was 8th Aug 2015 morning when i woke up at 08:00 am with a lot of enthusiasm and will. Today was that day for which  I with Tanmay (baba) & Avinash (chacha) was waiting for long. Over a month of preparation and video shooting we were ready to feel the real mandi event. when we came out of our room, the excitement was there all around. one can easily spot people in white shirts spread all over the campus. Some were gossiping about the place to go, some were asking for more inventory, some were busy clicking photos with the groups and people around, some were fueling themselves for the day long battle and many more. The milieu was completely different that day. Those who were always found running for classes were now found loading up there sacks, filling up there bottles , not to go to the same chairs but to explore the streets of Mumbai.

It was time for Flash mob performance in front of the Vir Sawarkar hall. The crowd were electric, shouting and whistling on every dance move. The stage was set for the day. After a short meal we headed for the taxi. We planned to hit a busy crowd. Juhu beach was the place for us. We called OLA and left for the place. It took more then hour to reach  Juhu. It was 2:00 O'Clock. The beach was not much crowded but the sky was. Within the minutes of reach it started raining heavily. we took shelter under a shop and waited for the rain to stop.

When the rain stopped we moved to the beach and started selling. Of all, the first approach was the difficult one. We were saying to each other to go and try. every one was hesitant. After a bit, we all ready to hit it together. well that was the best plan to get everyone on board. We started scanning for a target customer to sell the stuff. We located some bunch of guys first who were intrigued by our presence. with stuff in our hands we moved toward them. they were curious but we knew they want buy any. But we wanted to test our pitching skills so we grabbed them. This went for a while after which we tried selling it to those with there children. But even after lot of interaction and encounters, we were unable to sell anything in the first 2 hours. we were disappointed but at the same time hungry too. we decided to move out of the beach as people were not buying our stuffs. We went to a nearby Iskcon temple thinking that there might we get some good customer. While commuting, we stuffed our stomach with edlies.
Iskcon temple, to our dismay, was not a ray of hope. People were coming out of the cars and directly entering into the temple. We were not allowed to go in with stuffs to sell also it was not an open premises. We spent almost 40 minutes there trying to sell but in vein.

We started questioning our strategy and dialogue delivery skills. Now we thought to hit posh areas nearby. we went in a shop and sold two item within a minute. next the same happened.We quickly sold another one without much efforts.our confidence was boosted but a second thought came to our mind. In fact to all at the same time. We thought that by this speed we would be able to sell all of our product in no time and without much effort but it is negating the main ideology of mandi event. We are here to think, sell & learn. selling was happening all of a sudden cause of rich customers but learning was not happening. Rich were easily buying stuffs without much interaction which could add some value to our skills. So we decided to forgo this place.

we realized that in the initial two three hours of our selling we learn way much then the past hour. Thou we were unable to sell but we were experimenting a lot. Analyzing potential buyer, modulating our pitch, coming up with different methods and examples to express, improvising according to the customer, introspecting about the wrong done, mulling over it and then correcting it. This is what was the core intention of the event. after a consensus, we decided to return to the tough terrains which at first had challenged  us and made us leave. we decided to take it hard this time. A surge of determination and confidence streamed through our blood. The motive was Crystal clear " selling to rich is easy, its hard to sell to the poor and that is what we are going to do now".

With new  vigor, energy and strategy we returned to the beach. We adopted conventional selling technique that is being used in India for decades. like Ayurveda medicine shop does. we stationed our shop in between other local sellers. mat was spread on the ground. We switched on our bluetooth sound system, scattered the educational toys  and started selling. "lelo lelo baccho k liye khilone lelo, khelte khelte bacche ko padhna sikhao"- " take the toys which educated your child too" . Within some minutes we pulled huge crowd. People were all around us in a semicircle. We all were busy telling them the usefulness of our educational products. This went for some time and we some quite a good amount.

It was now sunset and the moon up in the sky. It was the time for us to wrap up. We collected our stuff and packed our sacks. Tanmay looked at me at the moment and we both knew we did great today. we had a huge sense of satisfaction leaving our one day playground. No class study can put you through this knowledge & experience that we had yesterday. At the  part of business communication and mandi initiative, we find ourselves at a greatest advantage. This experience is going to get best out of us when we will hit the business road.

Hail "MAHAMANDI"