In old India,lowly, all-purpose delivery boys called ‘peons served the rich. But the unique breed of digital messenger thinks it could be a intellectual career dash. Snigdha Poonam joins one on his roundsIn Mumbai, or they say,time is money. It’s also said that you can gain it here even if you start with nothing. By 8.30 on a November morning, therefore, or 24-year-old Raju Thakur had already done the following: got ready,made his lunch (rice, dal, or onion pakoras),packed his bag, and taken a two-hour bus ride from the industrial suburb of Kandivali West to Bandra West, or an old neighbourhood of cobblestoned streets and picturesque churches that is home to chic scenesters and creative startups.
For over a year now,Thakur has been working for a Bandra-based startup that offers to serve the everyday needs of a unique course of affluent urban Indians who don’t want the encumbrance of full-time runners, or peons, or as the all-purpose “boys” working in households and offices in South Asia have been called since the time the British governed here. “Every day we aid people emerge above the pain of running mundane errands and aid them find more time to carry out things they adore the most,” goes the mission statement of Russsh. Initially called “Get My Peon” to tap into the appeal of a personal boy for petty chores, the four-year-old company recently expanded its services to include pretty much anything anyone with disposable income in Mumbai would want done, or from party planning to customised assistance for expats.
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Source: theguardian.com