Saturday, August 15, 2009

Jet Waterways

In her book, “Bazaars, conversations and freedoms”, the author Rajni Bakshi argues that the economic downturn has revealed serious structural flaws and the lesson is that we must make markets work for society, rather than the other way around.

In one of the chapters, she recounts an incident involving the poet, Rabindranath Tagore. In the year 1920, on a blistering summer day, Tagore was traveling in a, then rare, motor car across rural Bengal. A defect in the car forced him to stop the car frequently and refill water in the vehicle. In village after village of a drought-affected countryside, strangers came forth to share their limited supply of water and refused to accept payment or reward. Tagore wrote later:

"In a hot country where travelers constantly need water and where the water supply grows scanty in summer, the villagers consider it their duty to offer water to those who need it. They could easily make a business out of it, following the inexorable law of demand and supply, but the ideal which they consider to be their Dharma has become one with their life. To ask them to sell it is like asking them to sell their life. They do not claim any personal merit for possessing it. To be able to take a considerable amount of trouble in order to supply water to a passing stranger and yet never to claim merit or reward for it seems absurdly and negligibly simple…but that simplicity is the product of centuries of culture, that simplicity is difficult of imitation."

Ironically, I was reading this passage while on a Jet Konnect flight from Mumbai. In Konnect flights, Jet Airways charges extra for food and even water. A 500 ml bottle is priced at Rs 20. Many passengers, who asked for water, when told they needed to pay Rs 20 for a half-litre bottle, chose to remain thirsty. At 35000 ft, and as the only supplier of water, it does make good business sense for Jet to charge a premium for that commodity, following the principle of supply and demand. But centuries of Indian culture would come in the way of the passengers accepting this practice in good spirit. It is going to rankle.

5 comments:

Mambalam Mani said...

Yes, but think about this. Let us forget about profit for now. Jet does not have a source of water that they can tap and give to the passengers. They have to buy bottles which costs them for the product, its storage, transportation etc. And people demand bottled "mineral" water If like the villager, they give some ground water or tap water which cn be free, then somebody gets diarrhoea or some poisoning then jet gets sued. So who is to blame?

Raj said...

Mani,I am not being judgemental about Jet's practice. I was talking about the Indian psyche which prevents us from paying a premium for water. I have seen people blow up thousands of rupees for a meal in a 5-star hotel, yet will fume if the hotel tries to sell them mineral water. " I expect a 5-star hotel to provide clean water" is their tone and logic. On Jet Konnect, while I may buy a can of Coke for Rs 40, I will not buy 500 ml of water at Rs 20.

Anonymous said...

these are all lies...jet konnect serves u with a small bottle of water once u board the aircraft and before takeoff...any additional water is charged...

Balajisblog said...

Raj,

I did not know Jet Konnect charged for food until last week. Last week, when I boarded 0710hrs Jet Konn flight from Chennai to Mumbai, I was eagerly looking for breakfast, and I was surprised when the hostess sweetly asked me to cough up Rs.140 for a veg sandwich and coffee.

I wonder what the hostess will do if (a) I eat and then refuse to pay or (b) eat, throw the paper cup and polythene wrap away and tell her that I did not eat at all and (c) eat, and then quickly to move to an empty seat in another row and watch the hostess ...any ideas ? ?

In the entire flight, which was full, I think hardly 15 - 20 guys opted to have breakfast.

Everyone gets 1 # 200 ml bottle of water free though. Not sure if they charge if you ask for an addl 200ml bottle.


....Balaji.....

Raj said...

Balaji, it is true that everyone gets a 200ml bottle as the flight is about to take off. After this, the 200ml bottles vanish, and you can't get it for love or money. You can buy a 500ml bottle for Rs 20.

But my post was not a rant against Jet. It was more about the Indian psyche that prevents him/her from coughing up a premium for water.