Sometimes you realise that convenience has made life easier, but not necessarily better.
For the past six months, I have started going to the mandi to buy vegetables and fruits. Not ordering from Zepto. Actually going out, walking through the crowd, checking the vegetables, asking the prices, and carrying everything back myself.
Initially, it was simply about buying things at better rates. But slowly, it became something I started looking forward to.
The mandi has its own rhythm. Street vendors keep coming and going. People bargain with complete confidence. Nothing is organised in the way supermarkets are organised. But somehow, everything works.
While going there regularly, I met a woman who sells vegetables on the roadside outside the mandi. She is from Bihar and lives in Delhi with her husband and two children. After a few visits, she became my go-to person. Slowly, our conversations became longer.
Once she found out that I am a lawyer, she started asking me small questions about issues in her family. Nothing dramatic. Just the kind of doubts people often have but do not always know whom to ask.
I think that is what I like most about going to the mandi. You do not only buy vegetables. You start recognising people. They start recognising you. Someone adds a little extra coriander. The entire process becomes slightly more personal.
Maybe this is what e-commerce can never fully replace. An app can deliver vegetables in ten minutes. But it cannot slowly turn a transaction into a small friendship.