Snack bar – some (unpalatable) food for thought

 I grew up in the countryside when I was very young – even my boarding school was in a comparatively small town by the seaside. In the countryside, those days the movies were screened in temporary cinema ‘halls’ made from bamboo and thatched palm leaves, in Kerala. Artificial air conditioning was not required in the summer and you would carry an umbrella to the movies during monsoons – just in case! The more popular movies were screened for the evening shows while the obscure ones ran for meager audiences in the mornings. I wondered about these morning shows until some one told me they served the purpose of converting black money to white. It was years later I really understood what that meant.

 

There is a branch of a retail stores chain of a well known brand in our locality. The chain pays for the premises, a rent of ` 75,000/- per month – the thumb rule in industry is for any project to give positive returns on investment, the ratio of rent to turnover is 1%. So for the store to make profits the sales have to be worth at least ` 75 L in the month, which considering an average spend of ` 700 per person would mean (10, 714 foot falls per month) 357 footfalls per day.  That is (30 persons coming in every hour in a 12 hour working day) 1 buyer walking in every 2 minutes for 12 hours. This, I do not see happening. Then how do they survive? Many malls, signature restaurants (of celebrities), cinema production houses et al, may be in similar situations easily understood without telling in black and white. 

In passing

Mind you, there are many positives to creation of black money. (the only negative possibly being tax evasion and anyway the Government does not spend money judiciously!).  That colour money is spent easily. Money flows back into the system faster, creating employment opportunities. Just imagine the trade benefits and jobs created by Adarsh and its class of structures! 2G is a potent enabler affordable to every conceivable business person down to the istriwala.Money of a different colour from 2G has bolstered the business of a TV channel down south, we hear. That would certainly pave the way for more soaps, more actors, more technicians, more buying power, increased GDP and invite more FIIs to invest in India. This way we will overtake Chinese economy  sooner than forecast!

Any money coming back into the system is better than that stashed away in foreign banks. So let them bring back our money from the slalom slopes of the Swiss Alps and the luxury yachts of the Cayman Islands in a 50-50 deal. Call for amnesty. At least the money will come back into the system making for a more equitable distribution! Will the money return any other way?