Sarika Sari Center

Sarika Sari Centre is the name of the store that my uncles and cousins own in a town in Bihar, one of the poorest and most corrupt states of India. Modest in size and selection by western standards, it is the largest clothing store in town, strategically located at the portal of the bustling ‘main’ market. During my many summers spent at this store, playing different roles, from cashier to salesperson, I learned the nuts and bolts of running a ‘sari’ shop. It was here where I met the keenest and most creative businessmen, who operated in a climate of minimal purchasing power and political instability, with deft and unwavering optimism.

The land where cable optic fibers intricately connect towns and cities and eBay is a standard business platform is a far cry from half way around the planet, where the train system forms the veins of commerce and loud, guttural bidding is the norm. I watch as my cousins travel tirelessly in non-air-conditioned trains from one corner of the country to another to pick out the latest clothing materials. Manish, my enterprising cousin with a glint in his eye, had a new idea – why not make shirts that are ready-made? That way the purchaser doesn’t have to get his own shirt tailored? What could we call the label – 5^th Avenue? Park Avenue? But those shirt labels are already taken. And so thoughts about marketing techniques continued to develop in his mind.

It never ceases to amaze me how many lives are precariously tied to this one enterprise - from the busy tailor, to the bicycle-mounted tea vendor, to the wives and children making their way from school - this store is the life and blood of many; unfortunately, it is one of the few successful ones in a town with a dried out economy and low infrastructure reliability.