The Wily Indian - 1

I was in City Market this afternoon. As most old Bangaloreans know. this is the place for bargains and since it is also a major bus stand and vegetable market, it attracts huge floating population. Those from the rural areas arrive here to sell farm produce and also pick up supplies. And is normally very crowded. The bylanes are home to wholesale saree, plastic, toy, decoration, stationary, steel utensils, silver, gold, tools, electronics dealers etc.

And having been a frequent visitor for several years, I am not usually attracted to crowds. But this time it was different. There was a huge crowd, jostling around and it was more than normal. And I had to investigate.
There  in the middle of this motley crowd was a guy sitting on a 3'x3' plastic sheet, with just 2 plastic mugs-one with water and the other empty, a lit candle, a pointed knife and a few white colored plastic sticks the length and size of a chalk. Since I managed to enter the circle at the end of his spiel, all I could see was that he was offering these for 10 Rs each. He managed to sell about 15 and started the demo again.
He took the empty mug and punched a hole and made a 3-4" slit on the side with the knife. Then he took the plastic stick and heated it in the open flame of the candle and smeared the melted glob on the slit. This he spread with the flat side of the knife and then, with the gusto and flair of a magican, poured water into the mug. NO LEAKS.
He then offered the 'MAGIC' sticks to an open mouthed crowd and managed to sell a dozen more.
A cool 120 Rs.
After a few more rounds of this, he took a break. I was just about to talk to him when I saw him hurrying into one of the bylanes not 30' away. I saw him enter a shop and walk out a few minutes later with a packet in hand, sit on the footpath and proceed to cut 4" pieces from a 12" plastic stick.
I walked into the shop he had just exited and upon enquiry found that these 'MAGIC' sticks were thermoplastic industrial grade hot melt glues. You feed them into a glue gun, which melts it an pushes it out of the nozzle and it is used for sealing cartons etc. (If you carefully peel open and observe the sealed side flap of a toothpaste carton, you will see a clear circular glob of glue).


The cost of each 12" piece is Rs.8. This guy was making 3 pieces from each, selling it at 10 Rs each and making a cool profit of Rs. 22/-. 
All this, not even 30' away from the very shop he bought it from. What a wily and resourceful  fellow.