With a little help from the mitra

Demonetisation may have led to a lull for most businesses, but there are some in the city who’re making hay as the sun shines. TaskMitra.com, a portal that offers services of its ‘mitras’ for various chores, in one example. While there are different services that they cater to, standing in queue as a proxy has seen a surge in demand. This is in sync with the services of Bookmychotu, a similar service the Capital.

Gautam Gokhale, the co-founder of the start-up, says it’s the idea of money versus time. In today’s world, time is a luxury. “Earlier on a daily basis, we would have about 300 errands, but now it has crossed 550. In fact, currently we are rejecting many of our customers,” he adds, further pointing out, “Most of out request come from Andheri, Lower Parel and Colaba, in that order.”

Amu Rai, a 26-year-old professional whose office is in Airoli, has hired a Mitra to save her mother from standing in the queue for hours. “My mother is 58-year-old. Although she is not a senior citizen, it would be very difficult for her to go and stand in the queue for long hours. But the person stood there in line for my mum and as her turn approached closer, she gave her a call and she came down,” she explains.

The Mitras, are mostly college students, who don’t mind getting paid some extra cash while standing in a queue and listening to music or overhearing others’ conversation. The charge '200 for the first two hours, and an extra 100 bucks for every extra hour.

Harpreet Kaur, is a 21-year-old hotel management student who cam to study in Mumbai from Kanpur. She has been associated with TaskMitra from the very beginning. “I knew about TaskMitra from a friend and I thought it was a very good way for me to know more people in the city. The extra money adds to the incentive, of course, with which I shop sometimes, or sometimes I save and buy something expensive later on. But it definitely acts as an added allowance over what my parents send,” she says.

While for Harpreet, it’s a way to know the city better, Dadar resident Sarwesh Jawale feels this job helps him do some social work as well. “My father works for BEST, and I am a student. This is job is essentially to get some pocket money for myself. However, I think it also allows me to help others and do some social work,” says Sarwesh. The exercise also helps the 19-year-old get a better perspective while eavesdropping. “I listen to what other people are saying while standing in the queue. In one of the lines I stood, I heard them discussing how this was a great decision, but also how it was affecting the farmers.”