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The Hindi equivalent of the English idiom “better late than never” is “Der aaye durust aaye.”
However, a busy sales executive at HMT’s World Trade Centre showroom in Mumbai gave this idiom a slight twist. The executive summed up his predicament by saying “Der aaye magar durust nahin aaye (though you – customers – are coming, it is too late).”
The executive was pointing to the rush of nostalgic middle-aged customers wanting to buy HMT wrist-watches from the fast depleting stock at the showroom.
“If only the customers, who are now showing enthusiasm to buy HMT wrist watches, had come earlier we would have survived,” he said wistfully.
The iconic home grown watch brand of the 1960s vintage will no longer be “time keepers to the nation” as the Government last month decided to close down the loss-making HMT Watches.
The scarcity value seems to have come into play. The executive pointed out that last week a customer picked up 75 watches worth ₹1.50 lakh.
Probably, down the line, this customer could rake in the moolah by peddling the out-of-production watches at an online marketplace.
Though many customers were enquiring about hand-wound, mechanical wrist watches – Janata, Pilot and Sona – they were out-of-stock at the showroom.
For many customers it is the emotional connect that brought them to the HMT showroom as HMT was the first brand of wrist watch they either bought or received as a gift.
Somasekhar, an IT sales executive from Bangalore, dropped by at the showroom in the evening after his meeting, looking for HMT NASS watch with a blue dial.
When the sales executive informed him that the model was not available, Somasekhar was disappointed. However, the wrist watch aficionado picked up two watches worth about ₹3,500.
“India has very few desi (home grown) brands. I feel a sense of pride in wearing a home-grown watch brand, which is affordable for the common man.
“It is really unfortunate that the Government is closing down this company,” said the IT executive.
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