The Hindu Business Line : A@mchi Mumbai

When we four friends realised that we neither had the money to buy all the books that we would love to read nor the place to store them in our matchbox residences in Mumbai, we hit upon the idea of an online library, the librarywala.com,” says Hiten Turakhia.

A true Mumbaikar, you would say. The city known for its fast-paced, nay harried, lifestyle is equally famed for entrepreneurship. And when you marry this with the leaping popularity of Internet, you realise that a venture like librarywala.com would be a perfect fit in many a Mumbaikar’s scheme of things.

Turakhia and his friends just had to talk to people around them to discover that there were many others who shared their way of thinking. The local library’s timings were too restrictive for their lifestyle. “We were fined frequently as we couldn’t return the book on time. The library was located way out of our route. And often we had to wait for a long time before getting the book we wanted to read,” says Turakhia.

So, he and his friends — Hiten Dedhia, Dhairyasheel Pawar and Shibanarayan Rath — all aged about 27-30 years, gave up their executive jobs to launch the Web site. They started collecting, cataloguing and writing a brief summary of the books on their site. Visitors could browse through the offerings and place an online order for a book. Once an order is placed, librarywala.com’s delivery boys drop off the books at the given address and collect them back when due for return; the delivery service is free and there is no time limit for reading. Members have to pay a one-time registration fee, a deposit and a nominal monthly fee. The tariff card is available on the Web site.

After tasting success in Mumbai, the team has started a branch in Bangalore and soon plans one in Pune too. With more than 8,000 titles, several in multiple copies, their Mumbai venture is the biggest. Bangalore currently has about 750 titles and more are being added. The online library currently stocks only English titles and there are plans for regional language books in the future.

Dine online

Ambarish (seated) and Asish Agarwal’s mealtree.com assists in ordering takeaway food.

The Agarwal brothers — Asish, Anuj and Ambarish — were big-time foodies who loved eating out. Takeouts were their favourite option but ordering one always proved to be a great challenge for them. “Today almost all hotels deliver food and along with it they also provide a menu card for the next order. Unfortunately we brothers somehow always managed to misplace them,” says Asish, 29. “Moreover, the task of dictating our address over phone to the harried accountant at the restaurant, as also asking him for details of the cuisine available, was a difficult one. So we hit upon the idea of mealtree.com.”

The brothers, whose father is a steel businessman, launched the Web site last November and already have 5,000 registered users in Mumbai. They receive about 25-35 orders a day and offer a database of menus of more than 100 restaurants across Mumbai. Registered members can browse through the menu cards and place an order online. After confirming the order over phone, the Web site will forward it to the relevant restaurant for delivery at the stipulated address.

Currently the entire service at mealtree.com is offered free of cost. Asish admits with a laugh, “It almost sounds like a charity. But soon we will tie up with hotels and charge a nominal commission.”

Among the most popular food items ordered are fast foods like pizzas, Punjabi and other Indian food. Most orders are for non-vegetarian items.

Toys from the Web

Sanket Popat, a clearing and forward agent, and his wife Rinku, a freelance fashion designer, stumbled upon a business idea when they struggled to give their daughter Aarna access to a wider range of toys. Buying so many toys was impractical while, at the same time, the local toy library was of little help as it was open for only two hours a day. So Popat went one step further and launched khilonaghar.com in May this year.

He has collected over 3,000 toys, which can attract anyone “from a newborn to a 99-year-old,” he says with a smile. The collection ranges from infant toys, picnic toys, infant books, fun books, flash cards and puzzles to encyclopaedias and many others. And the cost of borrowing them ranges from Rs 100 to Rs 6,000.

Soon he plans to include tricycles, rockers, walkers and so on.

The site has 35 members and another 200 have registered. The toys borrowed online are home delivered.

“Mumbai folks need professional service. As long as one delivers, there is never any dearth of getting customers,” says Popat. So far all his toys have been returned in good condition, but in case there is damage he will charge extra, he says. After the toys are returned, they are cleaned thoroughly to keep them in hygienic condition.

“There are no toxic toys in our library,” Popat assures.

Virtual piety

Prakash Mundhra’s blessingszonline.com delivers online orders for puja kits.

Prakash Mundhra decided to launch blessingzonline.com because he was convinced that there were many Mumbaikars keen to perform pujas but didn’t have the time to shop for the puja items, which are typically sold near temples or at other specialised areas of the city. Mundhra’s Web site offers various puja kits for occasions such as Diwali, Durga puja and Satyanarayan puja. Within two years of its launch, the kits have become very popular with corporate houses as gift items, especially during the festival season.

The site has found customers not only in India but also places such as the US, the UK, South Africa, Singapore, Dubai and others. Last Diwali he sold nearly 24,000 puja kits, says Mundhra, adding that the kits are also gift-wrapped according to requirement. This year he already has orders for 10,000 kits for the festive season, he says and anticipates the number to increase as the season nears.

“After going through my Web site, customers place online orders giving details of delivery address. Once the money is deposited in my account I send them the kits. When I have to send them abroad, I include postal cost,” he explains.

From this year he also plans to offer a Namaaz kit, which will have a photograph of Mecca, method of performing namaaz, a magnetic compass to indicate the westerly direction of Mecca, a pendant inscribed with the number 786 and other items needed for prayers.

So, welcome to Aamchi Mumbai — the Net- savvy metro market.

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