“Darling" said Nilesh to his wife Jaya, as he sat down for dinner, “I want to call a few friends from office for lunch on Sunday – they have been pestering me to get you to treat them to your divine mutton biryani.”

“Sure,” said Jaya, “How much shall we charge them for the experience?”

“Charge?”, sputtered Nilesh. “What are you talking about?”

“Haven’t you been reading about home chefs cooking their way to riches by inviting people over for a unique, delicious experience,” said Jaya.

“In fact,” she said, warming to her theme. “I have been thinking, next time your mom is here, we should get her to lay out a Kerala sadya – I believe authentic regional cuisines are greatly in demand and people are willing to shell out Rs 3,000 per person for the home dining experience. There are websites like Trekurious and Once Upon My Kitchen that market culinary talents of home chefs and I have been thinking of listing there.”

“Are you joking?” said Nilesh. “You cannot seriously expect me to charge my colleagues?”

“It's only the poor and middle class that give free hospitality these days,” said Jaya scornfully.” "None of my friends do pot luck any more. Instead they organise pop ups for which they make us all pay. I am forever dodging them now. That Archana – she made each one of us cough up Rs 2,500 for an indifferent Sindhi cuisine experience,” she muttered. “And on Facebook, I keep getting invites to people laying out fancy tea experiences – and people actually seem to be paying upwards of Rs 800 for tea with strangers.”

“Clearly nobody is dropping in at home for tea with friends if that has suddenly become something to be experienced,” said Nilesh."The operative word seems to be ‘experience’ here."

Jaya nodded. “You bet. Remember my cousin Anita who works at that fancy travel agency. She tells me that Bollywood actors, cricketers and industrialists throw open their homes to well heeled foreign tourists. She recently arranged an evening at a socialite’s home in Mumbai for a tour group from UK and said the lady drove a real hard bargain.”

“I saw the pictures in the paper – but did not realize there was money changing hands for the soiree,” said a revolted Nilesh.

“Oh, nothing is for free these days,” said Jaya. “Remember the times when we used to take all the visiting relatives around town sightseeing. These days if you know your city well you can make a cool buck taking people out to show them the places they want. Sites like SeekSherpa connect locals with visitors.”

A thoughtful look on her face, she added, “Perhaps I should get Rohan to list himself there – that boy knows every hangout in town.”

“All this sounds perfectly ghastly to me. Whither atithi devo bhava ? And, by the way, isn’t this supposed to be the sharing economy?” said Nilesh. “Sharing but not caring,” retorted Jaya. “IMO it’s actually a “sharing-for-a price” economy.”

(This column takes an irreverent look at the world of marketing, new economy and workplaces)

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