The Oriya coconut distribution network reminds me of the tiffinwallas of Bombay (via Boing Boing). It’s a marvel of Indian efficiency:
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Smashing coconuts in Malaysia |
Hold a coconut in your hand on a highway in Orissa and the next bus will surely stop to pick it up to take it to the temple… Even if the bus is on a different route, the driver will make sure to drop the coconuts in a collection box en route or pass them on to a bus headed for Ghatgaon…They tell stories of bus drivers who failed to pick up coconuts from devotees and met with engine failures or accidents. “No one can refuse to carry a coconut,” says shop owner Rabindra Patnaik. The buses usually dump their coconuts in collection boxes across the state, from where other buses or devotees headed to the temple pick up them up on their final journey…
At the busy temple, priests take turns to break the coconuts in front of the deity. A few hundred coconuts find the place near the deity’s feet, and the rest of them are sold cheaply to local shop owners. This has spawned a local coconut-based sweets and oil industry. [Link]
Besides religion, desis spread at least two things efficiently: fresh food and hot gossip. It’s no surprise that desis are at the forefront of networking technology. Hey, Internet2? I fart in your general direction.
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Billo’s bindi |
The Coconut Express has also had a huge influence on the rock scene in India. The sad fate of the broken fruit inspired alt.rockers Smashing Coconuts, fronted by lead singer Billo Kurugan. Their hit single ‘Sharaab Rakh‘ was a seminal influence on a new genre called cocotechno, inspiring performers like the No-Sex-Before-Marriage Pistols, the Beejis, Bob Dhillon and Elvis Singh:
Unlike the tiffinwalas, this is an example of huge inefficiency. The deity needs only a few hundred coconuts, the rest are all surplus. However, devotees keep sending them b/c they don’t have to bear the cost for the transport. The inefficiencies are born by passengers in the bus, or people who are paying for the goods being shipped in the truck that keeps stopping every few miles to pick up another coconut. If devotees had to pay for shipment, you’d see a very different state of affairs.
IOL: You’ve got mail. Temple: Dammit! More cocospam!
Could you please make an English-to-Desi dialect translator? With a name change function please. Thank you.
Manish/Ennis–omg, you people kill me. I can’t stop giggling. I’m coocoo for Cocospam!
Dammit, where was this Peter “Elvis” Singh fellow when I was looking for wedding reception entertainment?
wow, and i never like elvis till now! though the ourfit is still a little over – the – top. he’s be better with a sequined lungi or something. yum yum. fianlly a sardar post (sorta)!
Haha. The “No-sex-before-marriage Pistols”. Dude, nothing beats thier Never Mind the Bullock album. zing!
now, if only we could have 4 singhs as the beatles. that would rock. i’ll have to work on that. i’d love to see how they bhangra and yeah yeah yeah at once! 😉
· brownfrown on February 6, 2006 04:21 PM · Direct link
It’s Bollocks, not bullock
Karmacola: Pun