Just exactly what has it taken for me to keep Mississippi flowing?

Just exactly what has it taken for me to keep Mississippi flowing? Friends who know about the venture sometimes ask me, "So how is Mississippi doing?"

To share the truth, Mississippi is growing with every passing month. The other side of the truth is that the growth has been gradual. And every little addition to its growth comes out of a lot of legwork. Literal legwork and figurative and virtual. 

Like they say it takes about 1000 days to really build the momentum. If you survive, you'll most likely do well. I didn't believe in that. I thought I would do better and much much earlier. I thought my 'idea' is gonna make waves.

No, we are not some ocean, nor the river we purport to be. To create just one wave is a mighty effort. To talk about 'waves', the plural, is another thing. And so precisely, let me say, we've created 20 waves (20 products which have kept us afloat out of, let's say, 400 or so) in the 21 months of our journey.

Personally, I've had to dig deep, into my savings, into my head and into my closet. Entrepreneurship is like that.

I cut down my wardrobe to 3 colors. 2 primary colors, 1 spicy. Primary: blue and white. Spicy: red. 2 supporting colors: beige and grey. Haven't thrown away clothes in other colors but I'll wear them till they last.

As to other things, I buy nothing except running shoes which I can wear to my shop. The other big buy was a camera (in replacement for the one that I lost) which I use for clicking earrings and birds.

I've bought a lot of transparent containers in the 21 months. I realize preservation of everything I have is important for survival. Transparent coz I want to see what I have, time and again, and be efficient in making use of them till we build a momentum. I've labelled them all so that one glance is enough to get what I want.

A fling bag so that I don't expend a lot of energy forgetting things. I carry a lot of little things which I might need in the bag.

I've driven my bike fairly carefully and slowly. Idea being I shouldn't injure myself. Can't afford hospital bills and can't afford to spend time on other matters. I've given up on car almost completely. On many occasions I prefer walking down to my shop, and for the little things I want to buy for myself or the shop.

On occasions I've gone for sessions at my friend's coaching class so that my pocket-money is taken care of. I've had occasional yummy pizzas but nothing compared to when I was in a job.

And I've not traveled by flight for the last 20 months.

Every such little decision could be taken keeping only one thing in mind. That the money I save could be used towards creating/offering one additional design of earrings to earrings lovers. That's it. No more, no less.

Just exactly, this is what it has taken me, personally, to keep Mississippi flowing.

This update is slightly long by FB standards. And this is a meditative Sunday answer to a question which most friends and relatives ask. :) Good day!

Katrina Kaif's got choice

Yes! To eat or to earring. You can check more about Mississippi Earrings here.

Uniqueness, blingness and massiness

Here are a few inferences on the three things mentioned in the subject. These are based on my observations and experience at Mississippi. The inferences could overlap.

Those who rely only on their looks to muster any kind of attention but do not want to spend a lot will spend on the most ordinary, non-distinct but full-of-bling designs. Why? They want to be noticed but they do not want to stand out. Bling makes them noticeable and design doesn't make them stand out at all. If I go a little further, such people would unconsciously develop taste only for the most ordinary. For then, they can wear the same thing over and over again without inviting any kind of judgements. The last statement might not be true in reality but might reflect the thinking of such people.

Those who only want to talk and neither want attention nor want to spend a lot, will buy the most ordinary, non-dintinct and unblingy designs. For once, there might be no design. It might just be a placebo sort of jewelry.

Those who rely only on their looks to muster attention and do not mind spending will buy distinct and full-of-bling designs.

Those who are not bothered about deliberately garnering attention but are sufficiently careful about how they look, tend to choose unique or distinct designs, with or without bling. They might have a lot or only a limited amount to spend.

There are obvious questions here. I surmise that bling is relatively clear to understand. Uniqueness or distinctiveness is of course devoid of massiness. Let's say such stuff isn't commonly seen.

Any views?

What do you value in Taj Mahal?

What do you value in Taj Mahal? The amount of white marble used? The design and architecture? The historical significance?

The same questions apply to a lot of other objects. I retail earrings, so my reference is to earrings. People often have questions like these. What value do we get if we resell? What is the value of silver?

The reality is we can make the same stuff in copper or brass. Metal is just a little part of the value and affects the price of the eventual product based on commodity prices. It is the design and the craftsmanship which we charge for. And the price of that design/craftsmanship would stay the same whatever the metal.

Then why use silver? Simply because it scores higher than other metals in most important properties and, very importantly, it is long-lasting.

Eyes for earrings, got me a kiss

I visited the Stonemart 2013 at Jaipur and was captivated by this at the Dhoot Sangmermer pavilion. Of course, other works of art were also very good but this got locked in memory. Mesmerizing.