Power of idea

With the global economic environment, especially the US economy, taking a nosedive, there are fears that the Indian outsourcing story might take a big hit. Pyarelal Rameshwar too is worried that the downturn would hit his outsourcing business hard. A non-resident Indian based in Dubai, Pyarelal runs a laundry in Satwa. My search for a laundryman during my stay in Dubai ended with him. Pyarelal provides door-to-door service, including both pick up and delivery of clothes that are lined up neatly on hangers on the back of his rather plush van. Once I asked him about his whereabouts in India. Delhi, he said, was his base. Where in Delhi, I asked. Katwaria Sarai, came the reply. It struck a chord. That was where I spent the most part of my nearly a decade-and-a-half stay in Delhi. I was curious to know where in Katwaria Sarai? We had a dhobi’s shack in the building with the ramp at the entrance, he said. Qutub View Apartments? I asked. Yes, he replied. I couldn’t imagine such a coincidence. I lived there for five years before moving to Dubai.
The laundry in Delhi used to be handled by Pyarelal’s wife, Seema. Pyarelal, who moved to Dubai in 1994, occasionally visited the apartment, but we had never met. With business booming in Dubai in recent years, Seema moved in to join her husband in early 2007. But things are not looking good any longer, says Pyarelal. Orders are drying up with many executives moving back home after losing their jobs. The Dubai government is demolishing large parts of Satwa to build swanky new structures that are in sync with the city’s modern looks. Pyarelal says if he does retrace his steps to his home country after shutting his overseas unit, it would be back to Delhi. Or maybe Gurgaon, where I now live. Who knows, we might meet again over business.