Sheesha ho ya pill ho…

Ameet Kakode thought he was being funny when he decided to call up Justdial for some ice. It was the night seven of his friends were at his new house, and to celebrate had brought along premium Scotch. Unfortunately, the unfurnished house did not have a refrigerator, and it looked like the only thing that might be on the rocks that night was their plan.
So, at around 10.30 pm, Kakode sought help from the local directory for his crisisan act that his friends found ridiculous.Soon, he was giving his address, which made them laugh even harder. Half an hour later, however, when a man turned up at their doorstep with 30 ice cubes, “I was the one laughing at them,” says the triumphant youngster. “Mumbai rocks,” he adds, on the city that now delivers everything from a hookah to freshly cooked dog food to your doorstep.
For Mumbaikars—a species that spends most of its day in motion—nothing sounds better than ‘home delivery’ . While everyone from pizza outlets and dabbawalas to chemists have made an enterprise out of this need, youngsters like Nirbhay Vassa are now sniffing out its unconventional possibilities. Three months ago, over a conversation ringed with flavoured smoke circles, chartered accountant Vassa and his friend Yogini Lala came up with the idea of delivering sheesha to homes. Vassa saw a huge market for such a doorstep service in Mumbai and Lala suggested a name—‘ Voyager.
Their service, which costs Rs 750 per sheesha for a period of five hours, offers a choice of over 30 flavours, including premium ones like Paan Salsa, Kiwi, Double Mint and some innovations like Christmas, Blue Ribbon and Shining Star. Along with the delivery of a minimum of three sheeshas, the trio also sends attendants, so that hookah lovers aren’t bothered with refilling or replacing the coal. The trio has already attended to around 30 orders, mostly for cocktail parties, corporate events and one destination wedding in Rajasthan for which the client bore the airfare of the attendants . Nishita Jhaveri of Kemp’s Corner, one of Voyager’s first clients, was especially impressed by their emphasis on cleanliness. “To keep the coal from spoiling my floor, they covered the corner walls with plastic and spread out newspapers on the floor,” she recalls.
As exotic as the sheeshas is the home-delivered balloon service. While balloons themselves may be commonplace , these, which cost anywhere between Rs 800 and Rs 15,000, sing Happy Birthday, glow in the dark, record your voice or wish you a speedy recovery depending on the occasion . Shivani Patodia, a trained balloon artist, who runs the store Balloon Basket along with Jayshree, says these custom-made , helium balloons are imported twice a month and are in great demand during occasions like Valentine’s Day, Christmas and more recently, baby showers. “Balloons instantly put a smile on one’s face. In fact, you don’t need a reason to send a balloon anymore,” says Patodia, who has balloons for all occasions. “Two years ago, someone even ordered a balloon basket for a dog’s birthday.”
Indeed, dogs are important customers in the home delivery service. Bandra’s Wasiff Khan runs a dog food delivery service called Home Care that supplies fresh home-cooked food to at least 500 hungry pets in Mumbai. “Not only does it save the customer’s time, it also ensures the pet’s health, as the ingredients we use are 100 per cent natural,” says Khan, who started Home Care in 2004 after sensing the need for fresh food in a market that offered only branded cereals and processed foods. Initially, Khan would cook rice, vegetables and meat with no salt or spice, and try the samples on his friends’ dogs. When he saw that it worked, he bought a bicycle, hired an assistant and ran a local delivery service in Bandra, displaying his cell number on a box behind the bicycle. Today, he has 12 workers who zip across Mumbai on scooters that resemble pizza delivery vehicles and deliver doggie meals. “But the best reward is when the dogs wag their tails and wait for our delivery boys,” smiles Khan, who once saw a dog run all the way down from the fifth floor on hearing the delivery boy’s bike and usher him into the house.
And there’s food for the soul too delivered home. Sunil Kumar, a post-graduate in alternative therapies like reflexology and Shiatsu, runs a service called My Healing Station, where besides reiki and yoga, he offers two therapies he has pioneered— face and back reflexology and prenatal therapy. “Since Mumbai is a city of distances, it’s difficult for people to come all the way to Powai. So they reach me through the website, and I visit their homes for therapeutic healing,” says Kumar, who visits at least six clients a day and charges Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,300 per session.
Of course, there are some inevitable glitches in the doorstep service market. Experience has taught the Voyager sheesha trio to add a clause in their creative brochure : ‘If the glass breaks, you pay Rs 1,500 per sheesha.' Khan remembers the day a prominent politician died. “When our delivery boy was delayed by half an hour due to the heavy traffic and increased security outside his residence, we got a call asking why we were late,” he says. Post-script : The call was from none other than the family of the politician, who was a client. “That's how much people care for their dogs,” concludes Khan with a smile.