In my growing up years I had seen my grandma haggling with the fish-seller who used to come home. Every Sunday he came to our house at  7 a.m sharp and then the usual process began- my grandma asking him about his children, offering him some tea , selecting the best fishes out of the lot and then bargaining for the final amount. Every time it was almost a heated argument, but nonetheless the fishseller used to come every Sunday without fail and my grandma refused to buy fish from any other vendor apart from him.

With passing years we moved to a bigger house and a new locality. Now I used to accompany my mom on her shopping sprees. What I observed in those expeditions was my mom curiously avoided shops with ‘Fixed Prices, No Bargaining’. The stores she went varied from time to time but one thing that remained constant was- ‘Bhaiyaa ye kitne mein doge. Final price batao’. She actually felt proud when she returned home after saving a couple of hundreds here and there.

Today I am living in a metropolitan city independantly, with no mom and grandma to give me company for my shopping. But this ‘bargain’ gene seems to have been transfered to me as well. From Off- Season sales to promotional Wednesday Bazaars, I hate to miss out any opportunity of saving a few bucks. Even while shopping online, I make a conscious effort to look for deals. No matter where my financial worth is 10 years down the line, I feel I will still get kicked by the idea of a discount…thanks to the immutable gene in my body.

But is this gene exclusive to my family ? I guess not!

Last year my friend waited in a queue for 4 hours to enjoy the benefits of the Nike employee sale. Afterall who wouldn’t love to get shoes worth Rs.7000/- in just Rs. 700/-

Another friend in office spends hours on the internet hunting for coupons and deals before he buys something.

This gene,as it seems, is universal to the human species. We are born with it, we live with it, we die with it and we ensure that it is transferred to the next generation.

P.S: Ironically, I now even work in an organization which is a deal search engine. I officially help people to ‘SAVE’. The gene has taken full control over me.