Fliers and Flyers

It began as one of those days, when one is not quite sure if waking up in the morning and getting out of bed is a good idea. I tossed and turned for a while in a bid to avoid facing the long day ahead. I had a headache that has been, off late, a frequent visitor. One of those that seems to pierce right in the middle of the forehead. And above the eyebrows. And behind the ears. And of course, the bridge of the nose. And I had a long list of things to do that required me to use my brain, that seemed to be situated at the core of the ache zone.

A pretty neat description of a migraine, isn't it? Ask anyone who is prone to these monstrous attacks. There are always situations that necessitate the need to tell someone or the other-near and dear or distant and irrelevant, that one has a headache. And then the predictable reaction “'Oh!' but where exactly??..... It must be a sinus! Why don't you try (homeopathy, Ayurveda, Reiki, Yoga.....? and by the way – Are you sure you drink a lot of water?” “ Are you allergic to some foods? You must keep track of everything you eat and identify the triggers...”

Oh! Please..:(

Coming back to my day, my house maid was on leave, it was about 10 AM and the 'badli' maid hadn't turned up yet! Was she or wasn't she going to turn up at all? The dusty floor and and unwashed vessels in the kitchen sink were not pleasant sights. For now they just had to stay as is, I had a few tasks to be done outdoors. And if the maid did turn up, I'd have to bite my tongue, curl my lips in a smile and thank her for arriving, she WAS doing me a favour by agreeing to proxy for my regular, you see.

The task list was playing and replaying in my mind as I picked my bag and walked towards the front door.

Bank 1 – deposit cheque

Bank 2 – transfer funds to son

Cobbler – collect footwear given yesterday evening

Pharmacy .....,,,,,.... (pink paper under the sofa)........

Laundry.....

........ask the security guard at the ground floor if he could arrange for a maid to help out just for the day......

Maybe I should write it down on a piece of .....Pink paper under the sofa?????

I crawled under to retrieve it. It was a flier, one of the many leaflets or handbills that come with the daily morning newspapers.

....Computer problems?? Call us now for immediate solutions...

The promotional message was printed on one side and the reverse was blank. I quickly scribbled my task list on it and stepped out. At least, I don't have to use my aching head to remember my jobs.

That was about two months ago. Inserts and fliers seemed to be on the rise. A few fall out of the newspaper every morning. And a higher number of them on weekends! And if the ceiling fan happens to be on when one begins with the day's news, fliers fall out and fly as well! They make for interesting reading, way more interesting that the daily news, most of which would have been on TV the previous evening.

....Start your summer the right way – join the 'Happiness' course!

....We buy old electronics 'items' at good prices – spot pickup! fast cash!

...Become beautiful with our packages. We come to your doorstep! [???]

...Mourya mango house brings you farm fresh mangoes from Ratnagiri and Devgadh!

....Infinity pest control services – 100% guarantee – 24 hours service!

How many people actually read these and avail of the services or products, I wonder? And what of the humungous wastage of paper?

There are so many activities and the people involved in the making and the distribution of these fliers.

....Firstly, Someone needs to sell something

....After considering the many options to spread the word, printing and distribution of fliers would have to be the chosen one.

...This someone then, identifies a 'printer' and understands the effort and cost involved. And then places the order and receives the printed stack of leaflets.

....Then this someone, tracks the news paper distribution network in the chosen geographical area , identifies the distributor and hands over the handbills for insertion into newspapers.

.....The daily twilight activity at the newspaper distribution 'hubs' – people sit bunched up segregating newspaper according to streets, housing colonies, Buildings, flats...in that sequence...and now additionally inserting fliers into some or all the newspapers.

....Delivery boys fling the newspapers [along with the inserts] at peoples' front doors as per order.

Coming to my unconsciously developed hobby – making 'to do list', shopping lists, jotting down phone numbers, any quickie scribbling, gate passes to the security at the gate when I give away stuff and need the guards to let them out.,,,etc etc is now being done on the reverse of one-sided fliers.I didn't realise when and how this had become a habit, until yesterday.

The Sunday newspapers are bulky, and made bulkier by the many inserts. Yesterday there were 20 in all! And I found myself deftly segregating the one-sided ones from those that had something printed on both sides. Discovery:some two-sided fliers carry messages from two very different businesses on each side! Cost saving huh? The one sided ones were then bunched into a clip that had many more from previous collections.

I do not know if I will ever find a handbill with information that I might need and use, but I do seem to find a use for the handbills themselves!

An interesting piece of information: the Americans spell it as 'Flier' and the British spell it as 'Flyer'! In India, we follow the British spelling, a hand-down from colonial times.Whether or not the inserts are read or used, they eventually end up with the Raddi-wallah [A person whose business it is to collect old, waste paper for recycling] ]down the street!

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Originally published in 2014