‘Startups for rayaison and alsiyo’: Meet Carrymen, 'Delhi’s newest show‑off' trained to haul bags, luggage — even kids
A Delhi startup called Carrymen sends a trained person to carry shopping bags, luggage, and even help with a baby while you shop hands-free. The service is going viral after finance creator Bhanu Pathak highlighted it.
Intelligence analysis by Llama
Carrymen, a Delhi startup, offers a service where a trained person carries shopping bags, luggage, and even helps with a baby while you shop. The service has sparked mixed reactions online.
Imagine you're shopping in a crowded market and you have a lot of bags and a baby to take care of. Carrymen is a service that sends a trained person to help you carry your bags and take care of your baby while you shop. It's like having a personal assistant to make your shopping trip easier.
Analysis
The Rise of Carrymen
Carrymen, a Delhi-based startup, has been making waves with its innovative service of sending a trained person to carry shopping bags, luggage, and even help with a baby while you shop. The concept has sparked mixed reactions online, with some hailing it as a smart new business idea and others criticizing it as a form of exploitation.
The Founders' Story
Carrymen was founded by friends Ritu Kandari Srivastava and Kanishka Malhotra, both mothers of toddlers. The idea was born last year when they went to Lajpat Nagar with their toddlers and found it difficult to maneuver their prams while carrying all their shopping bags. They saw an older woman struggling with her bags and wanted to help her but couldn't manage their own things. This experience led them to create Carrymen.
The Service
Carrymen offers male and female assistants to shoppers in Lajpat Nagar market for up to four hours, starting at ₹ 79 for 30 minutes, with an hour costing ₹ 149. The service has reportedly gone down well with customers who say the assistants make shopping trips a lot easier. However, it has also started a debate over whether India's middle class is too entitled and whether these assistants are just glorified 'coolies' in exploitative jobs.
The Debate
The Carrymen service has sparked a heated debate online, with some users calling it a form of slavery and others praising it as a smart new business idea. The service has also raised questions about the exploitation of cheap labor and the entitlement of India's middle class. While some argue that Carrymen is providing a much-needed service, others see it as a form of exploitation of the poor by the wealthy.
Key points
- Carrymen is a Delhi-based startup that offers a service of sending a trained person to carry shopping bags, luggage, and even help with a baby while you shop.
- The service has sparked mixed reactions online, with some hailing it as a smart new business idea and others criticizing it as a form of exploitation.
- Carrymen was founded by friends Ritu Kandari Srivastava and Kanishka Malhotra, both mothers of toddlers.
- The service has reportedly gone down well with customers who say the assistants make shopping trips a lot easier.
- However, it has also started a debate over whether India's middle class is too entitled and whether these assistants are just glorified 'coolies' in exploitative jobs.
If the Carrymen service continues to grow and expand to more markets, it could provide a much-needed solution to the problem of carrying heavy bags and taking care of babies while shopping. It could also create jobs for people who need them and provide a sense of independence for those who use the service.
However, the Carrymen service has also raised concerns about the exploitation of cheap labor and the entitlement of India's middle class. If the service is not managed properly, it could lead to the exploitation of the poor by the wealthy and perpetuate the cycle of poverty.
