Economics is a very facinating mix of theorotical science and practical art of managing money. Apart from spelling the word economics right, theres very little contribution to world economics from my side..

until now..

Few days ago, one interesting bill was attached to our common notepad – It was the milkman bill..Out of utter curiosity, I looked at it and was staggered..!! It read that I had to pay almost 1000/- to the milk man, and the service charges were extra. Service charges in this case was the salary given to the milk delivering boy and some supply chain management costs..

I just calculated – The milkman gets approx 1000 rupees from my house. He delivers milk to adjoining 50 homes. On an average, a family needs 1 litre of milk everyday, and in Pune, the well known brand costs around 32 rupees a litre. So, in all, it works about 30×32 = Rs 960/- per home. Multiply it with 50 families, and the monthly income of the milkman is – 960×50 = 48000..!! The milkman automatically gets a decent discount from the milk supplier since he purchases them in bulk. The other cost is that of the milkboy who delivers those bags early in the morning..I am not sure how much salary he will fetch, lets assume he gets 2500/- pm. Most of the time that boy needs to invest 2 hours per morning and then continue study or any other activity. That leaves Mr Milkman the amount of almost  47000/- pm. Add to it there is no known and official service tax on doing this.Wow..aint that awesome? Add to it that our milkman does work in a bank apart from delivering milk, so this salary is extra to him…

Incredible.!!

I read in papers that many freshers in engineering arent getting jobs and even if they land on one, they have to work as a trainee for well over 1.5 years till they start getting the standard salary. Add to it the cutting edge training costs these engineers invest in.

From the facts based above, I can safely say that I want to be a Milkman…instead of slogging in front of the computer writing cryptic and buggy software, its better I start something like this..!! Till few years ago, milk delivery man was just another poor mans job..today its turned to be a number one earning service with comparative less stress etc. Of course, even this field might have its own unknown risks, losses, and all that stuff, but did anyone ever look at the strange economy behind the scene??

I dont know..

PS  – All figures are indicative, your milage may vary. I am an ignorant and untrained economist, so please forgive me if I make mistakes..