Plenty of times I find myself window-shopping.
Sometimes alone and sometimes with a friend or two.
Watched and waved at shoes, clothes, pizzas, timepieces and what not.
But there are two things which I cannot avoid.
Browsing through books and
going to DVD parlours.
(My friends cannot avoid other things like gaping at chicks ;) but lets not go into that area.)

Books I love, a lot. So I like to browse through them.
Always trying to avoid Mills and Boons or Daniel Steel stuff. Even poems also.
Also abstaining from doggie books, beautiful homes or cookery.
Rest of the stuff I can handle, guess I gape at comics a lot of times.

My next fav stop is the DVD rental parlours.
I like movies a lot but thats only one of the reasons why I like to go to these parlours.
Browsing though titles, checking out the latest DVD releases.
Looking for titles which are not the favs of the public but a select few only.
And then comes the second reason for my visit




Me: Hi, I would like to know about the membership.

Black tee: Yes sir, sir the rental for a dvd is 50 rupees per dvd.
White shirt: We give 3 packages, one is 500 per month, under that you can take 8 dvds , two per week.
Then next we have 6 months package, by paying 2500 for 6 months and last annual package for 5000.
Lady in pink: Sir, our charges are 60 rupees per dvd.

Me: Ok..

Black tee: We have a large collection of dvds. new movies you can keep for one day, older ones for 2 days.
White shirt: We have a very good collection. Also every month, we have a special
where we showcase movies of a particular kind or documentaries.
(Meaning they have a separate rack where they put all movies of a particular star
or specific genre or like Hitchcock collection)
Lady in pink: We have a good collection both Hindi and English,
we keep documentaries, and special dvds like from Discovery Channel, National Geographic.

Me: Hmm, any other charges do I have to pay?

Black tee: Yes sir, one time payment of 300 rupees.
White shirt: Yeah, we have a registration fee of 500 rupees.
Lady in pink: 600 rupees registration.

(Next comes my fav question which I had been itching to ask)

Me: Refundable?

Black tee (slightly confused): No sir, its registration fee, non-refundable.
White shirt (calmly): No sir, its a one time registration fee. We give lifetime membership.
Lady in pink (looking at me like I am a dumbo): No, its non-refundable.

(Silence from my side)
Me (thinking): Ha ha, another non-refundable, lifetime crap.

Black tee turns his attention to another customer and at the same time keeping an eye on me.
White shirt: Sir, do you want to register? We offer home delivery and home pick-up also.
You can order the dvd from our website.
Lady in pink on ignore mode now.

Me: Hmm, I'll think about it.

Black tee now has given full attention to the new customer.
White shirt hands me a visting card with his ph no and his website name.
Lady in pink picks up the now ringing phone and is completely immersed in it.

I turn back and again gaze at the collections.



So, if I join these parlours, shouldn't I nick 1 dvd from Black tee
and 2 dvds each from White shirt and Lady in pink?
Because for sure, I would be leaving this city someday as and when I change my job.
And they are also not providing any service for the non-refundable fee.
What are they going to give me?
One registration number from a computer on a receipt
or one laminated card with my name and another number on it.
Even the charges seem funny to me.
50 rupees or more for a dvd rental when a new one costs about 350 rupees.
In short the guy at the counter has recovered his cost in 7 rentals.
Some parlours even keep mutiple copies of the same dvd.
I wonder how they do so, do they buy multiple copies of the dvd
or make full use of Nero and cheap dvd burners.
(The company dvds are golden or platinum coloured on the data side,
the ones burnt are mostly blue in colour)
Its easy to create covers and get boxes for the pirated copies.
And if they do buy multiple copies, I know that they can get at a cheaper rate
by buying in bulk or by buying directly from the company.

So I guess if I join one of these,
at the time of leaving, I should nick a collectors item new dvd and then disappear.