The Last Mile: A Bitter-Sweet Diwali

I had ordered a box of sweets for Diwali through the company’s e-commerce portal on October 26. The product was excellent I had bought it before from a store, delivery was promised within two days

By October 28, the parcel had reached the Mumbai hub. And there it stayed.

The days passed. I called the vendor, logged into the tracking system, and followed the parcel’s progress—or rather, its lack of progress. The tracking page showed it sitting immobile at the Mumbai hub.

Finally, on November 1, an SMS arrived. The parcel was out for delivery.

That evening, I was at a concert, enjoying the music, when my phone began to ring and vibrate incessantly. It was on silent, but an unknown number kept calling.

I tried to answer. The audience glared. The concert was at its climax. I had to disconnect.

Only later did an SMS arrive: no one had answered, so the parcel could not be delivered.

At home, the family wondered why I was so tense.

“Did you not enjoy the concert?”

I told them the delivery follow-up had been bothering me.

“All this anxiety for a box of sweets?” they asked.

Actually, there was no reason for it. Old habits die hard. After years in business, a promised delivery date still mattered to me. Perhaps I had to learn that the last mile worked differently.

November 2 brought another SMS and a call. This time, I waited with bated breath, ready with the OTP.

After the phone call, the parcel finally arrived.

I asked the delivery associate what happened if the customer did not answer the phone.

“Then we do not deliver the parcel,” he said.

I asked if he had a mobile number.

He smiled.

“Why can’t your mobile number be given along with the delivery OTP?” I asked.

He had no answer.

He was caught in the process too. Calls do drop. Customers may be in meetings, travelling, or unable to answer an unknown number. Yet one missed call could mean another failed delivery.

I had spent days chasing a parcel that had been sitting at the Mumbai hub since October 28. And now, even after it had finally moved, the last mile depended on answering an unknown call at just the right moment.

Old habits die hard. After years in business, a promised delivery date still mattered to me. Perhaps I had to learn that the last mile worked differently in delivery of sweets.

The sweets were finally in my hands.

But I did not open the box.

I packed it carefully into my suitcase and headed to the airport. Diwali was waiting at the other end, along with family and the joy of sharing those sweets.

The last mile had been a little bitter.

The Diwali ahead would be sweet.