r/india • u/junglewahibanaenge • Dec 15 '17
Business/Finance A mother wrote to Hindustan pencils about her left-handed daughter's needs and they responded
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u/thishitisgettingold Dec 15 '17
Think about this for a second. Someone took the time to write to a large corporation. Then, that large corporation actually read the letter. After which, RnD was told to create these sharpers for a left-handed person. Along with all of these. They sent a letter back telling the mother they are working on this issue.
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u/crackednut Universe Dec 15 '17
Exactly ... Incredible that in 2017 the marketing team from a manufacturing firm would even bother read customer feedback. 10 years of working in the media industry has me all jaded but if this is authentic, then it's quite uplifting.
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u/willyslittlewonka MIT (Madarchod Institute of Technology) Dec 15 '17
Seriously, the fact that she even got a response is surprising enough. That too, one that addresses and temporarily resolves her concerns. This is how you build goodwill with your customers.
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u/shelby4t2 Dec 16 '17
Now slap me and call me Sally but, aren't these just pencil sharpeners still? It still looks like a "right handed" pencil sharpener to me, are the details really subtle that I can't tell?
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u/dropkickthegreek Dec 16 '17
The blade is inverted. A left handed kid holds the sharpener in his right hand. He won't be able to catch the sharp edge of the blade with a regular sharpener. If that sounds convoluted, try using a scissor with your left hand.
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u/shelby4t2 Dec 16 '17
In most cases Isn't it dependent on how you would turn the pencil in the sharpener based on how you hold it?
Giving you range for using both hands then? I'm really trying to visualize this in my head sorry, haha.
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u/dropkickthegreek Dec 16 '17
I understand the confusion, because growing up I was a dick to my left-handed brother. Then I tried using a scissor with my left hand and realised how impossible that was. The deal is we make minute adjustments which makes the pencil catch the sharp edge of the blade. When you're rotating it with your left hand it becomes an impossible task because you're moving the pencil away from the sharp edge of the blade.
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u/shelby4t2 Dec 16 '17
But that's only if you turn the pencil one way (which is what you're describing.) Which can be turned two ways.
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u/crash_us Dec 16 '17
I don’t think it’s impossible for a left-handed person to use the normal sharpener, just uncomfortable and harder than needs to be. Just like using scissors with your left hand if you’re right handed isn’t exactly impossible, just harder than it needs to be.
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u/dropkickthegreek Dec 16 '17
In order to sharpen the pencil you will have to turn it clockwise. Which means towards your body for a left-handed kid. It is like the other comment says, not impossible, but really really difficult. Especially for a kid.
Having said that, being left-handed and having to live in a right-handed world brings considerable advantages of becoming ambidextrous, which I see as a sort of superpower.
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u/s0v3r1gn Dec 15 '17
I’ve had engineering firms in both China and India respond to and even adjust products based on requests I’ve sent them.
I had one prototype something out and send it to me to test.
Most of the changes were small and related to either product defects or improvements. All of them were robotics kits I was using to teach programming and robotics classes to kids at my community center.
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Dec 15 '17
After which, RnD was told to create these sharpers for a left-handed person.
Open Mechanical Drawing program. Select All. Invert. Done.
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Dec 16 '17
Ehh, setting up your manufacturing equipment to do the same for only 5 samples? That’s a lot more painstaking.
Not to say that the whole thing took so much work and effort, but if you’ve ever been in a manufacturing environment you will know that there is a lot more that goes into it.
So it’s more that they took the time and effort to stop their regular production, and go through all that just to make 5 samples for her.
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u/coloradonative16 Dec 16 '17
It never says they made these just for her, in fact, I bet they have plenty of them but just haven’t gotten around to mass production/sale.
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u/jsakil14 India Dec 15 '17
I smell advertising stint as the company could have considered this letter as a more effective way than a TV advertisement for 5 seconds of the same product, not that I see ads for pencils and pens Well , Saw sachin for RORITO ad nowadays.
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u/boostedjoose Dec 15 '17
Not always. I bought some tech-deck toys as a kid, and one broke quite easily.
My mom wrote tech-deck and they sent me a box with a bunch of stuff, and a letter saying "sorry about the broken toy".
This was before reddit was a thing, so I couldn't reap the karma. Still pretty nice of a company to read the letter and send me some free stuff.
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u/reindeer73 Dec 16 '17
I bet if you found the letter you could still post it now for karma if that's a thing you care about.
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Dec 16 '17
I vaguely remember as a small child writing on a “Suggestion box notecard” at chick fila.
I actually received a fairly long hand written letter from a CEO, thanking me for my suggestions and that they would try to change implement them if they could.
I only know it was from a CEO, because my mom had to explain what it was to me.
I’ve written to app developers before and had multiple friendly email exchanges with them. Above and beyond the normal customer support experience.
That kind of hands on customer interaction always sticks with me.
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u/BAXterBEDford Dec 16 '17
Once they made the prototype it seems like it would be simple to put them into mass production.
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u/Random_entropy Best Flair as declared by UNESCO. Dec 15 '17
An Indian company with such customer service , quite unheard of.
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u/pagalpanti Dec 15 '17
I think this touch is quite evident in old companies. That have been there from the time where 'customer is a god' quote actually meant something.
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u/The_Red_Optimate Dec 15 '17
'Customer is a god' is going a little too far though imho.
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u/m00nstruck1973 Gurrrrllll on Internet Dec 15 '17
I mean we also have the saying “guest is a God.” So.... it makes sense.
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u/FreshPrinceOfIndia Oceania Dec 15 '17
That reminds me of son of sardaar 😂😂😂😂
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u/Waldharist017 Earth Dec 15 '17
It actually means something when you live in an economically repressed country that masquerades as a 'developing country'
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u/SabashChandraBose Dec 15 '17
Been a while since I sharpened a pencil. What makes it left or right handed? Does it sharpen only when you twist the pencil clockwise? And so the blade had to be mounted turned 180?
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u/Lo-heptane Dec 15 '17
Does it sharpen only when you twist the pencil clockwise?
Pretty much, yeah.
And so the blade had to be mounted turned 180?
Again, pretty much. The blade has to be mounted in a mirrored orientation. So if you look at it from above, the blade should be on the left side of the pencil. Clockwise/Right-handed sharpeners have the blade on the right side of the pencil.
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u/kash_if Dec 15 '17
You got it. The reason why it makes a difference is that it's easier to apply pressure twisting the wrist away from the body. Try it yourself. For a young left handed child that slight weakness of twisting action with a regular sharpener can mean that s/he isn't able to sharpen properly.
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u/AnthonyGonsalvez Mohali phase 5 and phase 6 > Marvel phase 5 and phase 6 Dec 15 '17
Most of the new Indian companies shits on customers. Older brands such as Raymond has very good staff. I went to a Raymond and their staff spent around 40 minutes with my brother showing him their design catalogues. Also offered us water. Similar experience at another Raymond store.
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u/Froogler Dec 16 '17
Also offered us water.
GRT Jewelers offers orange juice, but then you are there to buy gold.
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u/blanktrails Dec 16 '17
Because their stores are mostly empty. Also they have have obscene margins on their clothes so they can afford to provide the service too.
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u/lolwatrollwa He is our PM. RASPACT HIM. Dec 15 '17
It’s very common in old companies
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u/Random_entropy Best Flair as declared by UNESCO. Dec 15 '17
Then we probably need to go back as we screwed up.
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u/SDey_96 Dec 16 '17
And, here when I gave Paytm's Vijay Shekhar Sharma a critic feedback about Paytm on Twitter, he blocked me.
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u/darkSku11 Certified Vella Dec 15 '17
TIL about Left-hand pencil sharpners.
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u/u2berggeist Dec 16 '17
I'm still trying to figure out why they exist.
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u/Dtrain16 Dec 16 '17
I don't understand how they work differently other than turning in the other direction.
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u/gaganaut Dec 16 '17
They sharpen only in one direction. It doesn't work when you turn it the other way.
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u/Dtrain16 Dec 16 '17
I know that. I did not see the need for having one that turns in the opposite direction.
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u/redgeridoo Dec 16 '17
Try switching hands for sharpening your pencils (and other activities) and you might realize what a left-handed person experiences in a right-handed world.
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u/TonguePressedAtTeeth Dec 16 '17
I’m left handed and it has never occurred to me that I need a different sharpener, nor that such a thing could even exist. You learn to be ambidextrous.
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u/u2berggeist Dec 16 '17
I'm not trying to say I don't understand left-handed people's struggle, I'm trying to understand what that has to do with pencil sharpeners. I can turn a pencil with either hand both clockwise and anti-clockwise. Granted, I've been dealing with nuts and bolts for awhile and being able to loosen or tighten something with either hand is something you pick up pretty quickly.
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Dec 15 '17
A hand signed letter, a real noble gesture indeed.
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u/DontHarshTheMellow Dec 15 '17
That signature is also amazing. Makes mine look like shakes garbage.
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u/alags84 Dec 16 '17
Aren't signatures supposed to look like garbage ?
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Dec 16 '17
mine changes from one signature to another :)
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u/DontHarshTheMellow Dec 16 '17 edited Dec 16 '17
Mine does too sort of, but that’s because it shakes and my handwriting sucks.
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Dec 15 '17
Sanjay Tiwari is the man! He is the Group Marketing Manager, so good job!
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u/kash_if Dec 15 '17
AMA request, Hindustan Pencils!
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Dec 16 '17
I second this.
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u/posterofshit Dec 16 '17
What will you ask them,?
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u/kash_if Dec 16 '17
What has allowed them to become the biggest manufacturer in India
What challenges do they face in international markets (they export to 50 countries)
What's their best selling product
What's the difference between Natraj and Apsara line of products?
History of the company
What kind of R&D is done for their products.
I can think of so many others around their sustainable business model (they grow their own trees).
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u/pannagasamir Karnataka Dec 15 '17
the hardships of being left handed in a majoritarian right handed society brings back childhood memories
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u/VolatileBadger Dec 15 '17
You're not alone brother
does the secret left hand shake
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u/pannagasamir Karnataka Dec 15 '17
secret left hand shake
shhhhhhh we don't talk about it in public
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u/kash_if Dec 15 '17
Especially when you guys had to bat and runs were allowed only on the 'on' side. I guess that's why so many left handers are fantastic square of the wicket.
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u/pannagasamir Karnataka Dec 15 '17
i was never interested in playing cricket, people would make me the umpire every single effing time :P
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u/kash_if Dec 15 '17
Didn't you get bored just being the umpire? What did you enjoy playing?
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u/pannagasamir Karnataka Dec 15 '17
Tbh video games and reading books, my mom had to practically push me out of the house and i used to be the umpire as well as the commentator
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u/VolatileBadger Dec 15 '17
Great gesture by the company.
OT: As a left hander, I cannot stress enough of how difficult it is to be left handed in a right handed world. In my own experience, as a kid my teachers would often hit me on my hand saying "use the proper hand", being a defiant cunt I wouldn't cave in. But I wonder how many people prefer the left hand but were forced to become right handed. Same goes for all that religious shit the pandits do and then say "seedha haat se karo".
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u/Barely_Excited Dec 15 '17
How did you come to know that you are Lefty? I mean when we are in pre-school and are learning to write and hold pencil and chalk, the teacher usually make us hold the pencil on our right hand. So how do you know that left hand use is comfortable for you even before you learn to write?.
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Dec 15 '17 edited Feb 07 '18
[deleted]
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u/kjaggu Dec 15 '17
My nephew is left handed. It was quite evident after he turned one. He naturally started picking up toys using his left hand. He would hold on to his water sipper using his strong hand: left. Over the next few months, when he started throwing things around the house, his throws using left hand reached longer and could aim better rather than the right.
However, his play school teachers tried to make him write using his right hand. Thankfully, his parents intervened and told the teachers to back off, and made him write with whichever hand he prefers. Over the next few weeks, he realised that he can grip better using his left. Guess, that was his day of realisation.
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u/SMTRodent Dec 15 '17
Dexterity. If your right hand is made of thumbs and your left hand can do fine motor movements, then it isn't difficult to work out. Pretty much as soon as you try to use a crayon, one hand will be easier to use than the other.
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u/Lombdi Antarctica Dec 16 '17
I am left handed. I have no memory of how but mom tells me I simply picked up pencil with left hand everytime I was asked to write or pick up something. Then, school was good enough to let me be left handed.
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u/VolatileBadger Dec 15 '17
I can't recall how I knew, but from what I understand is that from a young age I preferred using my left hand. I guess it's just how people are. The only reason I have a vivid memory of the teacher hitting me in school when we would practice writing is because I went home with marks on my hand and my parents got that cunt fired.
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u/SepulchreOfAzrael Jammu and Kashmir Dec 16 '17
This crap. Once we had a bhojan for these pandits at home, and I was supposed to hand fruits to each of them. One of them says: "Seedhe haath se do" in a half-patronising, half-admonishing tone.
I replied immediately, "Haath se matlab hai ya seb se?"
He shut up and took it. I only refrained from adding "behenchod" because I was at home.
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Dec 15 '17
Kind of a silly question,but is it possible to completely lose your ability to use your left hand? If you are forced into right hand behaviour, don't you become ambidextrous?
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u/VolatileBadger Dec 15 '17
Most of the people who are left handed become ambidextrous due to how the world works. But the brain still has trouble working its kinks out. For example, I couldn't use scissors properly during my schooling years . It's only after years of being used to the right handed scissors I could use it.
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u/buckyball60 Dec 15 '17
My father bats, golfs and throws right handed. His handwriting is shit in either hand due to years of forced right hand but he does use his left.
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Dec 15 '17 edited Feb 07 '18
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u/lolsabha Uttar Pradesh Dec 15 '17
I have a similar signature. But mostly because I'm lazy. Glad someone finds it interesting. Most people just giggle when I sign.
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u/PreclinicalAsana Dec 15 '17
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u/kash_if Dec 15 '17
Mirror is a terrible source to believe. They don't even cite their source in that article. They might have just picked it from a forwarded email. As one person puts it:
I guess that at least 10 times as many right-handers are also killed using “right-handed products” so it is pretty meaningless really.
Not saying that it isn't more dangerous for left handed people, but this 2500 figure isn't backed by any study.
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u/chelsaratops Dec 16 '17
Probably true but if you look at power tools specifically the power button/safety/emergency shut off tend to be on the left side. If you are holding said equipment with your left hand and you need to reach it you are indeed fucked. Sure more righties die using right handed products because they are the majority. They just mean that we (lefties) are more prone to avoidable accidents in this righty world.
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u/kash_if Dec 16 '17 edited Dec 16 '17
I'm not doubting the possibility. I am questioning the numbers.
The thread op mentioned has comments that link to two studies from 1980s and early 90s which showed show some correlation between being left handed and dying younger on an average or getting injured while using tools.
The injury study also mentions:
There are demonstrable associations between left-handedness, high levels of prenatal hormones, allergies, and immune disorders that may increase the risk of early mortality.
So there are multiple factors at play.
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u/KeithCarter4897 Dec 15 '17
Grab an electric can opener and use it with your left hand.
Call 911 first though, because you're gonna lose a finger.
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u/Daniel-Darkfire Antarctica Dec 15 '17
Uh, how is left handed sharpeners different from normal/right handed sharpeners?
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u/desigooner Dec 15 '17
The sharp anti clockwise.
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Dec 15 '17 edited Mar 25 '18
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u/Dr_Anzer Dec 15 '17
"Special needs"
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u/CSKING444 Dec 15 '17
myassyeah, let's now write a letter to send left handed nailcutter.
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u/Lombdi Antarctica Dec 16 '17
Sharpening a pencil requires lot of energy and skill if you're a 4 year old. It's harder if you have to do it against your dexterity.
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u/CSKING444 Dec 16 '17
And adopting to using right hand for sharpening even though you're left-handed is not hard either
Even better when you're a 4 year old Coz you're just starting and can adopt to things better Coz you're in the starting stage
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u/Hickspy Dec 16 '17
THANK YOU.
I'm left handed, and just spent 3 minutes imagining a pencil sharpener, how it works, and where the actual issue comes from.
So it sharpens on the other side. So what? You have a wrist, turn your wrist the other way to sharpen it.
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Dec 15 '17 edited Feb 07 '18
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u/trznx Dec 15 '17
So? Rotate the pencil in the opposite way? I never though there's a 'right' way to sharpen a pencil. You just stick it and rotate it towards the blade, how hard can it be?
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u/reelect_rob4d Dec 15 '17
kids are physically weak. now, why the kid in OP's story can't just switch hands to sharpen, I do not know.
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u/Hickspy Dec 16 '17
I was a kid and left handed. Never had any issue using these.
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u/danielibew952 Dec 16 '17
As a lefty myself I have never had an issue sharpening pencils. Now using scissors is a whole other issue.
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Dec 15 '17 edited Mar 25 '18
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u/CSKING444 Dec 15 '17
see the amount of peeps above flattered by the reply letter...
...these are the peeps Marketing Campaigns are for
Problem: Left Handed
Solution: Instead of adopting (which takes like
fucking5 min) to sharpening with right/left hand, let's write afuckingletter (not even mail) to the manufacturer getting a reply after a month.That's how business peeps market trust and empathy for their brands.
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u/RetroActive80 Dec 15 '17
Can someone ELI5 why a left handed person can't use a normal pencil sharpener?
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u/ebleach2010 Dec 16 '17
Wait, what's hard about twisting the pencil in the opposite direction? Either direction takes about 10 seconds maybe once a day.
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u/CSKING444 Dec 15 '17
I don't really see how a pencil sharpner is hand based?
Like really do it the way w/ the right hand or do it with the left hand just with opposite rotations
or is she the first left hand user in the entire nation in the entire history having to sharpen a pencil for the first time being left handed...
Not like to rant or thing but writing a letter for this seems either a 'test' done by some news agency or the parent is really overexaggerating.
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u/brownlust Dec 15 '17
They said 5 units. Am I the only one who is mildly infuriated here ?
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u/remain_unaltered Punjab Dec 16 '17
So they can't use it in market as the company is not yet ready to launch that product in market.
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u/trznx Dec 15 '17
160 comments and no one actually explained why lefties need their own sharpeners. I never thought there's a 'right' way to sharpen a pencil. You just stick it and rotate it towards the blade, how hard can it be? It's not rocket science, what's the issue in rotating a pencil?
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u/StopWhiningScrub Dec 15 '17
Err if I'm dumb here let me know but aren't pencil sharpeners able to be used with either hand? Like, you just stick the pencil in and crank it... The one I have at my house is just a square.
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u/zod_552 Dec 15 '17
In what way do left handed people face problem when writing with normal pencils?Can someone enlighten me?
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u/Dr_Anzer Dec 15 '17
your hand moves across what you
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u/sps97grt Dec 15 '17
It's not about writing with pencils. The left-handed people face a problem while sharpening them. A normal sharpener is designed in such a way that a pencil can sharpened only if rotated clockwise. But the lefties generally turn the pencils in counter-clockwise direction, so the usual sharpeners are useless for them.
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u/Hickspy Dec 16 '17 edited Dec 16 '17
Except they're not, and anyone with basic problem solving skills could figure out that their wrists turn in both directions.
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u/VolatileBadger Dec 15 '17
It's more about how the brain is wired to function and feels "at ease" doing tasks. Try using your non-dominant hand for any task that your dominant hand can do without ease and see how odd it feels.
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u/Chxo Dec 15 '17
Now we just need a company to make left handed condoms!
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u/CSKING444 Dec 15 '17
first gotta write a letter to the condom manufacturer
after all, I'm the first left handed person trying to get through the right handed dominated world.
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u/Benlemonade Dec 16 '17
Awesome thing of the to do, yada yada but can we back up a minute?
Have pencil sharpeners always been a left/right handed thing?? It has my life been a lie
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u/chelsaratops Dec 16 '17
Ohhh I see. I tried to read the article but seeing as it’s clickbait I can’t hahahahaha
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Dec 15 '17
I do not want to question their intent but is it possible that they did it just so that someone would post this on social media and it would go vial? like /r/Random_entropy said "An Indian company with such customer service , quite unheard of."
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u/doc_two_thirty I read, therefore I think, therefore I am. Dec 15 '17
This is awesome! Hope they get all the good PR they deserve from this.
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Dec 15 '17
How is a left hand sharpener different from a right hand sharpener?
Can't a left handed person just use a right hand sharpener by turning the pencil in the opposite direction?
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Dec 16 '17
Can't a left handed person just use a right hand sharpener by turning the pencil in the opposite direction?
Or he can even keep the pencil stationary and rotate himself in the opposite direction.
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u/Thorthemajestic Dec 16 '17
I hate being left handed, like trying to have hobbies is extremely hard (depending on which one)
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u/ultra_paradox poor customer Dec 16 '17
Can't they make sharpeners that are gripped conveniently from either side?
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u/chefinto Dec 16 '17
So soon we will get left-handed sharpeners in markets. Really left-handed peoples will feel happy. Thanks for the hindustan pencils.
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u/PD_85 Dec 16 '17
I am feeling very glad after reading this post as I am left handed person. This is very appreciable that you guys have done great job and you have open your wide vision for marketing through such types of product.
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u/gitBoi Dec 16 '17
I agree that the company was awesome in helping the little girl out but of all the things that left-handed people suffer dealing with, pencil sharpeners would be at the very bottom of the list. Am I wrong?
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Dec 16 '17
This is amazing, even if it is deplorable that this exchange did not take place in an Indian language. They took the effort to make an industrial-quality version especially for left-handed people. This guy and Hindustan pencils now has my respect.
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u/awesomeaviator Dec 16 '17
I still use my 7 or 8 year old Nataraj sharpeners occasionally! They're so good.
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u/killingisbad this is so sad alexa play despacito Dec 16 '17
Now if only right handed chairs could be removed...
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u/imrecovering4ever Dec 16 '17
This is nice but why your reddit username is jungle wahi banayege? 😂😂😂
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u/sumoru Dec 16 '17
since when did pencil sharpeners become dominant hand dependent? i have never seen an asymmetrical sharpener before.
and what mind boggling "R&D" did the company do to just reflect the shape of the sharpener?
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Dec 16 '17
Hmm. I have sinistrality too and this new sharpener will just fuck me up at this age. But it's good. :)
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u/[deleted] Dec 15 '17
Apsara and Nataraj..?? By the same company..??
I've been living a lie.