Knock, knock, who?s there?

It is the morning rush hour, with people hurrying off to work and housewives battling domestic chores. A smartly clad figure, his tie loosely hanging round the collar, suddenly looms at the gate, bag in hand. ?Maa?m , I am a management trainee, we are marketing a wonderful product to keep dengue at bay!? He whisks out a plug-in device and rasps out its virtues relentlessly, before the housewife can put in a word.

It is the morning rush hour, with people hurrying off to work and housewives battling domestic chores.

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A smartly clad figure, his tie loosely hanging round the collar, suddenly looms at the gate, bag in hand. “Maa’m , I am a management trainee, we are marketing a wonderful product to keep dengue at bay!” He whisks out a plug-in device and rasps out its virtues relentlessly, before the housewife can put in a word.

Ignoring the question as to which management institute he belongs to, he tries his persuasive best to drive home the point that his gadget which merely uses electro-magnetic waves to repel mosquitoes, is being offered at a “throwaway” price of Rs 150, and tries to enter the house.

When the lady of the house, irritated at being disrupted in her daily chores, bars the way and persistently questions him, he beats a hasty retreat.

As if this is not enough, in the afternoon, when most people of the colony are indoors and the road deserted, a man appears in the uniform of a constable and arrogantly asks the house-owner to pay a particular sum, handing him a notebook and pen to write his name and address. When the house-owner, a man this time, questions his identity and threatens to call the police, the man blurts out that he is a bahrupiya (master of disguise) and is collecting funds to stage a play. When it is pointed out that donning a cop’s uniform to ask for money is not an art but an offence, he quietly slinks off. That the same incident occurred in two different localities at two distant ends of the city speaks volumes about the racket,

Yes, this is a whole new breed of conmen, slick and smooth. They wheedle, they cajole, they persuade and they even browbeat their so-called customers. They turn up with all kinds of goods, gadgets and gizmos from companies that no one has ever heard of. They can even come as artistes or mechanics.

While the smart ones slam the door in their faces, the gullible often fall prey, paying for things that are worthless or gratifying the bahrupiya.

Ironically, the flip side of this is that it has cast a shadow on a genuine workforce that ekes out a living from door to door sales.

A large number of untrained or partly educated women advertise products door to door, trudging with heavy rucksacks full of detergents, cosmetics, biscuits and even lingerie. But this workforce works under a supervisor who in turn works under a dealer who has direct contact with the company. Reputed companies often employ this workforce for surveys and marketing.

Till now, this workforce was required to remain cautious, mostly against lecherous males inviting them into the house. But now, with all kinds of weirdos hopping on to their bandwagon, they themselves have come under suspicion, and not without reason.

According to police sources, a saleswoman recently asked a housewife, alone at home, if she could use the toilet. The lady agreed. Once inside the toilet, the salesgirl tried to contact her gang members on mobile. Luckily, the woman overheard her, bolted the toilet from outside and raised an alarm. However, not everyone who is indiscreet may prove so lucky.

What is more, it is the elderly and the loners who are most at risk. In Vikas Nagar, two youths approached the house of an elderly couple. They told the wife, alone at home, that they were gas mechanics and had come to look into a complaint. When she denied having made any complaint, they argued so vociferously that she became flustered and confused. The youths spurred their bike and vroomed away but only when they saw a couple of neighbours approaching.

While the genuine workforce that toils through sweltering summer and chilly winter certainly needs sympathy and perhaps a boost in their sales, it is equally true that with crime camouflaged behind labour, everyone approaching the door with a bag needs a closer look. SSP Lucknow, has a word of advice for everyone, most of all the elderly and those who are alone at home. They must never open the door to strangers, no matter how enticing the product or the discount sounds.