After hearing our recent stories onIndia'seconomy, Planet Money listener Tom O'Brien sent us this picture, and the story that goes with it.
He writes:
About four years ago I had a checkerboard but no chess pieces.
So I went on eBay and ordered, from the Yiperoo company in Varanasi, India, a set of hand-carved chess pieces.
The packaging is rough-woven cloth, hand stitched, including the shipping information sewn on.
That red stuff on the seams: sealing wax. Originally it had the odor of grass, which tells me that the packing material is not bubble wrap. The package is so amazing that I never opened it.
Tom O'Brien
It is an artifact that’s hard to fathom, Internet commerce by way of the East India Company. My very first thought when I saw this was, “These are the guys who are kicking our ass?”
I have to admit, I wanted chess pieces, but I don’t play chess. You can’t get lucky playing chess. The package itself is more interesting than what I know of its contents. I occasionally wonder what other amusement would be had from the innards of the thing, but I doubt I’ll ever know.
Tom O'Brien