You’ve heard of birthday surprises and dramatic wedding proposals but have you heard of a break-up surprise? Sounds a tad cruel but the intention is all good, or so we are told.
Honestly, surprise planners have seen it all. “A woman wanted me to plan a surprise where she could apologise to her former partner. For another client, we arranged a guitarist and a singer who sang his ex’s favourite songs for her,” says Sakthivel Pannerselvam who started The6.in, a surprise planning and gifting platform, in 2009.
A Mechanical Engineering graduate, and the first generation to get educated in his family, Sakthivel says it took him months of brainstorming before deciding to set up this business.
“I felt that this business needed less investment. I saw a few videos of surprises abroad and went ahead with the plan.” It started small with gifts such as personalised calendars and coffee mugs. “Being a new business model, I didn’t have anyone to follow. I didn’t know how much to price services. I learnt on the go,” he says. In the process mistakes were made and losses incurred. “I can now write a book on how not to surprise people,” he laughs.
Though based out of Chennai, today, The6.in’s services are available across the country, primarily in cities in Tamil Nadu such as Coimbatore, Namakkal and Tirunelveli. People in Namakkal have expensive taste, he observes. “Their surprises cost around 3 lakh,” he says narrating an elaborate one where a couple went up in a crane, 100 feet above the ground, and when the lady looked down she could see ‘I love you’ illuminated across the field below, and firecrackers that read ‘Marry Me’.
The entire episode lasted five minutes, had 65 people working on it and cost ₹2.5 lakh. Another had a space decorated with an archway of lights, based on a scene from the Tamil movie Remo. “The fiancée jumped in joy and cried. For the fiancé it was well worth 3.5 lakh,” says Sakthivel.
In the last 10 years Sakthivel has also noticed a pattern. “70% of women who are married organise surprises for their husbands. When it comes to men, 80% of single men plan surprises for their girlfriends,” he laughs. While there are a lot of fun events that he plans, those involving parents (70th birthday, retirement) almost always end up being emotional. From simple roses and a box of balloons to elaborate flash mobs and yacht adventures, The6.in receives around 80 to 100 orders in a month.
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At your doorstep
Naadia Mirza Daga, who in 2009 started Bengaluru-based Dotted I that specialises in quirky gifts and ideas, says, “A decade ago, the demand for these things were less as people were not aware that you could gift an experience. Today, they want to give more than just materialistic gifts,” she says.
Which explains why, in 2017, she incorporated the surprise gifting concept into her brand. She receives 90 orders per month, averaging three surprises per day. Her range is diverse: from a golgappa vendor turning up at your doorstep and challenging you to 100 pani puris or scaring your friends at a designated spot, to a picnic in the park and a naughty 40th birthday party. “The most over-the-top one we planned so far was a 50th birthday where we got someone to dress up as an ostrich and hold the cake, flew in a standup comedian from Delhi and painted a wall depicting the birthday boy in different avatars,” says Naadia.
According to Shahul Hameed of city-based Surprise Machi that launched in 2016, a person booked a surprise which was to be delivered to himself. “And while placing the order the client said “Surprise nalla pannidunga,” laughs Shahul, who’s repertoire includes public pranks, cabanas by the bay, personalised song recordings, sailing and ATV Rides among others. With the increase in demand, his team too has grown to 17 people from having just one person last July. “With customers throwing novel challenges at us, we have meetings everyday to constantly keep coming up with new ideas,” he says.
Surely, the business of gifting surprises is not as glamorous as it seems. “It requires plan Bs, loads of to-do sheets and Post-its,” laughs Naadia. Sometimes, convincing a client can be a task. They may find a task too simple and not understand the level of execution it requires. “People like the personal touch. And it is essential to get the timing right,” opines Sakthivel. While Naadia feels, “You genuinely need to love people and care for their emotions to be able to make them happy.”
