New Delhi: In one of Delhi’s busiest markets, a new kind of service is changing how people shop. For an hourly fee, a hired “personal helper” will now accompany shoppers through crowded lanes, carry their bags, wait in food queues, help them find seating, guide them to transport points and set up a foldable chair when they get tired.
What was once informal -- friends helping friends or local porters assisting shoppers -- is now a structured service.
At first glance, the service seems harmless, even clever. Cities are overwhelming, and time scarce, so convenience is much wanted. But the question is what the service reveals about how urban life is being reset around avoiding effort.
The idea of a shopping assistant has piggybacked on India’s urban ecosystem of micro-outsourcing. Everyday life is broken into tasks that can be delegated.
During
demonetisation, when cash shortage led to long queues outside banks and ATMs, informal “queue-waiting” helpers began appearing in cities. People would hire others to stand in line for hours to withdraw money or complete transactions.
Today, this idea has extended to food delivery and grocery apps, which have removed the need to go to the local market or cook at home. Digital tools have been outsourced cognitive tasks such as writing, planning, remembering, deciding. If a domestic help takes leave from work, an app can ensure the same service for an hourly charge. The errand economy can ensure that someone can take care of a toddler at short notice, stand in hospital queues, visit banks or govt offices, collect parcels, walk pets, wait for deliveries or simply act as a temporary “personal assistant” for an hour.
In Nehru Nagar, a service has emerged that assigns a person on an electric bike to accompany runners and look after their belongings like keys, wallets, bottles and other essentials. The attendant trails the running group, offering water or support whenever needed.
Some see it as a way of saving time and energy for more important tasks, others argue that it is gradually encouraging dependence and reducing people’s willingness to handle everyday effort themselves.
For many users, the experience feels far more grounded in immediate need. Deepali, who works in an MNC and is a mother of a two-year-old, describes it as practical support in an unpredictable routine. On days when work calls overlap with childcare responsibilities, or when her regular help is unavailable, “being able to book a help for just a couple of hours through an app makes a real difference,” she explains. She sees this as having a fallback when plans fall apart.
Speaking on the growing culture of dependence and personal assistance in urban life, Dr Nimesh Desai, psychiatrist and former director of Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences, pointed to the social and psychological pressures shaping this trend. “The stresses of modern urban life like psychological burdens, rising aspirations, and the struggle to meet even basic demands have made dependence increasingly common. At the same time, growing unemployment and social vulnerability have further deepened this tendency.”
He stressed the importance of balancing support systems with the need to preserve individual independence and self-reliance. “While support systems are essential for the elderly and persons with disabilities, society must continue to encourage self-reliance, personal freedom and independence as core values.”
Those who run such services argue that this demand is simply a reflection of how physically demanding urban life has become. The founder of the personal shopping assistance service in Lajpat Nagar points to crowded marketplaces, long walking distances between shops, and weekend rushes as factors driving the need. “Even a short trip becomes physically draining for mothers with children, elderly visitors navigating lanes, or pregnant women who need basic support,” he says.
He adds that their understanding of the problem came from months of speaking to shoppers and shopkeepers. “Many did not dislike shopping itself but found it increasingly stressful because of congestion and physical fatigue,” he said.
On concerns that such services might deepen dependency, he pushed back, arguing that urban residents are already operating under significant pressure from long work hours, traffic congestion, and time lost in transit. “These services do not eliminate effort but fill in the gaps,” he added.
Not everyone sees this shift as harmless. . Ashutosh, a retired private sector employee, says he finds it difficult watching younger people outsource even the simplest errands to apps. “Even something as simple as a toothbrush gets ordered online while they sit on their phones at home,” he says. For him, the concern is less about technology and more about the gradual erosion of everyday independence.
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