Playing Along

This happened some months back. I was visiting Sapna Bookstores at Jayanagar. I had been to their Majestic store the day before and had collected a gift (CD Case) from there on the puchase of 1000/-. Now here again I purchased books worth 1000/- and approached the "gift" counter. Since I already had the CD case I wanted something else, a tupperware container. But this was a lower gift, for 750/-.

I approached the man at the counter and pointed out the tupperware to him. He smilingly corrected me and said that I was entitled to a FREE CD Case for 1000/-, the tupperware being for "lesser" customers. I said I still wanted the tupperware. At this he was aghast, here was a perfectly sane looking, educated guy who was refusing a FREE gift and instead wanted a lesser priced one!!! He tried to explain the scheme to me again.

Now I realised I had shaken the very foundations of this human and decided to play along. I acted as if it was "now" that I understood how the scheme worked and gracefully accepted the CD Case. I thanked him profusely from having had made a profound error. I still remember his smiling face, his faith in humanity restored.

We are moving

"Our business is moving. Our concern is you"

What does the above mean? Does it not appear that the said business is shifting its place of work and is concerned about its customers?

No sir, it is the corporate statement of a firm (www.globemoving.net) that helps you move your home/office. With a statement like that I am sure lots of customers will get confused.

Absurdities

Over the weekend was watching a Kannada movie starring Shankar Nag. He needs a disguise quickly to do the usual dance number in front of the villains before the final(showdown). Guess what he chooses? A sardar getup!! What could be more suspicious than a sardarji singing a kannada song eulogising the state's people. But the villains were just not able to figure it out.

Also, been seeing the BSNL ads on TV featuring Preity Zinta as herself. She sees a banner flash on her laptop saying -" BSNL 250/- per month". At this she is so overjoyed that she begins dancing! Now why does she have to play herself in the ad? If so, then what's with the 250 bucks?? "Dhoom Barabar" did not pay well I guess...

Self-activity?

Recently won a gift-voucher at office. The event was Dumb-C. The event itself was nothing much to write about but what was interesting was the quotation at the end of the coupon I had won. I wonder if I am the only one who notices such things?

P.S::I am sure PentHouse qualifies ;)

Baba Marathi bolta hai kya?

The above words ought to be familiar to everyone who visits shopping areas in Bangalore. I encountered these twice over the last weekend. The setting was the same, a harried looking man carrying a suitcase with a lady carrying a baby. The picture of a villager travelling with his family. He tries to identify a north indian looking guy and starts his sob story. "baba, paisa nahin hai, pocket chori ho gaya". The wife adds a few comments regarding the baby. I have seen quite a few couples moved by their plight and making their pockets lighter by paying for these guys' ticket fare. As soon as the money is in the pocket these guys start scouting for their next target.

A different trick is employed by some other cheats. They hang around MG Road and nearby areas and ask passerbys the directions for Majestic or Malleswaram, basically any faraway place. Soon the person giving the directions advices the guy to take a rick or a bus since the place is definitely not at a walkable distance. Now the sob story begins, it starts with a request for auto-fare and finally they are willing to settle even for the bus fare!! I met a guy outside my office once, he was asking me the directions for Lalbagh. Now I do sometimes walk from my office all the way to Lalbagh, so I thought maybe another health conscious guy and gave him the entire directions, also suggesting the unpolluted route. Later I realized that I had narrowly missed the sob story part and had managed to foil his plans. No wonder he had a shocked look! Made me very happy:)

So next time you encounter one of these characters I advice you remember Johnny Walker and "keep walking".

Salaam

Just check out Saif in the above picture with his Calvin Klein showing thru. One of these days he is gonna get one hell of a wedgie. The low-rise jeans that is the rage currently(or cause of rage) was introduced by the makers of Calvin Klein. Even though the brand was well known, they were at a severe disadvantage because celebrities just could not show that they endorsed the brand while they were amongst the common 'junta'. So the makers came out with a new style of jeans that would just show the label of what lies beneath. Thus was born the low-rise jean.

Doggies

My wife is a dog lover and it is rather unfortunate that none of us (my mom dad and me) share this love. However this has not deterred her from showing her affection towards all the strays that patrol our neighbourhood. There are close to 10 in our area and I am not mentioning the puppies! They are a proper nuisance and most of them would have been picked up by the dog squad if not for some dog-lovers who managed to tie them down and get a collar over their necks.

One such bitch was always trying to make our home hers but my dad always managed to drive her away. But that did not stop her(it?) from trying. Some nights she managed to jump over the compound wall and spent the night at our doorstep. But the next morning dad/me would always drive her away. But one week my parents were away and only me and Chethana were at home. This week somehow every night there was some rice leftover from the night's dinner and Chethana smuggled it outside for the bitch's benefit. I too was moved by the dog's attempts and did not mind it coming in. So soon this dog was spending its night at our doorstep. I did wonder over what would happen when my parents would return...

That problem was taken care of by the dog itself. The day my parents returned and entered the

locality it started running circles around them showing all signs of joy. My dad was horrified, never had a dog done this and he was wondering what was wrong. He tried to shoo it away but that did not stop it. He asked me what was wrong to which I managed a puzzled expression. Next morning again as soon as he opened the gate this dog entered the compound as if it was its home. By evening dad had realized what had happened but the dog had its way.

For the next few months it adopted our house and we were feeding it in the night. That was until one evening we found it missing. Our neighbours told us that since the dogs of the area were making too much trouble some of them had been taken away to cubbon park. But I guess this action was akin to Naidu sending all beggars of Hyderabad outside the city when a foreign dignitary came visiting. They invariably came back. So did the dogs which was quite an achievement. Cubbon park is a fair distance away from BTM Layout!! Some days later a nearby watchman took the dog away to his home.

Thus I thought my brief encounter with dogs had ended until some days back another bitch laid its litter and guess who has been showing them the maximum affection? One was good enough but three?

Dhobi

Do u realize that a dhobi is the only person who can get away by saying "Bhabhi .. kapde nikal kar rakhna.. main baad main aakar LETA hoon"