Shopping woos

In India, consumers are taken for granted. I have recently bought a new window A/C which is a branded one. The reason I had to buy new A/C was that my old A/C 's outer case was rusted and thrown away by my carpenter. I thought I will be able to get a new case but I soon realised that since my old A/C was unbranded one, the outer case of the same size was not available in the shop . I had no option but to go in for a new A/C. Since last couple of days, I was looking for a suitable window A/C under exchange scheme. Two days back, I saw an advertisement in Mirror of a branded A/c with exchange scheme. It was a single day special offer. It was so tempting that I decided to go to the shop on the same day and have a look at the product. I ultimately went to the shop along with my wife and daughter. I always involve ladies in decision making as far as household items are concerned. The shop happened to be close by inside a mall. We went to the shop and looked around for window A/C of different brands so as to compare the features along with price tag. Ultimately we zeroed in on the same product which was advertised. The reason being it's lowest price tag and and a watch worth Rs 1000 which came free of cost along with the product. On being asked when the product will be delivered, I was told it will be delivered on the following day. I told the saleman that since this offer is in exchange of old A/C , somebody from his side should come to my house and inspect my old A/c to ensure that it complies with their requirements. To my surprise, the salesman said , it is not necessary. All they want is that it should be in working condition. I said yes, it is in working condition. The deal was fixed. I went to the cashier and paid through my credit card. The cashier gave me the watch and cash memo of the product purchased. We came home satisfied that it was good deal. Following day, two men came along with A/C which was packed in a carton. I told them to keep the carton in the drawing room. They told me that after sometime, their mechanic will come to fix A/C unit in the window. I opened the carton and checked guarantee card and other accessories of the product which were lying inside and finally signed the delivery challan to confirm that I have received the product. While they were leaving, they asked for Chai paani to which I flatly refused. After about 2 hours on the same day, two people came to fix the A/C unit. I had called my carpentor also who had renovated my room to come and supervise the operations. While fixing the unit, it was discovered that the opening in the wall for the window A/C was bigger than the outer case of new A/c unit leaving a gap of almost 2 inches width wise and height wise. My carpentor gave me an assurance that he will plug the gap with wood and paste sunmica sheet of matching color on top of it. Temporarily, the gap was stuffed with thermocol and A/C unit was switched on to test the cooling effect in the room.

The drama unfolds after this incidence. While they were preparing to take my old a/c unit, they complained, the A/C unit does not have outer case. They called up somebody on mobile and asked me to talk to him. I guess he was their supervisor. He was quite rude and told me flatly that they need outer case. When I expressed my inability to give it to him, he said in which case I will have to shell out Rs 1000. I told him that he should have inspected my A/C unit prior to purchase. But he was adamant and demanded the money. I firmly told him that I will not give him anything and if he persisted with his demand, I will have to call the police. I also threatened him that I will go to consumer court and I will file a case against his shop. After this, he cooled down and his men quietly left my place.

Reality shows

There are many reality shows on T.V now a days. They are comparatively more entertaining than soap operas.These shows encourage the spirit of competition among participants. There is nothing wrong in inculcating the spirit of competition because competition helps one bring the best out of him. But what is disturbing is the manner in which the participants are eliminated episode after episode from the shows. This gradual elimination is Inhuman and Barbaric specially if children participate in these shows. The organizers of program do it probably for their own selfish motive but at what cost. Have you noticed whenever there is elimination round, children’s faces look grim with fear of rejection looming large over their innocent face. It is a question of life and death as far as they are concerned. And what happens if a child is eliminated, he immediately bursts into tears. Not only the child, even his mummy starts crying as if everything is finished.The judges try to console them but the damage is done. In any reality show, only one person rejoices for his victory at the end whereas all others who participate along with him during the program depart one by one at some point of time with tears in their eyes.

Do you approve of these shows. At least I don’t.

Forgive me dear

Today, while I was trying to delete files from my hard disk, I was opening each and every word file to ensure that I don't inadvertently delete a file which is important to me. I came across a file in which poetry was stored. When I read first few lines of the poem, I found it so captivating that I could not help reading it from first line to the last line. Soon I realised, it was written by my younger daughter. She is now matured and working in a big corporate. I was not supposed to read her poem without her permission. I must confess it was just a coincidence.I will personally apologige to her in the evening when she comes back home. Let me admit it was such a fine and moving poetry that I have no words to describe it. My voice was choked with emotion, while I was narrating the poem to my wife. This poem was actually a tale of her journey of life right from birth to childhood to adulthood. She narrated her experience with such precision and clarity of thought that it really touched my heart. I have got to know the feelings of my daughter much better through this poem. As a father, I also feel very proud of her. I wish her all the success in her professional and personal life.

Childhood memory

I have recently got one of my bedrooms renovated. Before the renovation, due to lack of space, I had no option but to pack loads of books and magazines in two cartons which were kept in the loft above the bathroom. If I needed any book for reference, I had to stretch my hands right up to the level of loft, pull the carton from the loft, carry the entire load in my hands and bring it down. Then I had to open the carton, search the desired book in the carton. And if the book did not happen to be in this carton, then I had to repeat the same for the second carton. You can imagine the kind of frustration I used to develop doing all this. When I renovated the room, I made sure that the newly made wooden cabinet had enough space to accommodate books and magazines.

I remember it was Sunday. I was busy sorting out the books from both cartons trying to seperate those books and magazines which were of no use to me and which I wanted to dispose of. While I was busy doing this, I came across with a very old magazine of school in which I had studied during childhood. This magazine was published by the school on the occasion of completing 50 years of incorporation and contained photographs of meritorious students with details of their achievements during school days and current profession. My photograph was also published in the magazine as I was also one of the toppers in school. There were many other photographs which I could recognise. Some of them were my colleagues, seniors. There was a seperate section for school teachers. They looked quite pale and old. I could not recognise their faces but I could identify them with their names. It was a pleasant experience.

As I was going through the pages, I had flashback in my memory and I could recollect many events during my school days. There was one incident which was very funny and which I want to share with you. I was in standard V then. I was very scared of a boy who was tall, muscular with a pony tail. This boy used to harass me a lot. He will sit next to me in class room and torture me with his stupid behaviour. I was so traumatised and scared that I did not have the courage to even complain to the teacher. This boy had threatened me that if I complain to the teacher, he will give me solid beating outside the classroom. I was timid and obedient in nature. Although I never got punished in the class, I used to get scared when my colleagues were beaten black and blue for not doing homework. I was on the verge of tears and was unable to concentrate on what the teacher was telling. When the teacher looked at me, he realised there is something wrong. When he asked me what is the matter with you, why are you looking so frightened,I started crying. He told me not to get scared and tell everything to him. I could not find the courage to tell him what happened to me. It was at this moment that another colleague of mine who was sitting in the same row as mine stood up and narrated the entire sequence of events. After this, you can guess what might have happened to the boy who had harassed me.

My childhood memories are still afresh in my mind and I can recollect them frame by frame whenever I come across with an object which is associated with it.

Emotional Atyachar

I was quite aghast to see a channel showing a program called “Emotional Atyachar” with live coverage of boys and girls cheating on their partners. How on earth can a boy or a girl fall in love with his partner without even bothering to see what type of person he or she is. Is it love in the first place or just physical attraction. If it is physical attraction then there is every possibility that he or she has physical relations with others as well. Why do you have to hire a channel to test the loyalty of the partner. Is it lack of trust. Channel on it’s part has no right to invade the privacy of an individual and make it public.

I am not a psychologist but I consider myself good at reading the body language which helps me in understanding a person’s nature. Unfortunately, there are married couples who inspite of living together for many years don’t understand each other properly which ultimately ruins their marital relationship. When you meet a person of same sex or opposite sex, you need to understand the person you are meeting thoroughly. Generally, during such meetings, the person tries to project himself as the best person available. He does not reveal his true self. That is when reading the body language comes to your rescue. Rather than what he says, the body language tells you what he has in mind or his intentions. The tone, the eye contact, posture, Gesture, facial expression etc say something to you. If the body language is not in synch with what the person says, the person is hiding facts. You are not conscious of your body language while you are talking. It comes naturally to you as a reflex action. It is easy to manipulate what you say, but it is very difficult to manipulate your body language which is the true reflection of your intentions. Let us see how you can read body language

1> Hands-- When you meet and shake hands with the other person, just notice how he is holding your hands..If it is too tight and gripping, it means he is of dominating nature
If the other person holds your fingers instead of full hand, it means he lacks self confidence. If the person is holding your hand for a longer period than is necessary, he or she is physically attracted to you. If the hand is cold and loose, it means that the person lacks commitment and self determination.
2> Eye Contact--- The person to whom you are talking does not look straight into your eyes and constantly glances sideways, it means he is not interested in your conversation.
If the person flickers or blinks his eyes too frequently while talking, it means he is nervous. If he makes short eye contacts in between, it means either he is shy natured or he is lying.
3> Posture--- Posture tells a great deal about the person. If he is sitting upright with shoulders slightly leaning backwards, it means he is interested in conversation. If the person is sitting cross legged during conversation, it means he is defensive and over protective.
4> Facial Expression—Face is the mirror of the internal feelings of a person. If the face is glowing, it means he is free from anxieties. If the face is grim, it means he is tired, worried or sick
5> Movement of Hand—While the person is speaking, look at his hands. If his hands are outstretched, it means he is accommodative and confident. If he holds his hands tightly to his chest, it means he lacks self confidence The pace at which he speaks also gives an indication of his personality. If he speaks too fast or speaks in high pitched tone, he lacks maturity.

Reading body language is only indicative of knowing a person's nature specially a person whom you have never met before but not necessarily a foolproof method.

World cup T20

Team India's early exit in T20 world cup was nothing unusual. The fact is that Indian team has weakness towards short pitched ball on bouncy wicket. On flat wicket, and against weak bowling attack, our boys act like tigers but when they have to play on really fast track against real pace attack, they crumble like a pack of cards. Our media leaves no stone unturned to create hysteria among public before the tournament and raise level of expectation to a dizzing height. But when the boys fail to perform , they dont lose any time to find scapegoat and put all the blame on him. I wonder if media acts at the behest of top BCCI bosses so that they, who are the real culprits and who are responsible for destroying cricket go scot free. Mahendra Singh Dhoni who was till recently considered to be the finest Captain India has ever had, is now being held responsible for the defeat.It is made out to believe that his decision to bowl first was the blunder and was the main cause of the defeat. There is so much money and glamour involved in cricket that players are now more interested in playing in IPL tournaments than playing for the country. Players are now more focussed in attending to late night parties and endorsing commercials rather than match practice before the tournament. Making Cosmetic change like removing Dhoni and making Sahwag as Captain is not going to make any difference to the performance of the team. What needs to be done is firstly to acknowledge that Indian team is not as good as it is made out to be. Secondly, do not allow players to endorse any commercials. They earn good enough money in tournamments. Thirdly, prepare hard bouncy pitches so that our players learn how to face short pitched balls. Fourthly, Selection of players should be strictly on merit. Players who are physically unfit should not be allowed to take part in international tournaments. Fourthly, do not be under impression that the matches can be won on the strength of batting alone. There are other deparments of cricket which needs to be looked at. Unless these basic changes are done, Indian cricket team will remain a paper tiger.