Dear Editor,This refers to your news item :” MCD WORKERS WON’T CLEAN LOOS ” in HT of 24th Sept.Frankly, I don’t see why all this hullaba-loo about loos is ! As per my knowledge from a recent market survey report,toilet cleaner market in our country is estimated to be worth Rs.60 crores per annum.Reckitt Benckister is the Brand Leader with its brand HARPIC with a share of 70 percent.Other two leaders in this segment are SANIFRESH (Dabur) and DOMEX ( Hindustan Unilever).CWG authorities could have roped in their help to clean the mess.I feel these Corporate Houses would have willingly sent a batallion of their Cleanling Soldiers armed with their products to clean all the loos and put an end to this hullabaloo.After all they must be aware of what is called Corporate Social Responsibilty in todays world.It was a chance for them to show-case the efficiency of their products like Harpic,Sanifresh and Domex and would have won many more hearts of customers through this exercise alone instead of through their costly ads on TV.All they could have asked for would have been small banners displayed outside the loos saying—”This loo has been cleaned by Harpic/Sanifresh/Domex…”.So simple,no ? I wonder why CWG committees could not think of this solution ! Lets hope at least some of our clean loos will now win a few medals for cleanliness and hygiene ! Meri CWG Mahaan !! - J S BROCA New Delhi |
Archive for » September, 2010 «
During my early school days I was fond of reading fairy tales. One of my favorites was about ” The Frog Prince ” written by Brothers Grimm. My children have also read it and we have also seen it enacted on stage by school children. Now you will ask me, what is the purpose of narrating this story today ? Well I will tell you that at the end of the story. For those of you on this forum, who are now older or nearly as old as me, here is the story:
One fine evening a young princess put on her bonnet and clogs, and went out to take a walk by herself in a wood; and when she came to a cool spring of water with a rose in the middle of it, she sat herself down to rest a while. Now she had a golden ball in her hand, which was her favorite plaything; and she was always tossing it up into the air, and catching it again as it fell. After a time she threw it up so high that she missed catching it as it fell; and the ball bounded away, and rolled along on the ground, until at last it fell down into the spring. The princess looked into the spring after her ball, but it was very deep, so deep that she could not see the bottom of it. She began to cry, and said, ‘Alas! if I could only get my ball again, I would give all my fine clothes and jewels, and everything that I have in the world.’ Whilst she was speaking, a frog put its head out of the water, and said, ‘Princess, why do you weep so bitterly?’ ‘Alas!’ said she, ‘what can you do for me, you nasty frog? My golden ball has fallen into the spring.’ The frog said, ‘I do not want your pearls, and jewels, and fine clothes; but if you will love me, and let me live with you and eat from off your golden plate, and sleep on your bed, I will bring you your ball again.‘ ‘What nonsense,’ thought the princess, ‘this silly frog is talking! He can never even get out of the spring to visit me, though he may be able to get my ball for me, and therefore I will tell him he shall have what he asks.’ So she said to the frog, ‘Well, if you will bring me my ball, I will do all you ask.’ Then the frog put his head down, and dived deep under the water; and after a little while he came up again, with the ball in his mouth, and threw it on the edge of the spring. As soon as the young princess saw her ball, she ran to pick it up; and she was so overjoyed to have it in her hand again, that she never thought of the frog, but ran home with it as fast as she could. The frog called after her, ‘Stay, princess, and take me with you as you said.’ But she did not stop to hear a word. The next day, just as the princess had sat down to dinner, she heard a strange noise – tap, tap – plash, plash – as if something was coming up the marble staircase, and soon afterwards there was a gentle knock at the door, and a little voice cried out and said:
‘Open the door, my princess dear,
Open the door to thy true love here!
And mind the words that thou and I said
By the fountain cool, in the greenwood shade.’
Then the princess ran to the door and opened it, and there she saw the frog, whom she had quite forgotten. At this sight she was sadly frightened, and shutting the door as fast as she could came back to her seat. The king, her father, seeing that something had frightened her, asked her what was the matter.’ There is a nasty frog,’ said she, ‘at the door,that lifted my ball for me out of the spring this morning. I told him that he should live with me here, thinking that he could never get out of the spring; but there he is at the door, and he wants to come in.’ While she was speaking the frog knocked again at the door, and said:
‘Open the door, my princess dear, Open the door to thy true love here! And mind the words that thou and I said By the fountain cool, in the greenwood shade.’
Then the king said to the young princess, ‘As you have given your word you must keep it; so go and let him in.’ She did so, and the frog hopped into the room, and then straight on – tap, tap – plash, plash – from the bottom of the room to the top, till he came up close to the table where the princess sat. ‘Pray lift me upon chair,’ said he to the princess, ‘and let me sit next to you.’ As soon as she had done this, the frog said, ‘Put your plate nearer to me, that I may eat out of it.’ This she did, and when he had eaten as much as he could, he said, ‘Now I am tired; carry me upstairs, and put me into your bed.’ And the princess, though very unwilling, took him up in her hand, and put him upon the pillow of her own bed, where he slept all night long. As soon as it was light the frog jumped up, hopped downstairs, and went out of the house.’ Now, then,’ thought the princess, ‘at last he is gone, and I shall be troubled with him no more.’ But she was mistaken; for when night came again she heard the same tapping at the door; and the frog came once more, and said:
‘Open the door, my princess dear,
Open the door to thy true love here!
And mind the words that thou and I said
By the fountain cool, in the greenwood shade.’
And when the princess opened the door the frog came in, and slept upon her pillow as before, till the morning broke. And the third night he did the same. But when the princess awoke on the following morning she was astonished to see, instead of the frog, a handsome prince, gazing on her with the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen and standing at the head of her bed. He told her that he had been enchanted by a spiteful fairy, who had changed him into a frog; and that he had been fated so to abide till some princess should take him out of the spring, and let him eat from her plate, and sleep upon her bed for three nights. ‘You,’ said the prince, ‘have broken his cruel charm, and now I have nothing to wish for but that you should go with me into my father’s kingdom, where I will marry you, and love you as long as you live.’ The young princess, you may be sure, was not long in saying ‘Yes’ to all this; and as they spoke a brightly colored coach drove up, with eight beautiful horses, decked with plumes of feathers and a golden harness; and behind the coach rode the prince’s servant, faithful Heinrich, who had bewailed the misfortunes of his dear master during his enchantment so long and so bitterly, that his heart had well-nigh burst.
They then took leave of the king, and got into the coach with eight horses, and all set out, full of joy and merriment, for the prince’s kingdom, which they reached safely; and there they lived happily a great many years.
Indeed, a lovely story with a happy ending and of course with the usual moral attached to it. Isn’t it?
Now to answer your question posed at the beginning of this story. Yes, times have changed. Peoples’ values have changed, perceptions have changed.
Let us suppose this story is re-written in today’s times. Here is a version I could arrive at when I discussed the matter with a few of my MBA students with convent school backgrounds and who were familiar with the story.
I am skipping the very long narrative as in the original story and will give only the gist of the new version:
A young girl was out for a walk. As she passed a pond, a frog jumped out and said, “I was once a handsome young prince. Kiss me and…” “What will I get?” asked the girl. “I promise to marry you,” croaked the frog. So the girl took the frog to a lab and attached him to a lie detector machine. “Now repeat your promise.” “I will marry you,” the frog said, and the machine showed that he was indeed telling the truth. So the girl gave him a kiss and she too was instantly transformed into a frog. The male frog kept his promise and married her.
Now tell me – did you like the original version or this new version? Or say, why don’t you use your creative instincts and try out another funnier version relevant to the modern times? I am sure you will come out with more twists to this tale.
I shall be waiting for your responses..
All the best, and yes, keep smiling…...!!
I recently read in the news paper about what Ratan Tata has said.
I wanted to write a short poem on it.I tried and this is what I could come out with:
Great business icons like Birla and Tata
Choose when to wish bye-bye or say ta-ta
They would like to retire like you and me
From the hectic life in their Company
Basically simple men at heart
With panache they play their assigned part
Very modest are their wishes and desires
For life after they finally retire
He doesn’t want to leave on a wheel chair
Ratan wants to quit early and smell the fresh air
Or perhaps write a book or even learn to cook
Put on his dancing shoes or do the hip-hop
Remaining fit and fine till the body clock stops.
He seems to have made a list of things to do
Let’s hope he achieves them all like me and you
Yes. Let him enjoy his peaceful life to the hilt
Having devoted decades to the house Tatas built.
May he find a worthy successor to his empire
And leave the house ship shape when he retires
He is right when he says: I want to break free
He deserves this simple wish, don’t you agree ?
People who live in glass houses….
Old proverb ..new versions
There is a famous proverb which goes thus :” People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.”
What is the literal meaning of this proverb ? This is actually a warning against hypocrisy. Before you go accusing someone of some wrong doing, make sure that you are not guilty as well because your accusation could come back and get you.
Now you will wonder why this question today ? Well yesterday I saw the old movie “Waqt” (1965) The famous actor Raj Kumar had a lovely role in it.The senior readers like me, must be aware that Raj Kumar had a unique style of dialogue delivery; very stylish in his own way and unmatchable which went on to become his trademark. Apart from his unique style of dialogue delivery, he was known for his show or scene stealing abilities. He has delivered some of very few memorable and famous dialogues in Bollywood. He is no more with us but will always be remembered for his roles and his deep voice.
Now, if you recall, one of Raj Kumar’s famous dialogue from the movie was :” Chinoy Seth..Jinke apne ghar sheeshe ke hon woh doosron par paththar nahi phenka karte..”
I tried to put the above dialogue in a proper form :“Chinoy Seth,sheeshey key gharon mein rehne waaley doosron par paththar nahin fenka kartey...”
This set me thinking as to whether our perceptions change over a period of time.(It is now 45 years since that “Waqt” dialogue first became a rage)
I asked some of my friends to come out with better and funnier versions. Here are some of their responses :
1. People who live in glass houses should not throw parties !
2. People who live in glass houses must dress in the basement !
3. Glass breaks very easily. So they should make houses from plexiglass. People who live in plexi glass houses, will probably get away with throwing stones to their heart’s content.
4. A glass house may be beautiful to live in, but there are other transparent materials that are stronger than glass.
5. A song from a Hindi movie goes thus :
“Sheesha ho ya dil ho, Aakhir toot jaata hai !
Lab tak aate aate haathon sey sagar chchoot jaata hai !
Sheesha ho ya dil ho, Aakhir toot jaata hai ! “
So it is clear that people should not live in glass houses.
6. The way it was explained to me by my late father, this means, don’t go throwing stones at other people’s houses ,because if they retaliate in kind, your house will be very easily destroyed too. The non-literal meaning, is that whatever you use against other people can easily be used against you, so be careful how you treat others in order to avoid consequences.
Dear readers, I would love to have your take on this proverb-and the funnier, the better !
By the way, Raj Kumar’s other famous dialogue from “Waqt” was :”Yeh bachchon ke khelney kee cheez nahin,haath katt jaayey tau khoon bhi nikal aata hai.”
I hope you remember what he was referring to when he said :”Yeh” ? A knife. But more of that- later!
E..n..j..o..y…
Joy of Giving…..
Author: Jatinder Pal Singh Broca Sep 30Giving and taking is a part and parcel of our daily lives. Here are 3 of my different takes on the subject of GIVING :
TAKE-I
This morning I discussed a question which is being asked to job aspirants these days when they appear for an interview after they have completed their MBA. What would you prefer : a big pay package or immense job satisfaction ? A lovely interactive debate was there on the subject in my class. On the topic related to pay packages, I was tempted to ask - how much money does one need ? I was reminded of a couplet of Sant Kabir ji, in this context:
saaee itnaa deejeey,
jaamey kutumb samaaey,
main bhi bhookha naan rahoon,
saadhu bhi bhookha naan jaaey.
Translation:
oh lord, GIVE me just enough,
so that I can manage my family with it.
it should be just sufficient
to ensure that neither I remain hungry
nor a needy person or a sadhu
ever goes hungry from my house.
TAKE-II
Being a great lover of old Hindi films and equally old Hindi film songs, I recall a lovely motivational song about GIVING and distributing LOVE. The song is titled :Pyaar Bantatey Chalo, sung by Kishore Kumar, from the movie named “Hum Sab Ustaad Hain” (1965).Lyrics by Asad Bhopali and Music by Laxmikant Pyaarey Lal. The opening stanza goes thus :
ho pyaar bantatey chalo -2)
hey pyaar bantatey chalo -2)
kya Hindu, kya Musalman,
kya Sikh aur kya Isaaee
hum sab hain bhai bhai
pyaar bantatey chalo -2)
hey pyaar bantatey chalo -2)
Translation:
Let us GIVE and distribute love
Whether we are Hindus
Or whether we are Muslims
Whether we are Sikhs
Or whether we are Christians,
First of all, we are all Indians
And we are all Brothers.
So let us go on distributing love….
Friends, you can see this song in original on Youtube by visiting or clicking on the following link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmamDCbTujw&feature=related
TAKE-III
I believe that we are all travellers in the journey called life. On the way, we meet so many people, share their love, and move on. The question I often and even now ask is that if life is like a train journey then what do I expect as a passenger on this train ? What do I need? What should other passengers travelling along with me GIVE me ?
Well friends,I again share my thoughts on the subject through another very old Hindi movie song picturised on Johnny Walker, sung by Mohammad Rafi, from the film :”Door Ki Awaaz” (1964).Lyrics :Shakeel Badayuni,Music : Ravi.
The opening stanza of this delightful number goes thus:
ek musafir ko duniya mein kya chahiey
sirf thodi si dill mein jagah chahiey….
Translation:
what does a passenger need in this world ?
he needs a little space, in your precious heart,
so GIVE him a little space, to sit besides you,during this journey…..
To enjoy the visuals of different types of passengers travelling in the compartment and Johnny Walker’s dig at their shortcomings and attitudes, please visit or click on the following Youtube link :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6ZW2vcdF7Y
Let me hope that when you next see an old man or a woman or a small child or some one who is sick and infirm, while travelling in a train or in a bus or in the metro, we will surely GIVE him/her some space to sit or share our seat.
On that note, I humbly ask you to seriously GIVE a thought to these three TAKES of mine and also GIVE your valuable comments and responses to this posting since I found a lot of JOY in GIVING you this piece. So do double my joy in return by GIVING me what I have requested for.OK?