The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Reporter's Diary

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Apr 19, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Reporter's Diary

Guest in trouble

The organisers of some functions choose their chief guests rather inappropriately.

Recently, a top police official was invited to a gynaecologists' meet. A majority of those on and off the dais were women and the official looked ill at ease. Moreover, even though he arrived on time, he was made to wait for almost an hour because the organisers were behind schedule and they had not completed a number of scientific sessions.

The official had to patiently sit through the presentations before the programme in which he was to participate began. But he was not heard complaining and he stoically suffered the delay. But, in his speech later, he hinted that he had tried his best to convince the organisers that he was not a good choice for chief guest.

Wheels of fortune

Some people are born entrepreneurs and they are found in the most unlikely of places. A woman reporter made this discovery recently at a petrol bunk in Jakkur where she had been to check the air pressure of the tyres of her two-wheeler. To her pleasant surprise, a 10-year-old boy rushed to her and asked her what she wanted. But, a little later, he called for his "assistant" and asked him to fetch his toolbox. When the reporter asked why he wanted tools, he said the tyres needed to be cleaned and the caps on the tyre tube nozzle needed to be replaced. Although she doubted the boy's words, she allowed him to complete his mission. When the time for payment came, she had another surprise in store. The boy demanded Rs. 5 for cleaning the tyres and Rs. 10 for the two nozzle caps. When he was questioned, he said he did not bargain and he operated on "fixed price" basis.

A difficult debut

When renowned orators speak about their first public speech, you listen. And so it was when the managing director of Mahindra and Mahindra, Anand Mahindra, told his story.

Delivering the convocation address at the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore recently, he remarked that as soon as he graduated from a business school at the U.S., he was invited to address a kitty party in a club where his mother was a member.

And this was how the office-bears of the club introduced him to the audience: "Anand Mahindra, who graduated from a business school in the U.S., will now deliver a talk on management. We are fortunate that he has offered to address the gathering free of cost, for we can save some funds to find a better speaker next time."

— Sahana Charan,

Divya Ramamurthi and

Vidyashree Amaresh

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