The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Paper plaque saves the day

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Sep 25, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Paper plaque saves the day

Officials of the Vijayawada Guntur Tenali Mangalagiri Urban Development Authority (VGTM-UDA) went through a few anxious moments before the arrival of Revenue Minister Dharmana Prasada Rao for the laying of a foundation stone for the widening of a link road to connect NH-5 and NH-9. At the break of dawn, they found to their dismay that an unidentified vagabond inflicted considerable damage to the foundation plaque that was to be unveiled by the Minister.

A quick fix was done well in time by getting a huge paper printed with all the details that the original plaque had. It was pasted over the stone plaque to conceal the damage. Technology came in handy for the UDA officials, as they could get the paper prepared with the help of ‘Computer Aided Design’ software they have in their office. Though a vinyl poster too was ordered, the paper poster arrived early, saving the day for the UDA officials. It was a different matter that the rush job had its reflection in the spelling ‘Ministor’.

A deliberate mistake?

Humour-packed remarks made by actor and A.P. State Cultural Council chairman Dharmavarapu Subrahmanyam sent the audience into fits of laughter at the valedictory of World Telugu Writers’ Conference organised at Seshasai Kalyana Vedika on Sunday. Down the generations, ‘droham’ (betrayal) was done to Telugu language and there was nothing left now to be done in this respect – these apologetic words of Mr. Subrahmanyam sounded as a wake-up call in a garbed manner. “The pity is that almost all of us forget to use Telugu the moment we step out of this hall,” he observed to the applause of the crowd. But one thing that Mr. Subrahmanyam appeared to have missed was that the sign boards displayed inside the meeting hall to guide the delegates and the press were written in the global language – English. Added to it, the word ‘delegates’ was misspelt as ‘deligates’. A deliberate mistake to protest the invasion of English?

Yours faithfully!

The confusion was about remaining faithful to one’s spouse.

Deviating from a serious discussion on the need to implement effective measures to curb the spread of HIV, the media interaction hosted by the Centre for Advocacy and Research provided several light moments to the participants. Referring to the ‘A…B…C’ concept of the ‘Be Bold’ campaign kicked off by the Government to combat the epidemic, J.V.D.S. Prasad, a tutor in the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Science, Kadapa, explained: ‘A’ stands for ‘abstinence’ from sex before marriage, ‘B’ urges you to ‘be faithful to the spouse’. ‘Whose spouse?’, someone among the participants blurted prompting the wide-eyed tutor to remark: “I think now I know the cause of the rapid spread of the virus. We ought to have been more clear on ‘whose’ spouse one should remain faithful to.” The conference room was plunged into loud guffaws.

(K. Srimali, G. Ravikiran and P. Sujatha Varma)

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