The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Loan just a call away

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Tuesday, Jun 24, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Loan just a call away

It is ‘cashing’ in on everybody’s weakness for easy access to loans, literally. After banks that chased us with seemingly attractive credit card offers, it now looks like it is the turn of somebody who wants to offer easy loans without straightaway disclosing their identity.

Posters with slogans that look like Telugu film titles and as many as nine telephone numbers have appeared on the walls in the city, and it does not seem to matter to them that some of these posters have been found in the company of other posters about the city’s well-known habitual offenders. ‘Dabbu kaavaala? Phone kottu, dabbu pattu’ (Need money? Make a call and take money), the posters say. And, when we called one of the nine numbers, it turned out that the offer is by a well-known private finance company. Its representative slowly detailed several conditions for extending the loan. Some ingenuous marketing techniques, it looks like.

All smiles

Cherma’s may be a name in the garment market that is trusted and liked by many families. But, by an admission of its proprietor K.F. Pestonji, the brand is ‘disliked’ by second and third children in each family. Reason? “Our garments have such a long lasting value that parents pass on the clothes they buy from us for their first child to second and third children too. Naturally, this makes those children dislike us,” he said in a lighter vein, at a press conference to drive home his point about the quality of Cherma’s garments. The Hyderabad-based Parsi brought even more smiles on the faces of reporters, as he spoke in broken Telugu for a while after disclosing that he had spent a few months in Vijayawada in the late 60s to study SSLC at Andhra Loyola College.

Moment to cherish

The hundreds of youngsters, who took part in the Olympic Day run in the city last week, had many moments to cherish, as they could interact with illustrious sportspersons from the city. Topping the list was Grand Master Koneru Humpy and the lanky volleyballer G. Pradeep.

The brief speech by Humpy was received with wild cheers from the schoolchildren. The more than six-foot tall Pradeep had a difficult time obliging the autograph hunters, as they swarmed him with any piece of paper they could lay their hands on. The organisers deserve a pat on their back, as they took very little time in winding up felicitation part of the run, which saved the children from the wrath of blazing sun.

Goud keeps them glued to TV

There was hectic activity at the Telugu Desam Party’s office on Monday, as the leaders and activists remained glued to the TV throughout the day to watch developments following the resignation of senior leader T. Devender Goud from the party.

While senior leaders started consulting the party State headquarters, the activists were seen keenly watching news channels to know how different leaders and parties were reacting. Many party leaders cancelled their programmes scheduled for the day and began consultations with their colleagues. At one stage, some activists wanted to register their protest by burning an effigy of the rebel leader. But it was given up at the last minute, after they realised that the development would have no impact on the party in this region. Probably, they missed a political chance to grab limelight by burning an effigy.

Divine intervention

For those following the recent events at the Guntur Municipal Corporation, none could have missed the unusual sight of corporators singing paeans to the officials, particularly to Municipal Commissioner Siddhartha Jain.

Corporators cutting across party lines sang praises on the turnaround the GMC made on the financial front, repaying all the dues to the contractors and making new development plans.

It seemed that the change of season brought about a seachange among the corporators too.

The change was unmistakable in former deputy mayor Tadisetty Murali Mohan.

Gone are the ways of the past, the slinging war of words and the acerbic berating of the officials. Instead one finds a rather mellowed man in peace with himself.

When a curious Mr. Jain sought to know the reason behind the change, Mr. Murali humbly said that his recent appointment as TTD Dharmika Mandali president has brought about a change in his attitude. A divine intervention indeed!

(K. Srimali, J.R. Shridharan, G. Ravikiran in Vijayawada and P. Samuel Jonathan in Guntur)

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