If I were on the Hot Seat with Amitabh Bachchan

Like millions of others I have not got a call from KBC so far. While the others may be fretting and sucking their thumbs, I thought why not visualize a scenario where I go on to win the 15 crores prize. I select my own questions. Most of them have a backdrop as in Slumdog Millionaire.

Here is a description of my day-dreaming. I have tried to capture the entire conversation I had with AB. You might like it.
I win the fastest finger first and am introduced as HSD, Accounts Manager in an MNC. He would like to buy some land and do farming. He has a special liking for Punjab. Even if he wins 5 crores today, he thinks it will fall short of the project he has in mind. He wants to talk about his project as the game progresses.
Ok – let’s start the game. Here comes the first question.



1. Who is the singer of the song Kahin pe nigahen, kahin pe nishana from the film CID (1956)?

A. Geeta Dutt   B. Shamshad Begum
C. Asha Bhosle D. Surayya

I go for audience poll and the audience returns Shamshad Begum 55%, Geeta Dutt 35%. I go with the audience and manage to scrape thru.
Before the second question AB asks about my project. I reply that it is a social one. Others may want to set up a hospital, but I want to help people in not going to the hospital in the first place. I want to keep diseases out.
At this juncture comes the 2nd question

2. What does IFRS represent?
A. Int’l Financial Reporting Standards B. Indian Financial Recording system
C. Int’l Fiscal Reporting System          D. Int’l Film Research Station
I manage to win Rs 10000 by locking on A.
I ask AB as to what is found on each square inch area of Mumbai. I only reply with the word ‘Spittings’. It is spits all over. I am sure if we could curb this social evil, it would automatically reduce diseases to some extent.

Comes question no.3
3. How many medals did India win in the Commonwealth Games 2010?
A. 40 B. 38
C. 56 D. 101

I scramble at the last moment with D 101 and manage to stay on in the game.
With AB’s permission I narrate a story which my elder sister had told us years ago. You find someone spitting in the train. On being screamed as to why was he spitting right there, he replies “Kya Karega, Garib aadmi”.
Can anyone get me from the statute books any law that being a garib aadmi gives one the right to spit anywhere and everywhere? Is there any such constitutional right?
The crowd bursts out laughing. AB promises to continue with the discussions after a break.

Break over, AB comes up with question no.4 for Rs 40000
4. In which of the following states of India are Rhinoes found?
 A. Jammu & Kashmir B. Rajasthan
 C. Assam                   D. Karnataka
I blabber that I had seen Rhinoes while on elephant back at the Jaldapara Game Sanctuary. Since West Bengal is not listed above, I go for C Assam. I have heard of Kaziranga.
I win 40000 hands down.
We continue with our spitting discussion. My question is why does an average Indian spit so much? What is the medical reason behind this phenomenon? Leave out the constitutional experts, we need our medical profession to come up with the cause and suggest ways to overcome this national malaise.
The railway police at the suburban railway stations in Mumbai had started hauling up people for some time. But that was short-lived. I for one would like to make that mahaprabhu, the nuisance creator to walk over the spot where the spit fell. I’d like to see how he would react when told to do so. He won’t like to go over that spot because he is aware of that spot. But the next person unknowingly walks over it. He reaches home with different types of germs carried underneath his shoes. He and his family members fall sick and require medical assistance. Of course the original mahaprabhu also meets with the same fate. While spitting at one spot he is actually treading on others’ spits.
AB seems to feel convinced and wishes me luck to win as much as possible.

He comes up with question 5 for 80000
5. In which test you get results for SGOT and SGPT?
A. Sputum  B. Blood
C. Stool     D. Urine
As I am talking on spits only, I thought ‘sputum’ should be the answer. But I have had enough of the blood tests done so far in my 53 years. I stay with B Blood and cross question 5.

AB gets going with question 6 straightaway.
6. The atmosphere of Venus mainly consists of which of the following gases?
A. Carbon Dioxide   B. Sulphur Dioxide
C. Sulphur Trioxide  D. Water Vapour
I look complete blank and call for phone a friend. I call up my younger son and get through by going with A Carbon Dioxide.
I try to get back with my topic on social evils of the Indian Society. Spitting here and there needs to be controlled at any cost. People have to be won over. Social Thinkers – please do something. Medical Profession – please do something. Why does the Indian spit all thru and does not think it a crime to spit anywhere?
AB nods and takes a break.

Question 7 for 320000 comes as follows:

7. Which Republic lies between Algeria and Lybia?
A. Tunisia  B. Morocco
C. Somalia D. Kenya
I was totally taken by surprise. How can the question come back to me after 36 years? The Late Hamid Sayani had put the question to us in the Bournvita Quiz contest and I had managed to answer this one.
As the answer was in my sleeves, I get into the discussion mode. My worry is how public hygiene amongst the Indians could be improved. We simply do not seem to care. When will this change? If this does not change, we’ll remain as we are.
AB seems to enjoy my concern.
During my childhood days, I'd take the atlas and call out places with some sort of a tune. Ons such tune was "Lybia, Algeria, Tunisia". I get thru the second phase calling out A Tunisia and win 320000.
In a more relaxed atmosphere the game continues.

The next question –
8. In which capacity does the Vice President of India gets his/her salary?
A. as the Vice President B. as the Governor of a State
C. as a Cabinet Minister D. as ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha
I remembered that the Vice President has something to do with the Rajya Sabha. I decide to go in for that.
But I get my worries back. I start talking of the conditions of India’s rivers. The other day I was watching a documentary on the Ganges. There are 161 cities on its banks. People at source at Gangotri are not getting any water as barrages have been constructed and the water diverted. It is so full of pollutants both human and chemical that even at Gangasagar the supply of fish is dwindling. You are sure to get diseases if you take that holy dip in it anymore. Under the Ganga Pariyojna, something was started. Inadequate electricity has put paid to most of the engineering efforts. Load-shedding does not allow the pumps to operate. What a pity! The Ganga will turn poisonous in our life time only.
I tell AB that the 5 crores will not be enough. We need to save our people. No amount of hospitals will be adequate if the sources of diseases are not taken care of.
Question 8 gets me 640000.

Time for question 9.
9. Who was the second Indian to win an Oscar award?
A. Satyajit Ray      B. Bhanu Athayia
C. A.R. Rahaman. D. Ismail Merchant

I knew Bhanu Athayia was the first one for Gandhi. I was not very sure about Ismail Merchant. So Satyajit Ray was standing out. I decided to consult the expert of the day Shekhar Gupta. Mr Ray was his choice. My presumption was confirmed. I won the cheque of Rs 1250000. Things were becoming hotter.

I feel hapless whenever I find people committing suicide because of poverty. We have some of the richest people in the whole of universe. Our politicians are filthy rich. Even then people die here of starvation. Can you think of a bigger curse on a nation? Thinkers – please help our country. If we cannot take care of our people, other people will take care of our country.
Mr Bachchan empathises with me.

Question 10 for 2500000
10. In which of the following South/Central American countries a Football world cup final has not been played so far?
A. Mexico B. Uruguay
C. Chile     D. Paraguay
I know that it has happened in Mexico and at Montevideo(Uruguay). So the choice was between Chile and Paraguay. I use the double dip lifeline and call out Chile. Computer says it to be wrong. So I know that it is Paraguay. I win 2500000.

AB felt that I could buy some land now. His question was where was I planning to buy land? I was not sure. It should be the place where I want to live after retirement. Still not decided!!

Hey I was hurtling towards 50 lakhs.
AB was making me cautious. All my lifelines were gone.

Question 11 for 50,00,000
11. Who among our Presidents has been the Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University and Banaras Hindu University?

A. Dr Zakir Hussain B. Dr S Radhakrishnan
C. Dr V V Giri         D. Shri N Sanjeeva Reddy

I ask AB whether I can call out one more social evil here. AB says Zaroor! People here are so unconcerned with the use and misuse of Plastic bags. They just throw it anywhere. That of course applies to everything. Whatever is not needed is simply chucked out on the roadside. A slight consolation is that there are another set of people who pick up everything on the road to eke out a living. But throwing plastics on the roadside is a crime. They are not bio-degradable. They make the land poisonous.
I apply simple common sense and decide to go in for B Dr Radhakrishnan, although Andhra University and Sanjeeva Reddy made some sense.
My common sense works. I am now on the threshold of winning a crore.

Question 12 for 1,00,00,000
12. In which city is the Adya Peeth situated?
A. Kolkata B. Toronto
C. Dhaka   D. Kamakhya
It seemed the day belonged to me. Having been a regular visitor to this place, it was a cake-walk for me. Without much ado I go for A Kolkata and win 1 crore amidst thunderous applause.

AND NOW THE JACKPOT. AB is totally charged up. He is at the top of his voice. He just can’t hide his excitement. For the first time in the history of KBC, someone is so near to winning 5 crores – the highest amount ever so far. He takes a deep breath and asks me to do the same. Q 13 on its way. Pin drop silence in the crowd. Historic moment.

Question 13 for 5,00,00,000

13. As a protest against Chandigarh and other issues, who amongst the following went on fast unto death and finally died after 74 days of fasting?
A. Jatin Das                 B. Nirmaljit Singh Sekhon
C. Sant Fateh Singh     D. Darshan Singh Pheruman
Both of us look to each other. AB is trying to read my mind. I try to get my bearings correct. I try to reason out. Jatin Das had died of hunger strike. But he was from Bengal . He was a revolutionary and died fasting at the Lahore jail. Nirmaljit Sekhon was an ace fighter pilot. Sant Fateh Singh was the SGPC President during our childhood days. Not sure whether he fasted unto death. D Darshan Pheruman seemed to be the choice. (In actuality when he died, both me and my brother held him in very high esteem looking at his steadfastness. To this day I remember the name)
AB is silent. Only utters that if not sure, I should rather quit.
I go in for D Darshan Pheruman. AB asks computer to lock D Darshan Pheruman. AB takes a break.
We come back after the break. AB repeats whatever has happened. He takes a breath. And shouts at the top of his voice that I have won 5 crores. He gets up, comes towards me and tells me that because it was a game in dream, no money passes hands.
He thanks me profusely for the splendid show.

Before leaving I ask AB whether I could ask for a favor.
I ask for his help in getting me make a two-minute film. The film shows that two people in the local train eat something every day. While one would keep the plastic packet (of peanut or chips or moong dal) in his pocket for later disposal, the other would simply chuck his packet out of the train. Not only that, he would ridicule his friend for carrying the plastic packet home. Many days later, the second man while travelling with his little son gets into a thunder-storm. The wind speed picks up and all of a sudden a cyclone develops. In that huge wave of the wind, all the plastic packets lying dormant on the roadside all this time, form spirals and engulf both the father and son. The ferocity is so high that the father could take the plastics off his face with great difficulty. The young son is not so fortunate. He is engulfed totally and dies of suffocation. The man laments that he is a contributor for the mishap.

AB likes it. Maybe he’ll help me with the film.

Can you beat my imagination?

Ha Ja Ba Ra La (Mumbo Jumbo)

ALL of you know Satyajit Ray. Ray was one of the most prolific writers, film-makers of modern India. You can google him and find out all the details. I want to draw your attention to the fact that writing and literature ran in the family. His lineage was as follows:


Upendrakishore Raychowdhury (1863-1915)
                 |
Sukumar Ray (1887-1923)
                 |
Satyajit Ray (1921-1992)

The above three have made immense contribution to the cause of Bengali literature. I for one am particularly fond of three books of Sukumar Ray which deal with utter nonsense. But the comedy has been put forth in such a hilarious manner that some portions of them make me laugh every day. Let me reproduce a para about him from the WIKI

Sukumar Ray (Bengali: সুকুমার রায়) (1887-1923) was a Bengali humorous poet, story writer and playwright. As perhaps the most famous Indian practitioner of literary nonsense, he is often compared to Lewis Carroll. His works such as the collection of poems "Aboltabol" (Bangla: "আবোলতাবোল")("Gibberish"), novella "HaJaBaRaLa" (Bangla:হযবরল), short story collection "Pagla Dashu" (Bangla:"পাগলা দাশু") ("Crazy Dashu") and play "Chalachittachanchari" (Bangla: "চলচিত্তচঞ্চরী") are considered nonsense masterpieces equal in stature to Alice in Wonderland, and are regarded as some of the greatest treasures of Bangla literature. More than 80 years after his death, Ray remains one of the most popular of children's writers in both West Bengal and Bangladesh.

The three books I am talking of are Aboltabol, Ha Ja Ba Ra La and Pagla Dashu.

Aboltabol means Gibberish. It is a collection of rhymes which every Bengali child knows of. The rhyming is melody to the ear.

http://www.bangalinet.com/sukumar_roy_abol_tabol_


Some examples:

Bhoy peona , Bhoy peona,

               Tomai aami marbo na,

Satti bolchi kusti kor_e,

              Tomar sang_e Parbo na.

The picture in his imagination is a man trying to run away from a huge animal which rises from nowhere. The animal is saying the above lines which mean that don’t be afraid; I am not going to kill you; Truly, I won’t be able to win a kushti bout with you.

Another one-

Shunt_e pelum Posta giy_e,

         Tomar naaki may_er Biy_e,

Ganga Ram_ke Patro Pel_e,

        Jaant_e chao sh_e kemon Chele?



Very hilarious one.

Ha Ja Ba Ra La – (mumbo jumbo) is another delightful story of craziness.

But nothing to beat Paagla Dashu (Crazy Dashu)! Dashu is a crazy student character, whose crazy stories make you go into splits. Here is some introduction from Wiki.

Pagla Dashu is a character appearing in several prominent works of Bangla literature from the early 20th century, most notably Pagla Dashu (1940). He is a school boy, famous for his crazy ideas and often inexplicable acts that carry subtle, comedic satire. Pagla Dashu is mainly a children's story which is fun to read and creative.


Pagla Dashu has become one of the very popular characters of Bengali literature, like many other characters created by Sukumar Ray, a popular Bengali author of nonsense poetry.

One sentence which I use regularly at home is “ abaar aami Aashiachi Phir_e” meaning I have come back once again.

The context was there was a play being enacted at school. In the last scene the King is asking his minister as to what did the Angel say before returning to Heaven? As the minister was explaining that the Angel had showered his blessings to everyone and had since returned to his abode, Dashu re-entered the stage and announced that he has come back again. This re-entry was not scripted in the original play and none of the actors on stage was prepared for this. There was a confusion and the curtains were dropped in a jiffy. On being asked later as to why he behaved that way, Dashu explained that he felt that the people on stage were not speaking at all and that someone was glaring at him menacingly and some such rubbish. He being a paagal, no action was taken against him.

Whatever, I love this sentence and make frequent use of this one. The latest use was last night, when I drove our maid to the station to drop her only to find that JnaneshwarI Express was rescheduled to 4 o’clock today morning. So on returning home I announced on behalf of her that she was back again.

Story Illahabadi – teaches you how to remain cool

Monday morning 5-15 – I set out of home. My revised office timings are 7-4. On the 5 minutes’ walk to the bus stop, I did feel something missing. On reaching the stop I realized that the right glass was missing from my spects and that I had a slight vision problem. What a way to start a day! At the next change of busses I got into 512 instead of 511. Don’t blame it to the glasses. I find it difficult to differentiate between the Hindi 1 and 2 otherwise also. I continued with 512 and reached office 20 mins late but exactly at 7. Later when I learnt that my son had managed to break the glass the previous night, I didn’t feel angry at all. See how matured a person I have become with age. Someone else would have screamed at him.


My colleague Prashant and I were to travel to Allahabad that day. While planning the trip we discovered that there was only one flight to that place in the whole of 24 hours – an IA flight from Delhi which does a round trip in the late afternoon. We realized that there were not many air travelers to Chitrakoot dham – famous in the Ramayan as the place where Ram , Lakshman and Sita had spent 11 of their 14 years of exile. The place however is well connected by train.

We could have taken the direct train to Allahabad from Mumbai. But it takes exactly 24 hours and for official purposes we cannot think of such a long train journey. So we decided to take an afternoon flight to Delhi and an overnight train from there to our destination. While getting the ticketing done on the net, I found that there were scores of trains but only one of them had a smaller wait-listing.

On reaching New Delhi station from the airport we discovered the reason for the smaller wait-listing. The board showed that Magadh Express was to leave at 5 am the next day instead of the 8.10pm timing with which we had aligned our flight. The people around told us that it was the worst train and that it was perennially late. So much for our planning!!!

The experience of the two MNC executives from then up to the journey completion was smoothened only by their self-determination and amiable disposition.

7PM – Paharganj side of New Delhi station was not the best of places to be in. A tout took us to a railway ticket booking agency located in a small cubicle on the first floor of a building opposite to the station. We discovered that we could have tickets in our own name for the night journey but at a price. They charged us double but agreed to get us confirmed tickets in the Brahmaputra mail. While Prashant waited in that 1st floor cubicle, I went out to cancel the original e-ticket in Magadh express. No end to our learnings – e-tickets have to be cancelled on the net only. On my way back from the reservation office, I decided to check the timings of the Brahmaputra mail. Imagine my mental state when I could not locate that train on the list at all. For a moment I thought that we were being taken for a ride by the agents. On enquiry I found out that the mail was from Old Delhi station. Somewhat relieved, I reach the cubicle, but not before an anxious call from Prashant – as to what was happening with me.

On reaching the cubicle, we had to stretch our brains to get a way to cancel the old tickets. We called up our colleague at Mumbai and he helped us with the cancellation on his home computer. What an effective use of communication technology!

Tickets in our hand we set out for Old Delhi station. But before that we decided to get some cash from the ATM located not far away. But walking those three hundred yards took us to back to Emperor Akbar’s times. Today also the place does not have any street lights- may be the same condition as four hundred years ago. Or maybe they had proper lightings then. Just imagine the scenario – Paharganj area, almost totally dark, cycle-rickshaws around. We got the money and while returning Prashant wanted to have dinner at a 1st storey place (supposedly air conditioned). I was not very sure of the 1st storey cubicles there. Instead we had garam rotis on the ground floor restaurants.

Well-fed we started our sojourn to the Metro station on the Ajmeri Gate side. One thing that amazed me was that the authorities have managed to get the ‘Sab chalta hai’ Delhiwalla to form queues while entering stations and have their baggage scanned. We found that at all the places – New Delhi, Old Delhi and the Metro stations. Good for Delhi. Our first travel on the metro was not the most welcomed one. The train was full to the brim. I was so worried with Prashant’s purse. I don’t carry one – thanks to my everyday travel on the Mumbai trains. We could hardly squeeze ourselves into a compartment, but came face to face with another issue. A Jat was fighting verbally with another and the two were on the verge of exchanging blows. I was stiff scared, because in such cases many times the blow misses its destination and lands on someone else’s chin nearby. I had tasted one such blow in a double decker bus in Calcutta during my school days. The pickpockets move in groups and thrive on creating commotions.

The 5 minute metro journey over, we walk our way to the over-bridge to platform 1A. While waiting over there, we talk to a Russian couple. Only God knows what brings them to this sultry place. Prashant had to caution them against mosquito bites.

Brahmaputra Mail reaches Allahabad at 9.30 – a good two hours late. IA had rescheduled our flight back to Delhi to 2.35 pm instead of the regular 4.15. See everything was arranged against us. We knew we’d have to hurry up with our meeting. We get into a hotel for an hour. The hotel was set to charge us for the whole day. We settle for a 50% charge. But the un-kept slippery bathroom sees Prashant slipping dangerously. Fortunately there were no injuries.

The meeting went off well. We reach the defence airport. Allahabad is the HQ of Central Air Command. We get inside the small aircraft (but not an ATR). Time passes by. The pilot makes some announcements. After about an hour he cites technical snags and ‘cancels’ the flight. We deplane. It seems there were some big shots amongst the passengers. They manage to convince IA to send a plane to Varanasi as night landings are not allowed at Allahabad. We get ready to take up a three hour drive by ‘surface transport ‘. We wait and wait. We hear that instead of Varanasi, the plane from Delhi is reaching Allahabad only. Time ticks on. We find the pilots of the old aircraft go on board. And lo! After some time the old ‘technically snagged’ aircraft becomes ready to fly in that darkness. Strange are the ways of this land. We’ll never come to know what really happened. Why the timing was initially pre-poned, how the snag developed, how it went away on its own etc. There could have been air-force sorties, there could be VIP movements, there could be anything. But the sufferer was the common traveler.

Anyway we kept our cool throughout and made the most of an otherwise jinxed journey. We have mastered the survival instincts.

Air Travel – sometimes really pathetic

This is what I picked up from FB today:

 Renu Narvekar highly disappointed with kingfisher airlines - cold food, TV not working, seats dont recline........... - mr mallaya, hope u listening !Anju Malhotra gosh even emirates was stinking...renu.....and a very distinct smell even in the business class......

Ganesh Iyer Renu be happy at least the flight took off
Shailesh Mohabe cold food may be he his trying to give message that kingfisher bear taste more then the food when it is served cold.....
Renu Narvekar ‎@ ganesh - agree. Must count my blessings, though it was late both ways !
@ shailesh - he shd stick to selling the beer & give up aviation. The food was not only cold but inedible & had a distinct smell
@ shirin - del mum del . Similar probs...

Ameeta Shetty Kapur what next renu?.. rodents?
Renu Narvekar ‎@ ameeta - dread to evn think ! low cost airlines anyday. Atleast no false promises.
I picked up Renu’s story to share my experiences with the Big Airlines. I had already narrated the story of Air India in my very first blog. Later on I deleted that portion thinking that at least as an Indian let me preserve the honor of something Indian.

Big Airlines are pathetic not always but sometimes. Here is a story of Jet Airlines. 4 of us were travelling to Hongkong in the business class. The much advertised beds to sleep on were nice. You can really lie down and sleep for the night.

The trouble arose in our return flight. They did not have food to serve. Drinks were served after some delay. Thereafter there was no dinner being served. I thought that maybe that was the custom. We could see people in the economy class almost finishing their meal. Then we had to ask the crew and some food was served. Normal food over, we were looking for some dessert. My God! It looked as if the crew were praying that all of us had diabetes and that we were not interested in anything sweet. On being called the attendant came and told me that there was indeed a shortage. I almost shouted at him. Thereafter he got me something.

From that day’s experience I have got a lower esteem for the esteemed airline which has done a lot for the Indian air passengers in the last 20 years or so. My sister in law was lauding their performance on her last visit to Mumbai from Toronto. She was raving about the food. This makes me think. Renu’s journey that day or our journey from Hongkong must have been one of ‘those’ days. I am sure the two stalwarts – Mr Mallaya and Mr Goyal would not want any of their customers to feel unhappy on anything. But lower down, the management needs to take serious note of such complaints. It may be true that demand exceeds supply – but that is no reason for taking customers for granted. I am aware that some of the foreign airlines crew are known for their haughty attitude. Given the chance, we try to avoid them. After our Air India experience this May, we have decided to carry our own food (at least some quantity).

So much for the Airlines!! Now let me talk of rodents in Public transport.

Do you know that there are a fixed set of living beings who do the origin to destination journey on every long distance train of the Indian Railways? They are the Rats. They are there in every train and they are doing Mumbai-Bangalore or Mumbai-Chennai and back every day in their respective rakes.

About 4 years back, Susmita and I were travelling AC – 3 tier to Bangalore in the night train from LTT . We were carrying our food, nicely packed. After dinner we kept the containers back properly packed in newspapers. In the morning we found the newspapers to be shredded into thousands of pieces. Immediately we knew that the rats had a field day the previous night.

The story does not end there. What do you think was the continuation in the story? We reach our niece’s place in Bangalore (the same one who is in Paris now). While having dinner all of a sudden we found something moving along the curtains. Hmm!! We realized that Mr Rat with address LTT station, Kurla, Mumbai, Maharashtra has travelled with us in that express train and then got transported to our niece’s place in Bangalore, Karnataka via our bag. The previous night’s aroma of the food etc must have made Mr Rat decide why not travel with this family at the destination. He also wanted to see Bangalore city rather than remain in Bangalore station as always.

That was not the correct decision. He was not aware that the owner of the bag had done post-graduation in rat-killing (please see my blog – Ganpati Bappa). Sure enough, he was killed before the break of dawn much to the comfort of our dear niece. She felt otherwise she would have a tough time saving her assets from that un-welcome guest.

See - I have got stories to tell matching all your thoughts and experiences.

The 7 habits training

This week I underwent the above training. This has eluded me all this while. This time it happened amidst tight schedules. At the end I am happy that I did it. And I did it with 30 others who are my elder son’s age. I felt great in their company. And I had plenty of personal experiences to share by way of examples. Trust the others liked them. There is additional cause for joy. My younger son went thru the booklet and liked it a lot. He felt that everything in his life so far has been hovering below the line in quadrants 3 and 4. Nice to hear that. He now realizes that there are things called quadrants 1 and 2 which could be attained. Interestingly, while googling in the morning, I found that the Covey family has written similar books for teens also. Maybe I’ll get one for my son.

Coming to Stephen Covey’s training program. I found it pretty apt. At beyond 50 also, I think I can use the concepts effectively. Again, there is no rocket science involved. All of us knowingly/unknowingly do practice the concepts in bits and pieces. Covey has given a great structure, which if followed, could help the follower in becoming more effective.
For those of you who do not have any idea of the 7 habits, here is a brief synopsis. You get the full thing on the net.
You start at a dependent level, where you build up your self-mastery and self-discipline. The 3 habits involved are – Be Proactive, Begin with the End in Mind and put first things first. By mastering these habits you attain Private Victory.
In the second stage, you practice Think win-win, seek first to understand and then be understood and synergize. These habits get you Public Victory. From Independence you move to Interdependence.
Finally the seventh habit talks of sharpening the saw.
Now the time has come for putting the training into practice. As usual, I can cite the 101 tasks that are to be attended to right now. Implementing the training concepts become 102nd in the list. I’ll try to break the hodoo.
I have to perform 3 tasks:

1. Plan weekly

2. Live the Habit

3. Teach to learn.

Let me start shortly. I should not waste time writing blogs. Need your good wishes. Thanks.

Best Selling books

This week I underwent the 7 habits training of Stephen Covey. I came to know that the book has sold in excess of 15 million copies.
Out of curiosity as to the big best sellers, I decided to google. And here is the list from the Wikipedia. You might find it interesting. I am fascinated. I am happy that I thought of finding out about it. I have not heard of most of these books. Strange I do not find anyone from the Indian sub-continent which I thought have produced a number of thinkers. And we are so thick in numbers. In fact that is getting me into the questioning mode - out of one billion people over here we have not been able to sell the Ramayan and the Mahabaharat and the Geeta to 50 million people. Find it a bit strange. But then I do not have any of the three in my house-hold. So there is no reason to feel surprised.

I have reproduced below a short list. For the complete list please go the link below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_books
The Bible (probably about 8 Billion) and the Qur’an, are by far the most-printed and most sold books.

List of best-selling single-volume books

[edit] More than 100 million copies

Book                                    Author(s)       Original language/First published/Approximate sales

A Tale of Two Cities    Charles Dickens     English 1859  over 200 million[1]
The Lord of the Rings  J. R. R. Tolkien      English 1954–1955 150 million[2]
The Hobbit                 J. R. R. Tolkien       English 1937 over 100 million[3]
紅樓夢 (Dream of the Red Chamber) Cao Xueqin  Chinese 1759-1791 over 100 million [4]
论三个代表 (On the Three Representations)  Jiang Zemin   Chinese 2001 100 million[5][dubious – discuss]
And Then There Were None Agatha Christie   English 1939 100 million[6][citation needed]

[edit] Between 50 million and 100 million copies

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe     C. S. Lewis    English  1950 85 million[7]
She            H. Rider Haggard    English 1887 83 million[8]
Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince) Antoine de Saint-Exupéry French 1943 80 million[9]
The Da Vinci Code  Dan Brown  English 2003 80 million [10]
The Catcher in the Rye  J. D. Salinger  English 1951 65 million[11]
O Alquimista (The Alchemist) Paulo Coelho Portuguese  1988 65 million[12]
Steps to Christ Ellen G. White  English 1892 60 million[13]
Heidis Lehr- und Wanderjahre (Heidi's Years of Wandering and Learning) Johanna Spyri German 1880 50 million[14]
The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care Dr. Benjamin Spock English 1946 50 million[15]
Anne of Green Gables Lucy Maud Montgomery  English 1908 50 million[16]
Black Beauty: His Grooms and Companions: The autobiography of a horse Anna Sewell English 1877 50 million[17]
Il Nome della Rosa (The Name of the Rose) Umberto Eco  Italian  1980 50 million[18]

Wish some name from this part of the world will appear in the list some day.
Jay Ho!!

Mudra

I had heard the word but that’s about it. Yesterday at the Annual health check-up, one lady spoke about Mudras and their healing values. The very beginning attracted me a lot.


I was thrilled to know how the five fingers are considered as the representation of the 5 tatwas: Thumb (fire), index (Wind), middle (Akash-sky), Ring (Prithvi-earth) and Little (Water). I might have known them sometime but had completely lost track of.

The fingers have got some 4000 nerve-endings on them.

The mudras consist of the touching of specific fingers and stretching the rest of the others. My take was that by stretching the other fingers we actually exercise the nerve-endings. Specific mudras have specific curative values.

I learnt about Gyan Mudra, prana, vayu, apaan, surya, shunya, linga, prithvi, Varun mudra among others. I found that exercising with the fingers is comparatively easy.

I am going to give it a try for the next three months. Let me see what comes out of it.

I’ll keep you posted of the results.

Quite a few sites are there. Just Google Mudra and go for it.

Meeting Olivier Sedile

Last 15 days was 'only work' for me. We were meeting deadlines for the submission of the Company's Tax accounts on time. Within that busy schedule, I had two trainings to attend and a couple of visitors. But the best part was that amidst all that running against time I had a chance acquaintance with a French boy Olivier Sedile. We intend to carry on with the friendship.

Vijay, our senior colleague from Manila was in Mumbai. One evening around 7, we were in front of our office looking for a taxi for Vijay. After spending some time in futile search, an auto-rickshaw stopped in front of me and I could see the sole passenger, a young boy, was gesturing with a piece of paper. I was more interested in the auto than the paper. I made the guy get down and Vijay board it. There were already three other takers for the auto at that point.

Vijay gone, I concentrated on the visitor. The address he was trying to reach was ‘Western India Money Transfer’ situated in our next door building. On starting a conversation I realized that he was from Paris and that he wanted to draw money. Immediately a couple of thoughts crossed my mind. How was the guy going to cross that one way road where traffic was in full swing? Then there were potholes all over and in that drizzling ill-lit lane he would break his leg. And it was already past 7. The chances of getting the place open were not very bright. So I took him to the place. As expected the office was already closed. But the man at the counter informed us of another branch some distance away which operated up to 9 pm. Slowly we walked to the other place and he got his money.

Now comes the climax. His next move made me think of so many things which made that event so interesting. What did he do next? Any guesses!!

He took a 500 – rupee note from his bag and offered me the same. Not bad by any standards – if helping people for 10 minutes would make me earn that much, I would work for 24 hours. Why did he behave like that?

I have got a couple of answers:

1. He must have felt very happy inside. So he wanted to share his happiness with me in his own way.

2. While in Paris, we had tried to get help more than once with pieces of paper. Every time we were shooed off. Most of the Parisians were not ready to help. The guy coming from Paris must have found it a bit strange that someone was walking that extra mile to help out a stranger.

3. Walking all the way with him and getting his work done must have come as a surprise to him. So he must have deduced that the man must be doing it in expectation of something. So he must have thought that rewarding such a man was not a bad idea. So he offered me the tip.

Later, extending it further another thought came to my mind. He might also have felt that having seen the sizeable amount being drawn, I might try to take it away from him in that dark roadside.

Whatever, I quietly returned the money. The bigger challenge for me at that point was how to send that guy back to Powai in that office traffic. I got him to my office. But by that time all the Powai guys were gone. Another colleague got him an auto-rickshaw.

Next day he sent me a ‘thank you’ mail. We plan to meet soon.

Again - this was an opportunity provided to me and I did not let go. Helping out others is the best thing possible. As I have repeatedly been saying, it comes back many times over. A man from Kerala helping out my son in Christchurch in an otherwise trying circumstances is a potent example.