Peek-A-Doobai

1.Flying to Dubai doesn’t have an international feeling, because most of the flights leave during the day, so you miss out on the excitement of odd time flights and “ Over hyped Jet Lags”

2.The Hottest thing here is the ……… you guessed it right “ The Weather”

3.Nissan Sunny and Toyota Prado’s define the segment you belong to Nissan Sunny: entry level miser Indian
Toyota Prado:... same entry level miser Indians upgrade.

4.Thursday becomes your Friday and Sunday becomes your Monday but Sunday is Sunday come what may.

5.Malayalam is the official language of fellow Indians, it is a default setting.

6.Pakistanis and Indians are friends and our talks have more peace then the “Official Peace Talks”

7.Getting a driving license is as difficult as cracking the CAT with 100 percentile; For those who did get 100 percentile trust me this is not as easy as that.

8.Filipino’s , Pakistani’s, Srilankans and Indians make a Multi-National Corporation.

9.Metro Stations are named after their sponsors , “ Next Station is AKSHAY or I hope.

10.Most important, Every Indian knows the table of 16 by heart; its the exchange rate.

The menu is always to the Right !!!

He was five, accompanied by his sister aged 12. Amidst the banter and as I bit into my steaming hot idli, I noticed the child. he jumped around in excitement, looked around in anticipation and spoke incessantly. The sister was well behaved, probably curbing her excitement , trying to justify the age gap. The father sat adjacent to the child, fiddling with the menu.

The waiter played a consultant to these three, intelligently recommending (lets say upselling) to the 5 year old lad. He said pav bhaji, our consultant added cheese, he said mysore sada, our man added paneer, he said fruit salad ours said why not with ice cream. And whoever said, you needed to pay hefty fees to arm yourself with an MBA in Marketing to understand Marketing was probably somebody who never had the degree himself, he rightly only knew one trick of the trade, Sell, make money and make your boss happy!!! Healthy topline and a fat bottom line.

The father on the other hand, began to fiddle with more than just the menu, he fiddled with his luck. not wanting to kill the glint in his sons eyes, yet wanting to circumvent the situation. the son arrived at his decision and exclaimed " cheese pav bhaji" and there fell the face of his forty something father. He thought , " how can I kill my sons demand without actually killing it". The consultant had done his job , our finance manager was trying to play his role, He scrolled the menu, top to bottom, most importantly RIGHT to LEFT.

Idli @ 28, Sada Dosa @ 34, Pav Bhaji @ 70 and the one with Cheese @ 80. I sat there staring at this sight, I could see a helpless father trying his level best to influence his innocently adamant son. The son wouldn't budge a little, he was determined on his decision (I wish he grows up with this quality and hopefully for the right things). The father called the consultant again and reworked on his strategy. What he did in classical MBA jargon is called "Pruning" .  From one cheese pav bhaji , one sada dosa and one Idli (you rightly guessed, what belonged to whom), he made a saving of Rs. 28 , cutting down the Idli.

The sister sensed his emotion and said in Marathi, " Papa, apan dosa share karu ya" (Dad, lets share the dosa). What I witnessed was a classic demonstration of sacrifice, something that is ingrained into the Indian middle class. I smiled at the father, signalling an applause for his sacrifice and salute to his spirit. He returned the smile in humility.

I called upon our consultant and asked for my bill, It was Rs. 42, a coffee and " THE IDLI" and as I stepped out , I saw the father nibble on the Dosa, gulp bowls of Sambhar and see his little one relish his pav bhaji while spilling his cheese.

I walked out and realised , the menu is always to the right!!!