I Don’t Know, Son!-15

I Don’t Know, Son!-15

The Hereditary Game!

Son: The BCCI selection committee headed by the former Indian opener Krisnamachari Srikkanth has picked his son Anirudh as part of India’s Emerging Players squad which will play a series of three-day games in Australia next month, dad.

Father: True, go on son.

Son: Anirudh had a below average season last year. He had scored only 251 runs from 9 innings that didn’t see him even in the Top 50 Ranji Trophy run getters, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: Most of the other players in the squad had piled up huge scores in the 2010-2011 Ranji Trophy, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: The hereditary succession disease seems to have spread to even the cricket field. The gentleman called Srikkanth appears to be no exception to the rule, dad!

Father: I don’t know, son!

Party of Sons, Daughters and Relatives!

Son: “The BJP is fast becoming a party of sons, daughters and relatives.” Do you know who issued this statement, dad?

Father: Must be some Congress leader, obviously, son.

Son: You are wrong, dad. The statement has been issued by the BJP vice-president Shanta Kumar, who was earlier in charge of Karnataka, dad!

Father: I don’t know, son!

 ‘Buy’  or ‘Sell’ - the ICICI Puzzle!

Son: ICICI Securities is finding itself in an unenviable position, dad. It has been appointed as one of the four merchant bankers for BHEL’s Rs5,000-crore follow-on-issue, dad.

Father: It is a prestigious appointment, is it not, son?

Son: True, dad. But the brokerage house had recommended a ‘sell’ on the  BHEL scrip at a target price of Rs1,800 at almost 10% discount to the current market price, dad!

Father: Oh! Now I understand. Go on, son.

Son: The investors know the penchant of the Government to keep the issue price as close to the market price as possible, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: This being the case, ICICI Securities may find itself marketing the issue at a price at which it recommended the ‘sell’, dad!

Father: I don’t know, son!

Another Case of Dementia?

Son: Suresh Kalmadi, the disgraced and jailed former Chairman of the Commonwealth Games (CWG), is reported to be suffering from dementia, dad. An expert opinion has been called for from the AIIMS, dad.

Father: Quite unfortunate. Go on, son.

Son:  The court is awaiting the report about the apparent memory loss of the main accused in the CWG case, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: In the meanwhile, the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Home Minister Chidambaram have strong reasons to doubt that another prime accused in the 2G case might have also suffered the memory loss, dad!

Father: Who? Go on, Son.

Son: I am talking about Raja, the ex-minister for communications, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: Raja says as far as his memory goes, all the decisions on 2G allotments were approved by the PM and the then FM Chidambaram, dad!

Father: Go on, son.

Son: Both the PM and Chidambaram are now said to be exploring the possibility of having a brain scan of Raja, dad!

Father: Go on, son.

Son: They feel the long stay at the Tihar jail by the prime accused might have led to this memory loss, dad!

Father: I don’t know, son!

The Shavige Bath Saga!

Son: Do you remember the burglary in a residence in Bangalore in which the burglars ran away with jewels valued at Rs7.6 lakh, dad? The burglars had the audacity to even feast on the Shavige Bath, the housewife had stored in the fridge, dad.

Father: Yes. Go on, son.

Son: Well, the Bangalore police have succeeded in catching the burglars, dad. They say they are confident of tracing the entire jewellary set, dad.

Father: Very nice. Go on, son.

Son: But the police say they could do nothing about the Shavige Bath and expressed their regrets to the housewife, dad!

Father: Interesting. Go on, son.

Son: Now the housewife has assured the police that she would arrange a ‘Shavige Bath Party’ to the police team if it could trace out her entire jewellary set, dad!

Father: I don’t know, son!

A V Krishnamurthy

26^th July 2011