I Don’t Know, Son!-24
Training for the Death Announcement!
Son: All humans have to face death one or the other day. It does not matter even if you are the King or the Queen of a country. Is it not, dad!
Father: True. But how come you are talking philosophy, son?
Son: I am referring to the reported mock videos being shown to the BBC staff announcing that Queen Elizabeth II has passed away, dad.
Father: But the 85-year old Queen is very much alive right now! Go on, son.
Son: The British are known to be very conservative and traditional. They do not like any deviations in the age old traditions particularly in the matter of their royal family, dad.
Father: True. Go on son.
Son: The BBC had reportedly failed to maintain the traditions in 2002 following the death of the Queen Mother, dad.
Father: Go on, son.
Son: In a bid to avoid such blunders, the BBC is conducting training to staffers well in advance for announcing the Queen Elizabeth II’s death, dad!
Father: I don’t know, son!
Reading Between the Lines!
Son: Amitabh Bachchan has launched the book The Mad Tibetan, a collection of short stories, by debutant author Deepti Naval, dad.
Father: Go on, son.
Son: Bachchan has admitted he had not read the book. But he was nice enough to say that he looked forward to reading it, dad.
Father: Go on, son.
Son: Amitabh is known as an honest and upright person, dad.
Father: True. Go on son.
Son: Earlier he had slammed a fake twitter account by his name posting ill comments about Ra.One, dad. He had also stated that he had not even seen the film to make such comments, dad.
Father: Go on, son.
Son: However, he had not mentioned anything about his intentions to see it later, dad!
Father: I don’t know, son!
No First Mover among the PSU Banks!
Son: The Reserve Bank of India has deregulated the interest rate on savings bank accounts for the first time, dad.
Father: True. Go on, son.
Son: The general expectation was that the banks would vie with one another to offer competitive interest rates to mobilise higher CASA deposits, dad.
Father: Go on, son.
Son: While two private sector banks (Yes Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank) have immediately announced the increase in rates to 6% percent from the existing 4%, none of the PSU banks have shown any initiative to announce higher rates, dad.
Father: True. Go on, son.
Son: In fact State Bank of India, the largest PSU bank, has even stated that it will not be the “First Mover”, even though it said that it may raise the interest rate by 125 basis points, dad. It wanted to see how other banks play it out, dad!
Father: Go on, son.
Son: But all other banks have also become smarter by waiting for some other bank to make a move, dad.
Father: Go on, son.
Son: As a result the SB account holders are left in the lurch, dad! In effect the RBI move is as good as nullified by the banks who have virtually formed a cartel to retain the SB interest rate at 4% pa, dad!
Father: I don’t know, son!
Another Nero in Rome!
Son: As young kids we had read that Nero, the Emperor of Rome, “played fiddle while Rome was burning”, dad.
Father: True. Go on, son.
Son: Right now Italy’s finances are in very bad shape and the country is among the PIGS – an acronym used by the global financial analysts for Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain, dad.
Father: True. Go on, son.
Son: The European leaders are wondering whether Italy would also face a ‘Greek Tragedy’, dad.
Father: Go on, son.
Son: But the controversial Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi is said to be unperturbed, dad.
Father: Go on, son.
Son: The PM is said to be more worried about the delay in launch of his music album of love songs, dad.
Father: Go on, Son.
Son: The album was set to be launched at Milan in September. However the economic crisis has made the PM postpone the release for now, dad.
Father: I don’t know, son!
Journalist Caught Red-Handed (Mouthed)!
Son: The media persons are well known for creating embarrassment to the dignitaries by asking all sorts of questions, dad.
Father: True. Go on, son.
Son: For a change one journalist was at the receiving end while attending a court case involving the former CM of Karnataka Yeddyurappa, dad.
Father: Go on, son.
Son: The woman journalist of a news agency was pulled up by the Justice in the Karnataka High Court for chewing gum inside the court hall, dad.
Father: Interesting. Go on, son.
Son: The judge asked the police to take her away and register an FIR against her, dad.
Father: Go on, son.
Son: However, no case was filed as the journalist said sorry to the judge at his chambers later, dad.
Father: I don’t know, son!
The Judge-Proof Chewing Gum!
Son: The incident is said to have given some ideas to the chewing gum company that marketed the particular brand used by the woman journalist, dad.
Father: Interesting. Go on, son.
Son: The Company is said to be thinking of launching a new product and has asked its creative team to come out with a suitable TV advertisement, dad!
Father: Go on, son.
Son: The ad is expected to highlight the product as ‘judge-proof’ as it will not be noticed by the judge, if eaten inside the court, dad!
Father: Wonderful. Go on, son.
Son: The creative team has reportedly suggested that the journalist may be offered the role of a brand ambassador, dad!
Father: I don’t know, son!
A V Krishnamurthy
8th November 2011
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