I Don’t Know, Son!-34

NO Idea!

Son: According to the latest data from TRAI, Idea Cellular has emerged as the main beneficiary of mobile number portability (MNP). It is apparent that Idea Cellular has benefitted from the success of its “Get Idea” campaign, dad.

Father: True. Go on, son.

Son: The only other two gainers are Vodafone and BPL, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: Reliance Communications is the largest loser followed by Bharti Airtel, Tata Docomo, BSNL and MTNL, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: The losing companies are breaking their heads to find out the reasons for their loss. But they are clueless, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: The say they have absolutely No Idea! – dad!

Father: I don’t know, son!

Drum Maaro Drum!

Son: The tax evaders in the Bangalore city are facing the music literally, dad.

Father: How come? Go on, son.

Son: The Bangalore City Corporation (BBMP) has hit upon a novel idea to make the tax defaulters pay their dues, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: Those ignoring the notices are finding drum beaters in front of their homes shouting their names and the amount owed, dad!

Father: Go on, son.

Son: BBMP is said to have collected substantial amounts from some major defaulters with this unique scheme, dad!

Father: I don’t know, son!

Drum for Drum!

Son: While BBMP is said to have successfully implemented its ‘Drum Maaro Drum’ scheme, it is said to be tasting its own medicine from the contractors, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son:  BBMP is said to owe crores of rupees to its contractors for execution of various projects, dad.

Father: Go on, Son.

Son: As repeated reminders to the authorities have not been fruitful, the contractors are totally fed up, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: The contractors suddenly realised that BBMP had successfully used the novel scheme on its defaulters, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: The other day they assembled in front of the BBMP main office with a band of drummers, dad!

Father: Go on, son.

Son: The band went on beating the drums till the officials came out and assured the contractors that their payments will be settled early, dad!

Father: I don’t know, son!

A Framework that Does not Exist!

Son: The Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Dr. K C Chakrabarty was addressing a conference of global banking regulators recently in Hyderabad, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: Dr. Chakrabarty is known for his controversial statements in the past, dad!

Father: True. Go on, son.

Son: For a change, he did not make any controversial statements during his address. The topic of address was – the financial crisis management – dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: Dr. Chakrabarty concluded his address by stating that “the best crisis management framework is one that prevents crisis”, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: One of the global banking regulators when asked to comment on the address of Dr. Chakrabarty, simply stated that there does not exist any framework that can prevent crisis, dad!

Father: Go on, son.

Son: He concluded that the regulators were interested only in methodologies for handling and solving the crisis situations and knew quite well that there was no single framework that prevented the crisis in its entirety, dad!

Father: I don’t know, son!

A V Krishnamurthy

24^th January 2012

I Don’t Know, Son!-33

The Mandatory (sincere) Mourning!

Son: The North Korean Authorities have cracked down on people who failed to exhibit sincere sadness and despair after the death of Kim Jong II on December 17, dad.

Father: Go on son.

Son: The authorities are handing down a minimum of six months in a labour-training camp to all those who did not participate in the official mourning, dad!

Father: Go on, son.

Son: But they are said to be more severe in handing punishments to another category of people, dad.

Father: Who were they? Go on, son.

Son: Those were the people who did participate in the official mourning but did not cry, dad!

Father: Oh my goodness! Go on, son.

Son: But the worst punishment was handed out to altogether a different category of people, dad.

Father: Who were those? Go on, son.

Son: Those were certain people who participated in the official mourning and also cried, dad!

Father: How come? What was their fault? Go on, son.

Son: Their crying did not appear to be genuine to the authorities who monitored them closely, dad!

Father: I don’t know, son!

Indian Monkey on a Pakistan Visit!

Son: An Indian monkey has reportedly trespassed into Pakistan by entering the Cholistan area in Bahawalpur district, dad!

Father: Go on, Son.

Son: The monkey appeared to be very clever and was able to dodge the locals who tried to catch it, dad!

Father: Go on, son.

Son: Ultimately it was caught by the wildlife authorities who have handed over the same to the Bahawalpur Zoo, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: Some of the elderly people in the locality reportedly had some apprehensions about the arrival of the monkey from India, dad.

Father: Interesting. Go on, son.

Son: They told the youngsters that the legendary Ramayana War in Sri Lanka was preceded by the visit of a monkey (Hanuman), dad!

Father: Interesting. Go on, son.

Son: But the curator of the Bahawalpur Zoo has told them that the monkey was not a trained spy and he did not suspect that it has been deliberately sent to Pakistan, dad!

Father: I don’t know, son!

Indian Students 2^nd Last in International Test!

Son: India has been ranked second last among the 73 countries that participated in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), dad.

Father: True. Go on, son.

Son: PISA is conducted annually to evaluate education systems worldwide, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: The Indian Education Ministry officials are said to be busy sending message of thanks to the Government of Kyrgystan, a tiny country and a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), dad!

Father: What for? Go on, son.

Son: The country stood last in the ranking, dad!

Father: So what? Go on, son.

Son: The officials say but for the existence of this tiny country, India would have been placed last in the ranking, dad!

Father: I don’t know, son!

BCCI’s New Test Match Format for Australia!

Son: Considering the dismal performance of the Indian cricket team in Australia, the Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) is said to be thinking of a new test match format for future Australia tours, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: BCCI is aware that the team has performed miserably inspite of the presence of stalwarts like Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman in the team, dad. All the three stalwarts know that this is their last test series in Australia, dad.

Father: True. Go on, son.

Son: The proposed format will have only three days for a test match, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: The Indians will play both their innings one after another, dad!

Father: Go on, son.

Son: The Australians will start their batting after the two innings of the Indians and will limit their batting to cover the total runs scored by the Indians, dad!

Father: Go on, son.

Son: The Indian team may go-carting immediately after the Australians finish the formality, dad!

Father: I don’t know, son!

A V Krishnamurthy

15^th January 2012

I Don’t Know, Son! -31

BBC’s Too Early Plans!

Son: We had earlier read that BBC was training its staff to correctly announce the death of Queen Elizabeth to avoid another embarrassing gaffe, dad.

Father: True. Go on, son.

Son: In view of the advanced age (85 years) of the queen the advance preparations of BBC were understandable, dad.

Father: True. Go on, son.

Son: But we now hear that BBC has started filming the obituary of the 58-year old former Prime Minister Tony Blair, dad!

Father: Oh my God! Go on, son.

Son: The Sun (newspaper) has called the act ghoulish and has reported that some of the former PM’s cabinet colleagues were asked to contribute to the programme, dad!

Father: Go on, son.

Son: A labour party source has called the BBC action as poor in taste and has stated that Tony is still a relatively young man who sure has a lot of years left in him yet, dad!

Father: I don’t know, son!

Provisional Padma Awards (Subject to Audit)!

Son: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has reportedly suspended the controversial audit of Padma Awards, dad.

Father: True. Go on, son.

Son: The Ministry of Home Affairs is said to be relieved with the decision of the CAG, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: Otherwise, the ministry was thinking of issuing the awards as ‘provisional’, dad!

Father: Go on, son.

Son: The awardees were expected to be addressed with Padma Shree (subject to audit), Padma Bhushan (subject to audit) and Padma Vibhushan (subject to audit) every time their names were announced or referred to, dad!

Father: Funny! Go on, son.

Son: This exercise was to be continued till the CAG found the awards perfectly in order, dad!

Father: I don’t know, son!

Auditors’ Signature Now Only a Formality!

Son: Prithvi Information Solutions of Hyderabad has created a record of sorts, dad. It has passed an unsigned audit report at the annual general meeting (AGM), dad!

Father: How come? Go on, son.

Son: The auditor V K Asthana had submitted a draft report (in a pen drive). But the firm later disowned the audit report by sending a mail, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: But the company says the report has been adopted at the AGM. According to it “the signature is just a formality and it does not think that the same is required”, dad!

Father: Wonderful. Go on, son.

Son: It will be interesting to see what the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India has to say in the matter, dad!

Father: I don’t know, son!

Did They Really Say That?

Son: The Business Standard daily of Kolkata often publishes some statements attributed to some important personalities under the above headline, dad.

Father: True. Go on, son.

Son: The last Sunday they had published a statement – “Let us not be afraid of anybody, least of all, an ex-policeman, least of all an ex-bureaucrat, least of all somebody who pretends to be another father of nation” – under the above headline, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: The reference in the statement was obviously to Kiran Bedi, Arvind Kejriwal and Anna Hazare, dad.

Father: True. Go on, son.

Son: The newspaper had attributed the statement to Gurudas Das Gupta MP, and had also published a photograph under the title, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: The newspaper editor had a shock of life when he received a denial of the statement from Gurudas Kamat MP, dad!

Father: How come? Go on, son.

Son: The Mumbai MP had said – No! I did not really say that!

Father: How come? Go on, son.

Son: The newspaper had committed a blunder of sorts by publishing the photograph of the Mumbai MP, in place of the photograph of Gurudas Das Gupta MP to whom the statement had been attributed to, dad!

Father: I don’t know, son!

A V Krishnamurthy

1^st January 2012

I Don’t Know, Son! - 30

Query Leaves BJP MP Red-faced!

Son: The members of Parliament (MPs) are provided an annual fund of Rs5 crore to recommend development work in their constituencies, dad.

Father: True.  Go on, son.

Son: While most of the MPs use the funds promptly, there are some MPs who are so lazy to even ensure the benefit of the funds to their constituencies, dad.

Father: Disgusting! Go on, son.

Son: The BJP MP Tarun Vijay was curious to know the names of such callous MPs, dad. He raised the question in the Rajya Sabha seeking a list from the government, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: He promptly received a list of 22 such callous MPs, dad. But he was shocked to find one particular name in the list, dad!

Father: Whose name was it?  Go on, son.

Son: It was his own name, dad! He was in the illustrious company of Lalu Prasad Yadav, Anand Sharma (Commerce Minister), Vijay Mallya, H D Kumaraswamy, Ram Jethmalani and Hema Malini, dad!

Father: I don’t know, son!

The Vested Interest!

Son: The Lok Sabha was disrupted over the case in a Siberian court in Russia seeking a ban on Bhagawad Gita, dad.

Father: True. Go on, son.

Son: The two Yadav heavyweights – Lalu and Mulayam – vehemently pressed for intervention by the government, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: The external Affairs minister S M Krishna has termed the plea in court as absurd, dad. He has stated that the Indian embassy is closely monitoring the case, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: The BJP, which is always in the forefront in protecting the interest of the Hindus, is playing only a second fiddle, dad.

Father: How come? Go on, son.

Son:  The party says that the issue is fully taken care of by the ‘vested interests’, dad!

Father: Interesting. Go on, Son.

Son: While the Yadavs trace their descent from Krishna who belonged to Yaduvansh, the name of the external affairs minister is self-explanatory, dad!

Father: I don’t know, son!

Krishna Quotes Bhagawad Gita!

Son: External Affairs Minister S M Krishna’s reply that the Indian embassy is closely monitoring the case has, however, not satisfied the Yadav duo, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: They wanted to know whether mere monitoring the case will help in sorting out the issue, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: In reply Krishna has quoted Bhagawad Gita, dad!

Father: Interesting. Go on, son.

Son: He told them “Karmanyevadhikarasthe Ma Phaleshu Kadachana” (you have a right over action but not on the result), dad!

Father: Wonderful. Go on, son.

Son: The Yadav duo totally agreed with Krishna (Shri Krishna), dad!

Father: I don’t know, son!

Yeddy performs Yajna – not aimed at CM’s Chair!

Son: The former Karnataka CM Yeddyurappa (Yeddy) has performed a Yajna at Kalladka in Dakshina Kannada, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: Yeddy has clarified that the Yajna is not aimed at CM’s chair and it is only to seek divine intervention for good governance in the state through an ‘able leader’, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: Yeddy has, however, said that he was ready to take the responsibility of leading the state again if the central leadership takes a decision, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: Obviously Yeddy believes that he is the only ‘able leader’ on whose behalf he expects a divine intervention, dad!

Father: I don’t know, son!

Many BJP MLAs Want Yeddy Back!

Son: Many of the BJP MLAs say that they want Yeddy to come back as CM, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: They say that only some of the MLAs have taken the advantage of Yeddy’s de-notification spree (of BDA acquired land) previously, as the others were kept in the dark, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: They are now ready with a list of plots that they want to get de-notified by the benevolent Yeddy, as soon as he is back in the CM’s chair, dad!

Father: I don’t know, son!

A V Krishnamurthy

23rd December 2011

I Don’t Know, Son! - 29

Indian among the World’s Dumbest Criminals!

Son: Naim Shaikh, a mechanic from Pune, has earned the dubious distinction of being one of the ‘World’s Dumbest Criminals’, as featured in the Reader’s Digest magazine, dad. In fact his was the only name from India that figured in the list, dad.

Father: Interesting. Go on, son.

Son: Desperate to pay his rent, Naim had stolen a brand new Bajaj Platina bike parked in a lane in Pune, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: He was encouraged by the fact that the new bike did not even have a registration number that would help tracking it, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: The owner of the bike Jeevan Shedge registered a police complaint immediately after he noticed the theft, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: Doubting the possibility of tracing of his vehicle, Jeevan started looking for a second-hand bike, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: Somebody told Naim that a person called Jeevan was looking for a second-hand Bajaj Platina, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: The victim (Jeevan) and the thief (Naim) met each other at a place in Pune when Naim showed the bike to Jeevan, who recognised his bike within no time, dad!

Father: Wonderful. Go on, son.

Son: He started shouting for help, when Naim got into the bike and fled from the scene, dad!

Father: Go on, son.

Son: The Pune police did a marvelous job in catching the ‘dumb thief ‘in a matter of few minutes, dad!

Father: I don’t know, son!

Gavaskar’s $1-Million Dream!

Son: All those who log into the Internet are familiar with repeated mails in their inboxes which convey that they have won a $1-million (or even more) lottery, dad!

Father: True. Go on, son.

Son:  It is very normal to delete such mails as spam and forget it for good, dad.

Father: True. Go on, Son.

Son: Something similar happened to our legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, dad. But instead of forgetting the same, he took it seriously, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: It seems the former BCCI President and the Maratha strongman, Sharad Pawar, had jocularly told Gavaskar sometime that his role in IPL deserved a million dollar, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: But Gavaskar took it seriously and believed that he would get an annual fee of $1 million from BCCI for his role in IPL, dad! Incidentally, both Gavaskar and Ravi Sastri are being paid an annual fee of Rs1 crore by BCCI for doing some service, dad!

Father: Go on, son.

Son: Gavaskar waited patiently.  However, he took up the matter only after Pawar moved out of BCCI President’s post to take charge as ICC President, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: The BCCI has flatly refused the payment and has confirmed that the Maratha strongman has denied any such promise, dad!

Father: Go on, son.

Son: Pawar is known as a thorough gentleman who always keeps his commitments, dad. But he never thought that Gavaskar would take his joke so seriously, dad!

Father: I don’t know, son!

Sidhu’s Road Show in Andhra Pradesh!

Son: The former cricket star and BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu appears to have moved from ‘Comedy Show’ to ‘Road Show’, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: Sidhu is known for the controversies right from his cricketing days. A certain Azharuddin would vouch for this, dad. 

Father: Go on, son.

Son: Sidhu had left the England tour midway in 1996 in a huff, dad. The then captain of the Indian team Azharuddin till today does not know what made him pack off without informing anybody, dad.

Father: True. Go on, son.

Son: He joined a well known global sports channel as commentator after retirement from cricket. But he used to focus more on his one-liners (Sidhuism) than the actual game. He was sacked by the channel for swearing on air, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: He then moved to a major Hindi entertainment channel as a judge in a programme called “The Great Indian Laughter Challenge”, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: The problem here was different, dad. Sidhu would start laughing even before the punch line was delivered by the participants, dad!

Father: Go on, son.

Son: So much so that the participants would forget the punch line they had planned to deliver in the end, dad!

Father: Go on, son.

Son: The recent Road Show in Andhra Pradesh (kidnapping of a guard in a toll gate) has only added another controversy to Sidhu’s cap, dad!

Father: I don’t know, son!

Gujarat Ambuja’s ‘Unbreakable’ Cement (TV Commercial)!

Son: Gujarat Ambuja Cement had launched a TV commercial (TVC) – “Tootthe Nahin Yaar! (unbreakable, my friend!)” – to highlight the unbreakable quality of its cement, dad.

Father: True. Go on, son.

Son: The well known Hindi film actor Boman Irani played a dual role (twin brothers) in the TVC, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: In the TVC, the brothers try to break a wall that separated the two houses. But they find it unbreakable as it was built using Ambuja cement, dad!

Father: True. Go on, son.

Son: While the unbreakable quality of the cement of the company will be confirmed only by the builders, the unbreakable nature of the said TV commercial is not in doubt, dad!

Father: How come? Go on, son.

Son: The Company has been broadcasting the same TVC repeatedly for the last so many years, dad!

Father: Go on, son.

Son: So much so that the TV viewers will unanimously vote for its (TVC’s) ‘unbroken’ quality, dad!

Father: I don’t know, son!

A V Krishnamurthy

16^th December 2011

I Don’t Know, Son! - 28

The 50% Discount Offer!

Son: Now-a-days each and every product is sold under one discount scheme or the other, dad.

Father: True. Go on, son.

Son: The discount scheme is so popular that even the thieves have started offering discounts, dad!

Father: How come? Go on, son.

Son: Times of India dated 8th December 2011 carried a news item that a thief has returned one half of the gold chain he had snatched from a woman in Bhadravathi, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: The thief had fled with the 25-gram gold chain. But he returned half of the same in the evening along with a letter asking the woman not to lodge a complaint with the police, dad!

Father: Go on, son.

Son: A pocket with half portion of the chain was handed over by the chain snatcher to a boy near the house of the victim, personally, dad!

Father: I don’t know, son!

The Back-to-Back Burglary Insurance!

Son: The general insurance companies offer burglary insurance cover for valuables at homes, dad.

Father: True. Go on, son.

Son: But an incident in Udupi makes one think even burglars may have to go for an insurance cover, dad.

Father: How come? Go on, son.

Son: A report in Bangalore Mirror says that a sleepy robber had his loot stolen while on his way to stash the same at his sister’s house, dad!

Father: Go on, son.

Son: A carpenter had stolen around Rs2.5 lakh and 23 grams of gold from a house in Udupi. But his wife refused to admit him to the house with the stolen items, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: The man then thought of keeping them at his sister’s house in another place. But he dozed off at the Bus Stand after having drinks, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: When he woke up he found out that another thief had knocked-off his bag, dad!

Father: Go on, son.

Son: He rushed to the nearest police outpost. But refused to file a complaint, dad!

Father: I don’t know, son!

Google for Google!

Son: The Economic Times has published an article stating that Google India has been served with a notice from the Income Tax Authority, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: The notice stated that the Indian unit declared revenues of Rs74.9 million instead of sales of Rs1.67 billion for the year ended 31 March 2008, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: When a newspaper correspondent tried to elicit further details of the notice from Google India, the company spokesperson declined to comment, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: He politely asked the correspondent to use Google search engine to find out, dad!

Father: I don’t know, son!

The Tweeting Lessons!

Son: In the good old days the students used to be asked to write essays on different subjects in their English language classes, dad.

Father: True. Go on, son.

Son: They were also taught the art of précis writing or writing a summary of the main points in an article, dad.    

Father: True. Go on, Son.

Son: But the students of today neither have the time nor the patience to write essays or even summaries, dad.

Father: True. Go on, Son.

Son: The Government is said to be thinking of introducing ‘Tweeting Lessons’ in the English language syllabus to keep abreast of the present day culture, dad!

Father: I don’t know, son!

A V Krishnamurthy

10^th December 2011

I Don’t Know, Son! - 27

Now the Snake-Treatment for the Corrupt!

Son: The officials at a government office in Uttar Pradesh had some unusual visitors at their office recently, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: It seems they were sitting over an application submitted by a snake-charmer called Hakkul for allotment of a small plot of land to set up a serpentariam, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: They were dilly-dallying over the issue for more than two years because Hakkul failed to pay the expected bribe, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: Having waited for long Hakkul felt it was high time to give them a ‘fare treatment’, dad!

Father: Go on, son.

Son: He had a stock of over 72 snakes in his possession and he simply let loose about three dozen of them at the government office to tackle the corrupt officials, dad!

Father: Interesting. Go on, son.

Son: The officials ran helter-skelter much to the amusement of the people who were present at the scenario, dad!

Father: Wonderful! Go on, son.

Son: The police department has expressed its inability to put Hakkul behind the bars, dad.

Father: How come? Go on, son.

Son: Hakkul has told them that he would carry his entire ‘family’ of six dozen snakes with him to the jail, dad!

Father: I don’t know, son!

On-the-Job Training (Pilot Project) for a Crime Reporter!

Son: A former programme director of a Kannada TV news channel and three others were caught after they robbed two women by throwing chilli powder on them, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: The men snatched a bangle and a gold chain from one woman. But the screams from the other woman attracted neighbours who caught one of the robbers, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: The identity card of one of the robbers, who was caught later, revealed that he had worked for a TV channel, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: He told the police that he was likely to get an appointment with another channel as crime reporter shortly, dad!

Father: Go on, son.

Son: He explained that he was only undergoing an ‘on-the-job training’ by committing a crime personally to prove his credentials to the channel, dad!

Father: Go on, son.

Son: He reiterated that it was only a ‘pilot project’ undertaken by him, dad!

Father: I don’t know, son!

The New Mentoring Technique!

Son: The Indian cricket team appears to have chosen a new mentoring technique for the benefit of upcoming players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jadeja and others, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: The established opening pair of Sehwag and Gambhir have made it a point to get out early in the match and throw a challenge to the youngsters to show their mettle in the crisis situation, dad!

Father: Go on, son.

Son: The technique worked quite well in the first two one-day matches against the West Indies, with Virat and Rohit rising to the occasion admirably, dad.

Father: Interesting. Go on, son.

Son: Encouraged by their response, Sehwag and Gambhir wanted to give them even more challenging situation to handle, dad!

Father: Go on, Son.

Son: Both of them got out to the very first ball they faced in the third match, dad!

Father: Go on, son.

Son: This time the technique boomeranged on them, as the West Indies Team beat Team India by 16 runs, dad!

Father: I don’t know, son!

Ability to Get Under the Skin!

Son: Former Indian skipper Ravi Sastri had backed Harbhajan Singh (Bhajji) for the upcoming Australian Tour, dad.

Father: True. Go on, son.

Son:  Sastri was of the opinion that Harbhajan had the ‘ability to get under the skin’ of the Australian players, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: A certain Andrew Symonds has reportedly agreed with Sastri’s opinion 100 percent, dad.

Father: Go on, Son.

Son: He says that the ‘Monkey Gate’ scandal has conclusively proved this special ability of Bhajji, dad!

Father: I don’t know, son!

The Monkey Gate in Bigg Boss!

Son: Former Australian cricketer Andrew Symonds is set to enter the Bigg Boss house as the fifth male contestant in this season, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: Earlier there were strong rumours that Navjot Singh Sidhu, the former Indian cricket star would be one of the contestants. However that did not happen, dad.

Father: Go on, son.

Son: Now that Harbhajan Singh (Bhajji) has been dropped from the team that is visiting Australia, the viewers are wondering whether Bhajji would be the next male entry in the Bigg Boss house, dad!

Father: Go on, son.’

Son: If that happens, the viewers expect every possibility of another ‘Monkey-Gate’ episode in the Bigg Boss house, dad!

Father: I don’t know, son!

A V Krishnamurthy

6^th December 2011