Are You One Of Those Hypocrites Who Talks About Honesty In The System?

There is a new wave going across the country and it is of people talking about honesty in the system which is a good development. I don’t talk about honesty because I don’t know if I am honest. Are you one of those hypocrites who talks about honesty but belong to one of these categories:-

1.       Those who as a lobby pick up as a worthless penny stock rig its price and sell it when the suckers are in.

2.       Those who rig the weights and cheat their customers.

3.       Those who charge their customers exorbitantly.

4.       Those who sell counterfeit goods.

5.       Those who suck blood of the poor in the name of interest on loans.

6.       Those who steal electricity.

7.       Those who flout all the construction norms of a city and build houses/business establishments that encroach upon the footpath and public property.

8.       Those who buy a daily bus pass but don’t sign on it and try it to use it for their entire staff. (seen it happening in Bangalore, unless the conductor threatens to tear the daily pass they don’t sign on it)

9.       Those who try every trick in the book to avoid paying taxes.

10.   Those who try to negotiate with the traffic cops after being caught.

11.   Those who load a truck load of goods into a small carriage van and try to transport it.

12.   Those who remit money to and from India through hawala.

13.   Those who smuggle gold and precious stones to make that extra profit.

14.   Those who put profits in a business ahead of safety practices.

15.   Those who drink and drive.

16.   Those who break traffic rules without rhyme and reason.

17.   Those who misuse official machinery and power for personal gains.

18.   Those who enjoy fixed matches despite knowing their credibility.

Taming of the Fair Shrew

If the plight of an individual asked to blunt the thorns on a cactus plant seems absurd to you, how would you describe the plight of Robert Clive, a store manager at `Aristocracy’ who had been asked to supervise whitening the black granite flooring of his shop. He would have chucked his job but for the fact that his new owner Saravanan had doubled his salary a few hours ago.

                He could not fathom why his new owner targeting him because he had just finished whitening Saravanan’s mobile cover with correction fluid. Sarvanan was humiliating Robert Clive only to make him realize that color does not matter.

                It was yesterday that Saravanan’s dark skinned daughter Lakshmi stepped into `Arsitocracy’ to check out on the attitude of Robert Clive, the store manager. He could sell an Armani suit to a client who came to purchase a tie pin but at the same time he considered dark skinned and simple dressed customers as `Middle Class Window Shopping Pests’. He himself was British White thanks to one of his great great grand mothers working for his namesake from history. He even spoke his mother tounge Tamil with an angelical accent.

                Lakshmi, who the founder member of  SLHIT (Simple Living and High In Thoughts) group and disliked appearing in public like a fancy store on two legs.  Clad in a pair of old jeans; untied hair; without a trace of make-up and a Nokia 3100 in hand she had stepped into `Aristocracy’.

Robert Clive who always stood on the first floor overlooking the entrance, without a second thought rated her as a Middle Class Pest (MCP). He had a special drill to humiliate such intruders. On spotting such a customer making an entry, he would hum the song `Mera Jootha Hain Japani’  to indicate the perceived low class of the intruder. As a part of the drill, the sales personnel first would reluctantly answer the customer and if that did not succeed they would start saying `that’s too costly’ for any question the customer asked. At the peak, the customer would find everything he/ she touched being sprayed with room perfume. Lakshmi got the full course of treatment but left the store with calmness of a sage on her face.

As Robert Clive was supervising whitening the black granite flooring, in stepped Lakshmi, screaming `Hi, Appa’ and hugged Sarvanan. Robert Clive realized that his time was up and proceeded to walk out. Saravanan put his hands across Robert’s shoulder and said `No need to quit the job. It was just to make you realize the importance of individuals and non-importance of their color and dress. Remember, we are in business, if you disregard dark skinned customers, they will show you the fairest part of their body, bottom of their foot’. Thus, ends taming of the fair shrew.