Twenty- five Seven

Just another sucker

March 14, 2014

It was 2 in the afternoon when Medha was just about to nod off when the bell rang. Quickly, before the baby could wake up, she ran to the front door only to find a strange man.

“Good afternoon madam, ” he said cheerily, ” I’m from TIME-Life magazine company.”

Not another sale’s pitch thought Medha who was getting fed up with this door-to-door selling that somehow thought it was good marketing strategy to come at siesta time. Before she could shut the door, the Salesman put his hand through and said, “Just one minute madam, before you close the door. This is a special scheme only till the end of the week. I can assure you it’s a real bargain.”

That did it . The magic word B A R G A I N piqued her interest. This was her opportunity to save some money and didn’t her mother-in-law always tell her that money saved is money earned? She opened the door and allowed Mr. Agressive Salesman to come in. Suddenly her demeanour changed from sullen to interest.

“What is it you’re selling?” she asked.

“Encycolpedias, madam. All the latest information on science and technology and great pictures. Your children will love using them.”

“But my baby’s just six month’s old,” said Medha, suddenly realising how foolish it would be to buy a BOOK when her baby could just about sit up without wobbling.

“Madam, but babies grow and they go to school and they always ask questions and teachers ask them to do so many projects.”

” But that’s a long way off,” countered Medha.

“Yes I know but knowledge never goes waste. History and Geography is the same forever. The North Pole will always remain the North Pole and…..”

Medha cut him off before he could lecture her on the unchanging facts of history, botany and literature.

By now Mr. Salesman had opened his satchel and taken out a slim book. ” See madam, what lovely paper. And the perfect size too. And see the printing! Such perfect quality. These books will last forever. Even your grandchildren will use them.”

” But I don’t really want to buy just now!”

“The original price is Rs. 20,000 for 28 volumes,” he persisted, “you are getting this set for only Rs. 10000 payable in installments of Rs.1000 a month. You’re making a clean saving of Rs.10,000. That’s 50% off”

” But I’m telling you, I don’t want to buy!”

” And Madam, if you buy these books you get 5 coupons worth Rs. 3000 each so actually you are making a profit – see Rs.10000+ Rs.15000 = Rs. 25,000.”

” Coupons for what?” asked Medha warily.

” For a Kerala style Ayurveda massage at the Rudra Spa. “

” I don’t have time for a massage, Kerala or otherwise. And what will I do with 5 coupons?”

” You can gift them to your friends madam. You could have a spa party.”

“What??? My friends don’t have time for spa parties either!”

“Not to worry madam. The coupons are valid for a year so you can use them any time you want. Whenever you are free. Besides, if you are not happy with the Encyclopedias you can always get your cash back.”

” Really?”

“Yes Madam, this is a TIME-Life policy – cash back guaranteed because what we want is a happy customer.”

That clinched it. Hearing these re-assuring words Medha went in to get her wallet, thinking of how wise her investment was, for this was not a purchase , it was an investment in Pinky’s education and there was the added benefit of the Spa Party at Rudra! Won’t her friends be envious? And eventually if Rakesh made too much of a fuss, she’d always get her cash back, won’t she?

“OK. Just wait. I’ll get the cash.”

This post is a part of the Save, only to Shop More! Activity by GoPaisa.com in association with BlogAdda.com.
No teeth to bite : when opportunities come at innoportune times

March 14, 2014
The late Mr. P.D.Kunte of PD Kunte & Co, an auditing firm based at Mahalaxmi once said that when he had the teeth he had no money to buy anything better than chana and when he had the money, he had no teeth to eat the chana, thereby implying that eating chana later became a luxury as he had to do with soft, chewable food!

I seem to be facing a similar situation with a slew of job opportunities coming my way these days. Before I became a wife and a mother, I had worked very briefly in the big,bad world but was happy to give it all up to concentrate on keeping house. Well being a home maker did not describe me adequately, for I did dabble in a host of activities : free lance writing, giving customised guided tours of Mumbai, translating pharmaceutical literature from French into English, giving piano lessons, helping out with elocution, English and French, pioneering the concept of Mix&Match garments for women and finally settling down to helping my husband run his own pharmaceutical sourcing business. Yet despite these numerous activities, my typical answer to what I was doing was always “NOTHING”.

How I longed to work in a regular job – one that required me to get dressed early in the morning, have business meetings and come back home and say “I’ve had a hard day”. Eventually, the girls flew the coop, the business merged with another and I was left with lots of time and nothing to do. I kept waiting for the phone to ring with requests to do”NOTHING” but they never came . Then, typically and perversely in the ways of the Universe when my “empty nest” is full again with me baby sitting the next generation, the phone has started ringing and every now and then I get requests to write an article or do a product research – tasks that require just sitting at the computer and generating content and income. So I am back to juggling between nappy changes and net surfing, trying to conduct meetings via Skype and keeping shushing baby while I try and sound professional and consultant enough.

Which brings me to the main question:
- when is it the right time to take a job?
- when is it the right time to have a child?
- when is the right time to do this or do that?
The answer to all is NEVER.

It is never convenient to do anything. We put off painting the house because the children have exams. We stop accepting dinner invitations because there is no one to baby sit. We stop buying new clothes because the old ones don’t tear.

The solution is to just DO IT because there is never anytime that is convenient to do anything. The phone will always ring when you have the door bell to answer. Your child will always want you when you have no time at all.

A last piece of advice – Opportunity knocks but once – just open the door.
We’re all going on a Summer Holiday ( with apologies to Cliff Richard)

March 12, 2014

Summer holidays , when we were growing up, meant going to visit Granny and spend our time playing with cousins, meeting more cousins and eating mangoes. As we grew older, our holidays changed to travelling to different parts of the country to “see” the world. Strangely though we still spent most of our time in homes of long lost uncles and aunties.

The concept of holidays have changed vastly and while most times people do travel with family, they don’t always go to see other members of the family. People travel now for leisure, they travel for pleasure. With the world coming closer through everyone’s PC, travel has become easier. Click a button and it’s done.

But planning a perfect holiday requires a lot of research and finding perfect hotels and deals requires some skill and a lot of luck. So the next best thing is to plan a holiday through a web based travel agency or an online travel service.

Must See India offers online personalised holidays. I am hosting this post for them on their request.

India – A Magnificent Holiday Destination

India is the land of many marvels. It is one of the few countries in the world which offers varieties of attractions and activities to satisfy any tourists. Starting from the mountains, there are beaches, ancient temple, opulent fort and palaces, magnificent historical and heritage structures, endless wildlife attractions and unending opportunities of thrilling adventure activities. Each state of the country has something unique to offer the tourists. The country has been roughly divided in two major parts – North India and South India. Both the regions are geographically diverse and should not be missed when planning a holiday in India.

North India –

Located in the northern part of India, this region is famous for its Himalayan hill stations and numerous pilgrim destinations. Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Rajasthan, Delhi and Agra are some of the most renowned states and cities which form North India. While Rajasthan and Agra are famous for their heritage and historical edifices, the hill stations are perfect places to enjoy snow in winters. The hill stations in North India like Nainital, Shimla, Manali, Srinagar and Mussoorie are places tourists visit during the summer months to get respite from the heat waves which grips the Northern plain during the summer season. Badrinath, Kedarnath, Rishikesh, Haridwar, Amarnath and Vaishno Devi are among the pilgrim attractions in North India. Delhi and Kolkata are the most well connected cities in North India.

South India –

Shifting paradigm from the snow-clad hill stations in North, the hill stations in South India adorn the beautiful green. There are numerous spice and coffee plantations in Munnar and Ooty which make up for an excellent nature holiday. Besides there are umpteen numbers of temple town and ancient temple ruins across South India, which draws huge number of tourists. Other than the hill station, South India has Kerala, which is known as God’s own country. The backwaters in Alleppey and Kumarakom are extremely popular attractions which tourists do not miss on their South India holiday tours. Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai and Hyderabad are the South Indian cities which are extremely well linked to all parts of the world.

Mustseeindia.com is a leading online travel website which has launched a unique tool ‘Create your own packages’. This one-of-a-kind tool is instrumental in customizing as well as booking holiday packages online in flat 10 minutes without any call Centre intervention. This tool will help the travelers understand how and where exactly is their money being spent and allow them to add or remove inclusions as per their requirement. All the holiday tours at Mustseeindia.com are customizable.