In 1950, going to America was a rare event and when my father went to Canada on some fellowship it was a big event for our family and friends. I was about 11 years old and I remember how my mother was so unhappy about the whole matter because of the pending separation for over a year. My uncles and other well wishers consoled her telling her that one year would pass in a jiffy and after all the trip was so very important for my father’s future prospects in his profession.

Those were the days when people’s needs were limited and when my father asked my mother what she wanted him to bring from Canada she simply said that she did not want anything and that she was only looking forward to his return. She would have prayed that her husband should not fall into some white woman’s trap and return with one in his arms! Ever since her elder brother married a lady from Scotland where he went for his studies in Engineering she was suspicious of all women of foreign origin!

My father used to write long letters to my mother and the children, explaining the wonderful sights in Canada and the luxurious lifestyles of ordinary citizens, the beauty of the snow-clad landscapes, how he missed the home food and so on. He sent us a view master with dozens of inserts fitted with films for viewing and ball pens of different colours, which were all novel to us. Knowing that I was crazy about bicycles he wrote to me that he would try and bring one for me if he was able to save enough from his allowance. We children were shocked to learn from his letters how much a cup of tea cost him, and how he decided not to have bed tea, which he was so particular about when he was at home! So I had very little hope that he would be able to save enough to get the bicycle for me!!

About a week before his homecoming, a close friend of my father came and informed my mother that he received a cable from my father saying that he had lost his brief case in a department store in Canada, while shopping for home coming! The bag contained all his savings and even the return air ticket and the passport. In those days it was very difficult to send any money abroad and my mother was in a fix. I do not know the sequence of events, but some how sufficient money was arranged for his return. On his way back to India he had to stop in London for whatever reason I do not know and it was there he managed to buy a brand new Bicycle for me.

The bicycle arrived about six weeks or two months after my father arrived. It was a dazzling Raleigh Sports bicycle with gleaming sports handle bar and cable brakes,areo dynamic front mud-guard 5-speed drive, sparkling rolling bell, Dynamo and light, Etc. etc. A beauty!!
It came in semi knocked down condition and my father assembled it for me. For 10 years I used it, till I left Trivandrum. My father was a simple person and to my knowledge he did not buy anything for himself during his one year stay in Canada. Other than the bicycle for me, he brought hardly anything of much value. It must have been a great sacrifice for him to buy the bicycle for me considering that he was practically penniless when he came to London and had to wait there for few days to receive the money sent from India.

Many years later when I wanted some money for buying an apartment in Bombay, he had no hesitation to give it to me though he did not have a lot to spare. He retired as Chief of a large Govt department and had many friends and some enemies during his working life. All he had when he retired was his Provident Fund savings. During his working life he did not have a bank account. He always stayed in Government quarters or the in the house my mother inherited from her father. He did not acquire any assets or build any house, which most people in similar position would have done. Every month he used to bring his salary home in cash, which he handed over to my mother. I t was entirely up to her how she spent the money. His only indulgence was cigarettes for which he would ask my mother to send the servants to go and bring

My father retired from Govt service in 1967 but even now, 40 years after his retirement, old and new employees of his erstwhile department talk of him with love and respect. His greatest quality as I see was his fearlessness. Whatever he did was out of conviction. He had helped a lot of people to come up in life and there was gratitude for him from a lot of people. His adversaries sometimes called him communal when it suited them but some of his best friends belonged to other communities and castes. When He passed away 23 years ago, lots of people came to the house to pay their respects. One of them was a rich Christian contractor whom my father had helped disregarding protests from many quarters. He could not control his emotions and wept loudly to the amazement of many people who had gathered.

During his service he had sometimes refused to cow tow the political bosses and did only whatever was the right thing to do. Once, a contractor who was very influential in political circles came to see my father with a bag full of one hundred rupees notes for getting a prestigious contract. My father fumed and practically threw him and the bag out of the house and told him never to approach him again. Weeks later a Central Govt Minister approached him on behalf of the contractor but my father did not budge, which caused bad blood between him and the political class.

Immediately after my father retired the contractor made several allegations against my father and he filed a case in the high court against my father for causing loss to him and to the department. My father was unmoved and replied to every allegation in the court and the judge exonerated him and passed severe strictures against the contractor and some others who colluded with him to tarnish the reputation of my father. Those were very difficult and stressful times for my father but he was unmoved and fought to the end.

My mother had inherited some landed properties from her parents. For some years after my father’s retirement he took charge of these properties, which resulted in improved income from them. However, with age he became frail and he found it difficult to cope with the strain and we decided to sell the properties, mainly because all the children who were the heirs to these properties lived outside the State. In order that we get a good price for the land he arranged to develop the land into small plots suitable for building houses with roads, drainage etc. At this point an influential political person who was the head of the Housing Board approached him with an offer to buy the entire property for a price, which was less that 10 percent of its real worth. My father promptly refused the offer but the politician was miffed and he wanted to take revenge. As soon as a few plots were sold, the Housing Board sprang to action. They declared that all our properties and a few small properties adjacent to ours were going to be acquired by the Housing Board and therefore no one should buy these properties. It seemed to be a gone case and we all felt very despondent. However my father filed a writ petition in the High Court to get a reasonable price for the land acquired, based on the market value. The court ordered the Housing Board to give us the market price, which was based on the price of plots sold prior to the take over by the Housing Board. The Board delayed the payments and some officials tried to black mail for bribes. So my father filed a second writ petition and the court ordered immediate payment with interest.

The sales proceeds were given to the children as per their share holdings. He had no interest in the money. But he was not a puritan either. He was very fond of Scotch whisky, which his friends used to supply to him regularly, even long after his retirement. He was a very special person and an unforgettable character for those who were close to him.

Every one in our country is talking about women’s empowerment. It is a subject that is occupying the minds of millions of Indians and everyone jointly let out a sigh of relief when a woman was elected to become the President of India, albeit lot of mud slinging that preceded it!!
The fact remains that at every level women are facing discrimination and it is they who have to make adjustments or compromises to get on in this world. A girl may grow up with equal opportunities and freedom in her parents’ house as the boys enjoy, but she will have to make tremendous efforts to adjust to a life in a different household as soon as she is married.
I was recently listening to a lecture on The Bhagavat Geeta by a well-known Swamiji and he happened to touch on (with some humour) the subject of adjustments one has to make for a peaceful life. After the marriage when a girl goes to the husband’s house her mother would advise her “Darling, from now on you should think that your husband’s house is yours, and his mother also as yours”. This is a fallacy, the Swamiji asserted! If the daughter takes this advice literally, she would land up in trouble! On the other hand if she were advised that she should use all her tact and charm to please the husband and his relatives, and realised that she was in a strange environment (Not necessarily enemy territory), she would have less problems. The Swamiji had some advice for the Mothers-in-law also. He told them not to take for granted that the new bride would immediately adopt the husband’s house as hers and his mother as her own mother!! She should give a long rope and be prepared for adjustments herself! Mothers-in-law are always forgiving their daughters but not their daughters-in-law!
The problem is always between m-in-l and d-in-l, father-in-law rarely comes in the picture. So, most of the problems that women face in life one should think is because of women only. Men are hardly to be blamed! Interestingly anagram for mother-in-law is “Woman Hitler”!!
Take for example the case of Parvathy, whose aunty of 78 years came to town, lugging along her husband of 85 years driving all of 350 kms, to invite some distant relatives for her grand daughter’s wedding, and not visit Parvathy (who is her sister’s daughter) to invite her for the wedding. The reason? To spite Parvathy and show her displeasure!
The aunty is nicknamed the wicked one by all the relatives because of her jealous and wicked nature. The wicked aunty has had a fairly comfortable life all through but she is a very unhappy woman who is discontented with life and always struggling to compete with others. Why did the wicked aunty spite Parvathy? That is a long story and there are wheels and wheels within wheels.
Parvathy’s sister-in-law, from day one after her marriage to Parvathy’s brother left no stones unturned to show that she did not want to be friendly with Parvathy and made that clear to every one by words and deeds! After almost 20 years of keeping up appearances of a friendly relationship with her sis-in-law, Parvathy gave up and cut her off, when things became unbearable. This was the chance for the wicked aunty to befriend the sis-in-law and attack Parvathy.

Twenty years old, a first class graduate in Maths, having scored 100% in Maths Parvathy was a brilliant girl known as such to all her friends and her teachers. She was the pride of her school and college and her parents. She could have got admission to the MSc Maths course in any reputed University but due to family pressures she did not continue her studies, but sat at home waiting for a suitable boy to be chosen by her parents. She was not only very good in Maths, she was extremely good at languages too. Her command over English language written and spoken was superb. She had studied in an English medium school where she did not have to learn the vernacular. When she left school she did not know how to write or read, Malayalam, which is her mother tongue. But after leaving school her parents wanted her to take Malayalam as second language in college, because they felt that knowledge of Malayalam was necessary for her to communicate with the future mother-in-law who in all probability would not be speaking or writing English. From scratch she learned Malayalam and took her BSc degree in Maths with Malayalam as the second language. During the one year after her graduation and before her parents found a suitable boy for her she studied French language and started preparations for appearing for the Civil Service Exams, though it was only a half hearted effort, in case the parents failed to find a suitable boy!

Parvathy was beautiful and fair in complexion and belonged to an upper caste Nair family and her parents or her relatives never thought that there would be any difficulty in finding a suitable boy for her. She was very smart and learned driving at the age of seventeen and she was known as the only woman driver in the small town where she lived with her parents. Forty years ago, there were not many women drivers in Kerala. Parvathy learned driving because of her sheer enthusiasm and support from her father. As a child Parvathy played football and hockey with boys. Her teachers in school and college were full for praise and admiration for her abilities in studies. From early childhood Parvathy loved reading. She had a huge collection of books. She had also received many books as awards for top performance in school and college.

Parvathy grew up in luxury, carefree and happy and had no worries about the future. She and her parents were pretty sure that she would get a very eligible boy as her husband who would look after her. Parents of many boys showed interest in marrying their sons to Parvathy but due to their horoscope not matching with hers many of the proposals were rejected. Then a friend of her parents told them about a boy who was the son of a high ranking retired Government official who was an eligible bachelor employed in a foreign company in Bombay. Her father immediately wrote to the boy’s father and from thereon matters moved pretty fast and Parvathy got married to Vishnu within the next six months.

Vishnu was an average boy with average accomplishments but the fact that he belonged to a very reputed family outweighed all the other considerations, except that their horoscopes also matched well!! In the ordinary circumstances Vishnu’s qualities and accomplishments were far below the standards Parvathy’s parents had in mind and if Parvathy’s parents made detailed enquiries about Vishnu and his past, probably they would not have considered the proposal. However, Vishnu’s parents who first saw Parvathy and her parents were very impressed with Parvathy and her family and they immediately decided that this was the girl for Vishnu and speeded up the process for the marriage. The young Vishnu had a broken engagement only a year or two before and he had a couple of job changes too and he was generally going through a tumultuous period in his young life when Parvathy’s proposal came and his parents pushed it through with speed, lest some one should throw a spanner in the works!

Few days after the marriage Parvathy and Vishnu left for Bombay. Parting from her loving parents and family and starting on a new life with a man whom she hardly knew, was a painful experience but she bore it all very well. Vishnu had rented a one bedroom flat in Bombay, which by Kerala standards was too small for a family but in Bombay it was a luxury because the flat was situated in a very up market locality. Parvathy took to Bombay life with gusto. Before her marriage she never had to travel by buses or go to market for buying vegetables or ironing clothes but she did all these chores and occasionally did cleaning of the house or washing of the clothes when the maid did not turn up. Parvathy did all that without any complaint or grouse. She took charge of the entire household and took great pleasure in doing it. Parvathy used her spare time to go to a near by library and read books by the dozen.

Within about 5 years of her marriage to Vishnu, Parvathy had two daughters and life became more hectic for her. She took lessons in making dresses for the children and became an expert in making beautiful dresses for the children. The children were admitted to one of the best schools in Bombay and Parvathy took great care and interest in bringing up the two daughters. She learned baking delicious cakes and puddings, taking recipes from books borrowed from the libraries. She became a member of the British Council library where she used to spend two or three hours every week reading English newspapers and books on British Royalty!

With two growing up girls, the flat was too small for the family. But Parvathy never complained about the small size of the flat, where she lived the best part of her life looking after the comforts of the husband and the two daughters. Relatives of both Vishnu and Parvathy were visiting them frequently, and when the guests stayed with them, which happened frequently, Parvathy had to sacrifice her personal comforts to see that life went on smoothly. Parvathy used to cook delicious food, deserts and ice creams, which were highly appreciated by all the guests and family members

It was a great shock for Parvathy when her father, who was very close to her, passed away suddenly when she was only 28 years old. It was a great shock for Parvathy’s family because he was a tower of strength for the entire family. Her mother was absolutely incapable of running a household and soon it became necessary for her mother to sell their family house in Kerala and move to Bombay since Parvathy’s two brothers had not settled down properly by that time. Parvathy’s mother was used to a life of luxury from childhood, with servants attending to all her needs and it was difficult for her to adjust to living in a cramped apartment in Bombay. However Parvathy had to sacrifice a lot of comforts so that the children and the husband were not inconvenienced too much. To look after her mother and the little daughters, Parvathy had a living in servant from Kerala for doing all the household chores including cooking. But once the children were grown up and the elder daughter started going to college Parvathy did away with the services of the living in servant mainly due to lack of space in the house.

Unlike Parvathy who had a very sheltered childhood, Vishnu grew up with two brothers and three sisters in a big family with slack discipline and a carefree life style. The traditions and culture of the Malabar region where Parvathy belonged was different from those of the Travancore region of Kerala where her husband Vishnu came from. Even though Malayalam was the language spoken in both regions, the lingo was very different.
With marked differences in the cultures and lifestyles Parvathy had lot of difficulties in adjusting to the ways of Vishnu and his family in the beginning. No one in Parvathy’s family smoked or touched alcohol but Vishnu was practically a chain smoker in the early days of their marriage and loved to drink alcohol! Food habits were also quite different. But Parvathy took it all sportingly without complaints.

Vishnu’s brothers, sisters and brothers-in-law were all regular guests in their house and Parvathy was extremely hospitable to all. Many of Vishnu’s cousins, nephews and nieces were regular guests in Parvathy’s house and Parvathy never grumbled to look after any of them. Vishnu was travelling most of the time and Parvathy had to do everything by herself most of the time. Many times she had to travel long distance to the airport to receive or see off relatives, all by herself.

Her very pleasant nature, efficient working style, organising capacity, enthusiasm, sense of duty and intelligence made her a very special person and endeared her to her m-in-law and f-in-law. Vishnu’s parents loved Parvathy as much as their own their own daughters. After Parvathy’s father passed away and her mother shifted to live with her in Bombay she became closer to Vishnu’s parents. Vishnu’s parents also looked forward to the annual visits of Vishnu and Parvathy with their two daughters on holidays. Parvathy did not seem to regret that life had not been very smooth sailing for her and took great pleasure in all the little enjoyments that came in her way. She did not compare her life with other more fortunate and ostentatious women who took great pleasure in competing with others. She was always grateful that life was not much worse.

Parvarthy’s only regret was that she had gone out of her way to be helpful to others disregarding her own difficulties, but hardly any one showed any understanding of the difficulties she had to suffer. She was particularly sensitive about the fact that her mother had to be put up with her, in the small apartment in Bombay when she had other guest also from her husband’s family. Her wicked aunty was in and out of her house in Bombay all the time but wicked aunty was jealous of her because of Parvathy’s happy disposition. Her brother’s wife and her brother stayed in her house many times but their attitude was that it was her duty to look after their comforts when they visited Bombay. They never felt that there was need to reciprocate and when she once happened to stay with them her sis-in-law behaved in a very unruly manner, which made her decide that she would never again stay with them.

There was no appreciation from any quarters, that she had managed a household in a very efficient manner against many vicissitudes. Parvathy kept her good humour and sanity in the face difficult odds and made a comfortable life for the family and brought up her two daughters admirably and married them off to very eligible young men. She never showed any regret for the things denied to her but enjoyed the most whatever came her way. Unlike Parvathy, her husband Vishnu was not an achiever or ambitious. He was an average person with average achievements, nothing to write home about. But Parvathy never made him feel inferior for his lack of motivation for higher achievements nor complained about the things they did not have. Though she was aware of Vishnu’s limitations she never criticized him about his failures and always projected him as someone with superior faculties and achievements!

One wonders whether Parvathy’s life could be called a success or just a waste of talents and potential for great achievements? On the other hand if she chose to become a career woman instead of a homemaker would that have been a more satisfying life for her? That I think is a hypothetical question and the answer would also be hypothetical!

Spare me, my dear doctor!!
Ram Sahib was my neighbour in Bombay some 35 years ago. He was 60 years old, retired from the railway service and about 30 years my senior. He joined a private company to work as some kind of a consultant. After working for many years in the Railways in a very senior capacity, working for a private company was not very easy for him. He was a very upright personality and did not bother to feather his own nest while in service and therefore when he retired, he had hardly any savings other than the pension from the Govt., Provident fund etc. which amounted to little in those days. That is the reason he chose to work for the private company after his retirement.

One night Ram Sahib felt some uneasiness in the chest and he was taken to the hospital for a check up. After a series of tests the doctor told Ram Sahib’s wife that her husband must undergo a heart bypass operation immediately. The poor lady was all upset to hear this because her husband was hale and hearty until a few hours ago, and he had no past history of any illness.

When Ram Sahib heard the verdict of the doctor he said nothing doing, he did not want any operation performed on him. He and his wife had a long chat about it and consulted their son who was working in Calcutta. His son flew down from Calcutta and tried to persuade Ram Sahib for the operation. Ram Sahib would not budge and said he felt perfectly all right and wanted to be discharged from the hospital. Though the doctors said that he his arteries were in a very bad condition and could burst any moment Ram Sahib would not listen saying that it would be preferable to die suddenly than be a heart patient ever after and insisted on being discharged. Later he told me privately that he and his wife debated the issue and arrived at the decision against the operation because he could ill afford the hospital bills, though his son would not have had any difficulty to meet all the expenses. He said he had lived for 62 years and his children are all settled well in life and his wife could easily live a comfortable life for many years with his small savings and the pension she would receive until her death. This operation would break him financially and he would ever be dependent on his two sons. That was too much for him.

Later it proved that he had made the right decision because he lived a very active life for another 22 years without any health problem. At the age of 84 he complained of chest pain and during examination in the hospital he suffered a massive heart attack and died on the examination table itself!! That was one great man!!

Another friend of mine had a similar experience about 15 years ago. He had various problems like Hypertension, Diabetes, obesity, rheumatism etc. and on one of his routine check ups he was told by the heart specialist (after angiography examination) that he had a 95% blockage of the arteries and advised immediate heart bypass operation. In fact the doctor gave him not more than a month before he died, if he did not undergo the operation immediately! Like Ram Sahib he also opted against surgery. Now after 15 years (he is now 75) he is still living, with Hypertension, diabetes and all!!

Five years ago I felt some discomfort in the chest, during normal activities like walking or carrying weight etc. Immediately I went to my General Physician who told me that I had high blood pressure, probably caused by thickening of arteries etc. due to advancing age and a lot of other causes. He told me that I could consult a heart specialist for proper guidance. However, I told the GP that if I could avoid visiting the specialist I would prefer that. I told him that he could watch my situation for a couple of days or a week or so before I went to a specialist. The GP gave some medicines for the Hypertension and advised me to take Sorbitrate 10 mg tablets if I felt any pain or discomfort in the chest and keep in touch with him on a daily basis. Within a few days my Blood pressure was under control and the pain in the chest during normal activities also disappeared. The GP then told me that when I feel well I should take a Treadmill test also and then decide on further course of action.

However on the insistence of my close relatives I agreed to be taken to a heart specialist who asked me to take all the tests including the Treadmill test. Though I was not at all willing to take the TMT, my sisters and Brothers-in-law advised me to take all the tests and after getting expert opinion I could decide. I told them that I knew exactly what the specialist would say and that is the reason why I do not want to submit myself to all the tests! I was not in a fit condition but on their insistence I agreed for the TMT. After the test the specialist told me that I should undergo angio-graph test before a decision could be taken. I refused to take any such test and went back to my GP, who told me that since the specialist has advised angio-graph I must go for that. I refused to do so and told him that he can give me medication for my condition and see later if any other tests or treatment was necessary.

I have been taking medication to keep BP under control and regular exercise by way of about 40 minutes of walking for the past 5 years. I also do breathing exercise and now the dosage of medicine for high BP has also been reduced. I have not had any chest pain after that first time more than five years ago, and I think it was a good decision not to go for any invasive tests. If I were 20 years younger probably I would have gone for the angio-graph and the works but at 67 I feel a kind of peace when faced with death. I have a fairly comfortable life and do not wish to experience greater and greater joys of life anymore.

These days, specialists are subjecting patients to a series of expensive tests for any kind of illness. They say such tests are required to make sure that the treatment prescribed is correct. But the general feeling among the public is that these tests are prescribed either to make use of the machines and instruments already installed or for kick backs from the labs where the doctor advise you to go! Dear doctor I say it is immoral to subject a sick person to such expensive treatments without sufficient justification.

I have been a marketing man for decades and I believe in the saying “Customer is King”. But then this is not without conditions. However in the long run it will be proved that the customer knows best and that one cannot fool him forever! This is especially true in a competitive market. If at any point of time, there is only one supplier for an item and there is a demand for that, then the terms of the supplier is the law. When competition builds up and a number of manufacturers produce same or alternative products, the customer has choice and the suppliers will have to be more customer-friendly. One classic example is that of a top ranking automobile manufacturer of USA who famously said that he could deliver a car of any colour of the customer’s choice, as long as it is black! In order to increase the car production he had standardised the colour black, but then that was the requirement of the times and one cannot find fault with the manufacturer. But with changing market requirements he too changed, without which he could not have survived.

In this world there are many adventurers, even in the business community. Out of hundreds of those who venture into business only a few become great successes. Others fade away, after becoming wiser and learning some lessons from the failures. Success is only for those who are able to feel the pulse of the market and act accordingly. Changing policies to suit changing market requirements is the formula for success. Even this rule is not without exceptions or conditions. Manufacturers are known to use different strategies to maximise the market share and profits. Take for example a cigarette maker who lowered the quality of a certain brand “X”, which was used by the higher end users and introduced a costlier premium top quality brand of cigarettes. Almost the entire top end users shifted to the new premium brand paying a higher price, and some users of the competitors’ brands also shifted to the new premium brand! The manufacturer gained in market share as well as price realisation!
Whenever a manufacturer introduces a “new” or “improved” product in the market it is generally observed that the quality of the existing product is lowered and the customer seeks to go in for the new or improved variety, paying higher price. I have experienced this in the case of shaving blades. That wonderful brand of blades, which I was using for several years suddenly, became blunt and scratchy and I could no longer continue with that. I had to change over to the premium brand sold at a higher price, which I thought was nothing better than the old brand of the past! But then the manufacturer has had his say!
I remember an interesting story told by a management consultant during one of those seminars organised by the company for which I worked for many years. There was this industrialist who wanted to do some useful service to the village near his hometown. He sent one of his officers to go there and recommend some project for the village. The officer asked several villagers what they would like to get from the industrialist. Almost everyone said that they wanted a community well because they faced acute shortage of water. The officer said that a well was such a stupid idea because the industrialist wanted to spend a large sum of money. After considering several options the officer recommended that a library and a reading room for the villagers would be most suitable because that would be in keeping with the status of the industrialist’s reputation. Soon architects and contractors were appointed and land for the library was purchased and work on the project started in full swing. The leaders of the village attended the inauguration and all praised the industrialist for his philanthropy. After about five years the industrialist happened to pass through the village, when he noticed that the reading room was in a bad shape of repair and practically no one ever used the room after the inauguration. Mainly vagrants used the building for sleeping at night and the compound was overgrown with grass and wild plants! It became clear to the industrialist that even charity should be given only to the needy and however well intentioned, the consumer will utilise any product or service even if it is provided free only if it fits in his list of priorities and not because you want him to use it.
You can go wrong in all your calculations if you think that the customer has no intelligence and that your superior skills can manipulate his preferences. These days consumer durables like washing machines have become part of middle class household. But the scenario some ten years ago was different. It was the “in” thing to have a maid do the washing of clothes. Today it is prestigious to have a maid to wash the clothes, because maids have become very expensive! Some twenty-five years ago there was practically no market for washing machines and a couple of manufacturers who ventured to manufacture the same did suffer also. So it would appear that the secret of success is in feeling the pulse of the market correctly and acting accordingly.

“Customer is the King” is the most repeated favourite proverb of marketing Gurus and companies, but the reality is that the norm is more often flouted than observed. Recently some one wrote in a news-paper article about his shocking experience when he received a reply to a letter he sent to the manufacturer of a reputed brand of shaving blades, regarding the poor quality of the product. In reply the CEO of the company thanked him profusely for registering the complaint so that he could take necessary actions to prevent such things happening in future and safeguarding the reputation of the company. However, there was a small slip of paper in the envelope on which was scribbled, “ Send our standard reply to this guy.” Obviously the CEO’s secretary has inadvertently left the piece of paper with the scribbling of the CEO in the envelope!
Such incidences are not uncommon. Our expectations from companies which have high reputations, built up over a long period of time through advertisements and caring service is often shattered when such things happen. One loses faith in the advertised marketing philosophy of companies and one is forced to think that the Manufacturing companies have a very poor opinion about customers’ intelligence in general.

Four years ago I bought a water purifier, which is well known in the market. The representatives are aggressive in selling. I only asked for the representative to just visit me for some information on the product. The same evening he came, bringing with him a water purifier, which I ended up buying after paying cash. Cash, because he said cheque is not acceptable and if I do not buy the purifier immediately, I may not be able to get another piece for ten or fifteen days till fresh stocks arrive.

The invoice for the purchase came by post after three months. It showed a discount of Rs.1000, and also payment terms as “Credit card”. Then I called up the Sales Manager to report the mistake, but he refused to speak with me and one of the assistants told me that it must be some minor error and that the price I paid was correct. Several times I tried to speak with the senior manager because there was clear proof of cheating, but he would not come on the phone saying he was busy! This behaviour infuriated me and when I threatened to report the matter to the police for cheating, one of the senior officers came running to my house and he tried to pacify me still sticking to the theory that there was some genuine mistake and there is no possibility of cheating and he promised to send the correct invoice. I received another invoice in which the price was corrected, but the terms remained “Credit card”, though I had paid cash. On contacting the company they again promised to correct the same but did nothing for over two weeks. By now I knew that there is no point in talking to these chaps and I contacted their Bombay office and reported the matter to the Managing director of the company. After that the local officers admitted that the representative was cheating me and that their MD has asked to sack the chap and do anything to assuage my feelings. The piece delivered to me had a cracked body, which the sales man sold to me at normal price and took the Rs.1000 discount for himself, or shared with others too. He sold it on some credit card and kept the cash I paid to him. Will anyone ever expect that an employee, with the support of others in his office would cheat a customer in this fashion?

My daughter bought a refrigerator of a reputed brand from an agent. When it was delivered there were chocolate wrappers and food stains inside the fridge and some scratch marks on the body. It was very obvious that the piece was not brand new but used one probably returned by some one because of defects. The agent tried his best to convince my daughter that it was a new piece and that one of his technicians must have left the chocolate wrapper inside the frig while testing the piece!! Anyway she insisted that the piece be taken back and money returned! You go for the best known product in the market and get cheated by the agents and franchisees of reputed manufacturers. This is happening all around us all the time but people are so busy they do not have the time and energy to go after these matters and pray to God for better luck next time.

Electronic products such as music systems, DVDs, Computers and such are the items on which there is lot of scope for cheating by unscrupulous agents. The service people (usually franchisees) may cheat you by charging exorbitantly for parts replaced (or not replaced). Recently the service agent for a well-known Japanese manufacturer of music systems demanded Rs.2000 from me for replacement of parts. The normal servicing charge is only Rs.300. In the last four years I have been spending on an average Rs.1500 per year on this music system, for replacement of parts and therefore I told them that I do not want to get it repaired any more and that I would report about this unsatisfactory service to their Japanese principals. Immediately the agent changed his colour and agreed to accept Rs.300 for the servicing. You can never say when you are being taken for a ride!