Aug/0714
Onam Sales
Its Onam time and to the businessmen that means increased sales. Kerala has most shops open 7 days a week during this time. Statistically, Kerala does more sales in this one month alone than in all of the balance eleven months put together.
Despite the rains and the lousy roads (which have turned the city into one big never ending roller coaster ride), I salute the spirit of an average Malayalee - who ventures out with his entire family for Onam related purchases. There are such irresistible and fabulous discounts and exchange offers on almost everything from household equipments to automobiles ' sounds a bit like the old Aladdin tale except that there are no wicked magicians sprawling the streets shouting “Old lamps for New“.
At home, we were preparing for the visit of my father and my brother along with his family from their Phoren abodes to have a Phamily Get together. Sure enough with two days to go before the Phoreners arrived is when a 9 year old TV and a 7 year old washing machine stopped spinning dry and the TV just went dead. Murphy surely has his way doesn't he to put us into the eleventh hour crisis? I frantically searched for the service outlet of the erstwhile BPL (now Sanyo BPL) wanting to get the problems fixed pronto.
One visit to a dealer and I was being enticed with several suggestions to go for one of the limited time Exchange offers. To make it sound attractive they promise you of gifts and a chance to win anything from Gold coins to Fancy Cars inside the Lucky Dip coconut one gets with every purchase. Being and Aam Aadmi I was surely tempted and why not? There is no greater peace of mind than having new equipment with a 12 month warranty. And surely having a Flat Panel TV is become a MUST HAVE these days if one is to live up to the Joneses.
A few calls later I had the Sanyo BPL technician at home to take my Washing machine away. He gave me a repair quote that I found was reasonable and I asked him to go right ahead. Now as far as the TV went I felt I had to get rid of this huge monstrous black box that took up so much space and try and replace it with one of the modern sleeker slimmer flat panel TVs. Surveying the market, I found that while a conventional picture tube 29 inch were available from 11,000/- upwards, a flat panel of the same dimension would cost nothing less than 45,000/ or more. While debating on what to do with my hard earned money, I decided to give the Sanyo BPL technician a go while buying time to hunt around for a better deal for a flat TV.
It was about then that I came across a mail with such an innovative idea to own a flat panel TV for the cost of a conventional TV captured in a photo that was sent as an attachment. There is no denying that it made me smile. However, impressed as I am by the idea, for the moment I can only commit it to memory lest I break down the wall into my neighbour's apartment. Meanwhile my old TV was repaired for fewer than 260 bucks.
As for the money I had mentally set aside for the new TV, I blew it up on a new gold ring. Its Onam time after all and show me one Mallu who doesn't spend at this time of the year.
Jun/079
Thankyou !!
Pretty much on the same lines as big companies put up a big THANK YOU advertisement - after public issue of shares have been over subscribed - I thought I will put up a small post celebrating my 50th friend on the ILAND.
As a policy I don’t add friends (except for the first two - Madhavan PK and Sandy Gibachao whom I did to kick start the visitors to my post). I much rather prefer if they happen to visit my ILAND read what I write and then add me on the merits of my writing.
As a policy I don’t allow multiple IDs of the same person either. Therefore Alter Ego personalities are an absolute NO NO too. If there are some already on its cos I don’t know they are so. The day I realise they will automatically be deleted.
Do I sound SNOBBISH? Perhaps so….. But I like it that way. And for all those people who added me as a friend and their encouraging comments a BIG THANKYOU 
Friends' Update
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