The MAGIC of Rajnikanth as Ranjith's Kabali is to be DISCOVERED soon.

People in India, US, Malaysia, EUROPE and elsewhere are eager to WELCOME the movie
with a red CARPET.

Some crazy fans will EXERCISE their interest with a large scale MIGRATION to the
theatres - to PITCH tents and remain SHELTERED to SPRAY milk on the cut-outs during
the auspicious time.

Some others would be GREEN with envy at those who managed the FDFS tickets.

COMMERCE has PRESERVED the Super Star's image in silver coins.

Die-hard fans may not remain COMPOSED sitting in the EDGE of their seats as the show
unfolds itself.

PRODUCTIVE work may be absent and DISAPPEAR on the opening days.

Let us enjoy the movie, remain COMPOSED and not ATTACH too much importance
to the movie and CONTEMPORARY look of the star which is to be admired.

G O P A L A P U R A M - Part 2

No TV, no cell phones, no internet. Having said that those born after the eighties may wonder
if the residents of Gopalapuram were living in "dark ages" !!

Far from it....

Gopalapuram was (and is) located strategically in Chennai.

No TV meant that people had time to live in a real world as against virtual.... People interacted
well within themselves and helped each other.

Cinema provided the entertainment. Quite a few cinema theatres were within walking distance
from Gopalapuram. For English movies it was Odeon theatre near the Royapettah clock tower.
(it is now known as Melody). The magnificent Safire complex was conceived and built by Dev
Vecumsee opened in 1965 with the movie "Cleopatra". It later added two more screens, Blue Diamond and Emerald. Close to that, Umapathy built his Anand theatre. Since there were a lot
of people coming to see the movies he added another screen Little Anand. Further down we
had the New Globe (later known as Alankar). A little beyond that was well, quite many.
Midland (later became Jayapradha when the actor bought it) Wellington, New Elphinstone (now
Raheja complex), Casino, Gaiety and Chitra. Near the Royapettah police station came up yet
another wonderful theatre Pilot. It was the first one with a cinerama screen. The movie could be
simultaneously screened from three projectors.... Unfortunately the cinerama concept didn't pick up.
Later came up the Woodlands theatre complex.

Even the so called theatres which were dubbed as being far off, were if one were to judge by
today's standards, quite near! To name a few...  Nagesh, Rajakumari (T.Nagar) Star (Triplicane)
Kamadhenu (Mylapore)... One could easily reach these places within 15 minutes on a cycle...
The cycle was a popular mode of transport....


....to be continued (please keep adding your own experiences and inputs!)

Time machine

The time machine has the fascination of almost everyone.

In 1895 H.G.Wells wrote The Time Machine. Very recently we had the Tamil movie 24
which also was made on the time travel concept. One should not forget that in the movie the
extent to which one could travel backwards in time was restricted to 24 hours only.

We cannot actually go back in time, but our thoughts and memories can!!

In the early part of the twentieth century, the area now known as Gopalapuram in Chennai had just begun to come into being.

"Go" refers to cow. It would almost be difficult for man to survive without milk. India is the largest producer of milk in the world. "Gopal" is Lord Krishna, the one who takes care of the cows, a cowherd so to say...

The area beyond Chola Hotel was full of bamboo trees....

Some of my elders have in the past told me that during some digging operations the idol of
Venugopalaswamy was found and it is this which is in the present Venugopalaswamy temple in
Gopalapuram.  So the area got to be known as Gopalapuram. (This however needs authentic corroboration.)

In the sixties and early seventies Madras was just what many people referred to as  "Big Village".
There was no TV, no cell phones, no internet....

My school was just 100 metres or so from my house. It worked between 10 AM and 4 PM.
I could hear the bell ringing from my house. Peaceful atmosphere. No pollution. No noise.
While playing in the Corporation Playground we could hear the Church bells pealing from
the Cathedral Church which was almost a kilometre away!

...to be continued

Own apartment or rented?

One question which I invariably ask customers looking for an air-conditioner is whether they
are staying in a rented apartment or one which is their own.

Sometimes people get irritated with this question and ask, "What has that got to do with
my buying an air-conditioner?"

Well you see, you may buy a one ton air-conditioner which is okay for you now. Six months
or a year or two later when you buy your own apartment and if that room needs a one point five
air-conditioner, you might think that you could have bought a bigger unit in the first place...

Yes, they understand and there are instances when the customer has gone in for a bigger unit....

Booking clerk vs sales executive.

In earlier days, before the advent of computers, if one wanted to travel by train, a visit to the
railway station was to be made. There used to be booking counters with booking clerks.
You know where you want to go, on which date you wish to travel and by which train and class.
The clerks job was just to make an entry in the relevant date and train chart manually and hand
you over the ticket after collecting the money.

These days with people enjoying holiday travel with family, thanks to disposable income and what not....  One would consult a travel executive or adviser to plan the trip. Where will one go? Singapore or Thailand or Malaysia? Which is the best time? Which airline is the cheapest? How many days? There are so many questions to be addressed...

The air-conditioner sales executive likewise has to get answers from the client for a number of questions. What is the area of the room? Where is it located? If an apartment, in which floor?
What would be the ideal place to locate the outdoor unit? What is the distance between the indoor and outdoor? Which star rating is ideal? What is the voltage in the area and what should be the regulation of the voltage stabilizer?

One can give a quote only after knowing the answers for these questions. Unfortunately today guys just from school or college are designated as sales executives. They should be given proper training over a period of time to enable them to be a sales executive graduating from the booking clerk status.

Machines are sold without educating the customer on the parameters to be looked into and helping him/her make the ideal choice!!

Speak the truth.....always?

Speak the truth....always.

Yes one has to speak the truth always. But sometimes not telling the whole truth may help.

We had finalized order for a fairly large quantity of air-conditioners. Our getting the order
however had a condition!  We have to arrange finance for the client.

The client was very cost conscious and wanted finance only from a bank. Because they are
the ones who charge the least interest.

We spoke to a banker and he requested an executive to look into the matter. He came with us
and met the businessman and promised him to help. The businessman then said that the bank manager could come and meet him.

Sure Sir, said the executive. But you may please come just once to our head-office and meet him
in his office. The businessman understood that to get credit he had to put in some effort.
But there was one small issue.  He was a heart patient and not in a position to climb the stairs.

The executive said, "No issues Sir. We have lifts."

The businessman accompanied us and the bank executive to their head-office.

Now those were the days of poor voltage and frequent power cuts! The bank executive never
mentioned about this.

On reaching the bank we found that the lift was not working. Now the executive, very smart I should
say, said: "Sir, please, just a few steps. come, come".  The businessman for whom time was running out was in no mood to say no. The executive cleverly made him to slowly climb two floors!!

Subsequently the bank did give credit facilities and we got the order!!

So you see, sometimes it is better not to tell the whole truth.

Sometimes......it is better to lose an order!

Will a businessman or sales executive like to lose an order? The answer obviously is NO.

But then there are some buyers who are skillful negotiators. But these days there are quite
a number of people who just call the bluff. 100 Rupees? "X" is willing to supply at 97 Rupees.

Such a situation has to be deftly handled by you.

First, you should have the knowledge at what price the same product is offered by
different sellers in the market. What is the differential?

Secondly, can you supply at that price? Will it be profitable?

And, finally will you get the order at that price?

If the buyer is too much of a haggler, it is better to lose the order.