Hit off the field

Media persons covering the swearing-in ceremony of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa were treated to an interesting aside featuring two cricket rivals off the field, the vice-chairman of India Cements, N Srinivasan, and the former chairman of SPIC, AC Muthiah, who came face to face thanks to a seating mix-up.

In what can be seen as a re-enactment of their tussle for the top seat in cricket administration bodies, Srinivasan asked Muthiah to vacate the chair he was sitting in, as it was reserved for him (Srinivasan). It took the intervention of an usher at the behest of Srinivasan for Muthiah to move to the next chair so Srinivasan could take his seat — with a smug smile.

Booty call

The air-conditioned coach of the Mumbai-Delhi Rajdhani Express contained several boxes of mangoes on a recent journey. And they didn’t belong to the passengers. On questioning it was found that several people were using the train for sending mangoes to their loved ones in Delhi, free of charge.

The modus operandi is simple: Come in like passengers, plonk the boxes of mangoes on a seat, take a picture on the mobile phone, WhatsApp the seat and coach number to relatives in Delhi, who then come and collect the delicious booty.

Blame it on Algol

Google ran into rough weather earlier with maps showing parts of Kashmir as Pakistan. It may get into more trouble soon. A search on Google images for ‘Top 10 Indian criminals’ throws up a surprising or rather bewildering list. The very first picture is that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi! Delhi’s chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and the spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar also pop up on the search page.

The other images include those of India’s most wanted fugitives such as Dawood Ibrahim, Syed Salahuddin and Maulana Masood Azhar. Though no official complaint has been made, going by the buzz in social media it may soon reach the higher authorities. Even if it is an Algol (algorithmic language) error, it’s pretty shocking.

After you

Bandhan’s CS Ghosh recently had an awkward moment with journalists. In the midst of discussing his banking plans, someone asked him about succession . Who would succeed him? Taken aback, Ghosh fumbled for a suitable reply. That was when he noticed the journalists were smiling and realised the question was meant to pull his leg.

“ Arrey baba let the bank start first. Even before that you guys are removing me from chairmanship,” he said, once he composed himself.

Fee for watching

Noakku kooli (literally, the wage for just watching) — the obnoxious practice of headload workers’ unions demanding exorbitant sums of money for allowing you to unload your goods from vehicles by yourself or the people you hire — thrives in Kerala. It is, in theory, illegal. Recognised trade unions feign ignorance of its existence; and most political parties indirectly support it. The other day, a telecom service provider was forced to shell out ₹15,000 to a headload union for allowing the company’s own labourers to unload the generator and battery panel required for its mobile tower near Thiruvalla. The union demanded ₹40,000 for getting the equipment off the truck. After three days of negotiations, it allowed the company’s workers to do the task, but took ₹15,000 for just watching the labourers do the job.

Noakku kooli gained international rebuke when, two months ago, an artist exhibiting his work at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, destroyed his work in disgust as a bunch of headload workers demanded ₹15,000 for getting his work on to a lorry. The video of his breaking his artwork went viral on YouTube. Noakku kooli , a practice exclusive to Kerala, is often cited as one of the reasons for Kerala’s industrial backwardness.

Related Topics