A caring call from SEBI Chairman U.K. Sinha to his two adolescent sons before leaving Mumbai to address a convocation in Hyderabad drew some pep talk from the kids: ‘Keep your speech short and to the point because convocations are the last place for listening to boring, long-winding lectures.' Sinha revealed this while delivering the address at the Institute of Insurance and Risk Management . Nonetheless, the SEBI boss did make a long speech, though interspersed with interesting happenings from the global financial markets. The students heard with rapt attention as, earlier in the day, the markets had crashed the world over and the Sensex too plunged. What better way than to learn from the latest crisis, he told the students who gave him a thunderous applause.

Backbenchers rule

One happened to overhear this at a conference hall in Tamil Nadu's Administrative headquarters. Journalists, after a press meet, were exiting the hall where immediately a meeting of government officials was to be held. There was a scramble by some officials for seats in the back rows. An obviously bewildered new official wondered what the rush was all about. A grey-haired veteran explained: You sit in the front row, you are sure to be asked questions. A throwback to schooldays?

The man who talks too much

Regular AGM goers in Chennai have developed an intense dislike for a certain person — we'll call him ‘Dr P' —because of his penchant for rambling away, usually at a tangent. Come the time for shareholders to ask questions, this man generally plonks himself in front of the mike and goes on and on and on. Often, other shareholders try to shout him down, but that only makes him dig in his heels deeper. . Dr P enjoys his notoriety. A few years back, at an AGM of Cholamandalam Finance, his chief complaint was that only tea was served and not coffee. He just stood at the mike, saying nothing. When the Chairman of the company asked him why he would not speak, he coolly said he was not able to think because he did not have his afternoon coffee. Should there be a law against frivolous and dilatory “speeches” at AGMs?

Performance evaluation

Speaking of AGMs, this correspondent is reminded of a question asked by a shareholder. Noting that the company's financial results were rather zig-zag, he asked: “Why is your performance so erotic ?”

Babymoon

Heard of a babymoon? We know how travel companies push romantic destinations at honeymooners. This one is not by a travel operator and goes a step ahead. This South-based company that stores newborn babies' stem cells now offers expecting couples a free ‘babymoon' when they register with it. They just need this vacation before they plunge into post-baby blues and sleepless nights, it says. Be that as it may, we were wrong to think new words were coined only by the literati.

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