You ask me why I tap my trouser pockets??

THE NERVOUS TROUSER-POCKET TAPPER

As of the last 24 hours, every few minutes, I nervously keep tapping my trouser pockets. To the uninformed spectator, it might seem to be an odd habit bordering on the vulgar, but there’s a much, much deeper reason than you might want to conjecture (No vulgar puns intended).

You see, yesterday morning, I took the Metro train from Netaji Bhawan to Shobha Bazar. Once at Shobha Bazaar, I needed to take an auto-rickshaw to reach my office building. A few minutes after I got down at Ultadanga (the place where my office is situated), I realised that one of the cell-phones that I was carrying was missing. As luck would have it, not only was the missing instrument the more expensive one of the two, but also the one in which all the details of my friends’ contact numbers were saved. Had I been part of a Ramanand Sagar production, there surely would have been lightning striking over my head accompanied with the sound of distant thunder.

Fortunately, when I called up the missing cell-phone, the honest auto-rickshaw driver told me to reach the place where I had initially boarded the auto, i.e. at the Shobha Bazar Metro station. Turned out that he was a part of some local auto-rickshaw drivers’ association, which believed in handing back lost items. *phew* Thank God!!

After a long, long wait (an hour, to be precise), I was told to prove that the cell-phone indeed belonged to me. Once that was done, the auto-rickshaw drivers almost ganged up and asked me for whatever sum that I felt I should “reward” the driver with. I ended up giving them Rs. 100 instead of the Rs. 200 that they were ‘politely asking’ for. No issues, considering that the phone costs approximately a third of my current monthly salary!!!

So, the next time you spot a stranger tapping his trouser pocket nervously, don't give him an ugly glare... just give him a sympathetic smile if you must.

THE TENNIS PLAYER

One female I’m really impressed with is Ms. Ana Ivanovic. For those who just went “Err…”, she is the female who has exited from the Wimbledon barely an hour ago. She lost to Venus Williams at the quarter-finals, but tell you what, I’m impressed with what I see.

(And by the way, what I see is this...)

(Photo courtesy of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

Now, now…don’t raise those eyebrows, hear me out.

Day before yesterday, I saw Ms. Vaidisova overcome Amelie Mauresmo, and I was genuinely impressed with the manner in which she didn’t get overwhelmed by the fact that she was facing the defending champion. However, she was not at all her composed self yesterday when she played against Ana Ivanovic.

Then again, she had played well and was on the verge of winning the match at one point of time. In fact, she had 2 match points in her kitty. But Ivanovic comprehensively outplayed her and denied her a place in the quarter finals. I was impressed with the body language and the confidence with which Ana clawed her way back into the match. Certainly, a player with a lot and lot of promise. She wasn’t seeded 6^th for nothing.

KAR LO KUCHH AUR BHI MUTTHI MEIN

And finally, all those of you who only think of a major cellular phone service provider from India when you hear/see the letters RIM, spare a thought for this:

(Spotted in a display window in a neighbourhood shop in Salt Lake, Calcutta: RIM Playing Cards)

Like I said, time to get something else in your 'mutthi'.

[P.S. Hey, I didn't top my B-school paper on Rural Marketing for nothing. After all, 'spurious brands' was very much a part of that paper :D ]