Jab main chhota baccha tha

I bet 3 out of 4 of you who read the title will go "...bahut shararat karta tha".

The lines are from a very popular ad-jingle from my younger days (I put in 'younger days' since I believe my 'childhood' is far from over *evil grin*).

Here is that complete jingle for Bajaj bulbs..

"Jab main chhota baccha tha

Bahut shararat karta tha

Meri chori pakdi jaati...

Kyun ki roshni deta Bajaj.

Ab main bilkul buddha hoon

Goli khake jeeta hoon

Phir bhi chori pakdi jaati...

Kyun ki roshni deta Bajaj."

Now the reason why this ad rings in my memory more than any other is because I got into trouble because of this particular ad. No, not recently, but you know how kids are kids..and how they imitate anything that they see.

Now, it so happens that even at that age I was crazy about reading books, and my Mum and Dad would obviously tell me to stick to my study books during the day rather than novels/fiction books. So, while I was trying to think of novel ways (puns intended) to increase my reading hours..Bingo!! I saw the ad.

In the ad, the kid tried to read a comic under the blanket with the help of a torch when his room lights had been switched off by his parents, who very conveniently thought that the kid had gone off to sleep. Of course, the conspirator was caught and the camera was quick to point out that the bulb that had been switched on in the room was a Bajaj bulb.

The chota idiot that I was, I thought I could do better than the kid in the ad, and so I sneaked an Eveready torch and a 'Bobbsey Twins' adventure book (I'd borrowed it from the school library) into my room at night. Of course I got caught within ten minutes of the premiere show of 'The Adventures of Bobbsey Twins'. I don't remember getting any punishment for my foolishness, but I certainly do recall that I never ever again got the opportunity to be a badmaash and read books under the blanket again.

P.S. On a more positive note, the second part of the ad, where the old fellow tries to steal food from the refrigerator, only to be caught red-handed/pastry-tongued by his wife, was a GREAT learning experience. To this day, there has been no, and I repeat, NO occassion when I have been caught while helping myself to chocolates/pastry/Coke in the dead of the night. Touch wood. :)