Yellow Pages Blues: In the field
You could sit in a conference room and talk for years to a bunch of people; train them like mad, get them to understand the quirky business of being a salesperson. But, none of it would equal a day in the field; meeting real customers, being asked to get out, and all that. TPYP had […]
Yellow Pages Blues: The early days
I worked with Tata Press Yellow Pages for about two and a half years, between October 1995 and early 1998. To me, it was a great learning experience; I took up the sales job as I had to make some money, but I made more than money there. I learnt how to be a saleman. […]
My Fridge Story
I got myself a 235ltr Electrolux-Kelvinator Fridge last night! Here’s a related story. When I was a kid I was bowled over by Fridges; I come from South-India which suffers from an intense tropical climate. I know only hot, hotter and hottest. So, I was a natural sucker for anything that had anything to do […]
The logistics of an Indian wedding
It is never simple. Never easy. You don’t control it. You become a mere player. The strings are pulled by a council of family members headed by the parents, the grand parents and the rest. Take for example my engagement: We (she and I) wanted it to be a simple affair. We just wanted to […]
Don’t wait for the can
When I was 13 I wanted to learn swimming. And in Chittoor the only way to do that was through the irrigation wells that fed the paddy, sugar cane crops. I set out to a field near my home, along with my friends (read: swimmers). I had my tummy in knots and was all nerves […]
Water Melons, Mangoes, and early morning school
The heat in Indore is unbearable. You don’t perspire too much here like in Chennai so the heat sticks within and your pee turns yellow and it burns! This time of the year back in Chittoor when I was in school; I used to get up early in the morning to attend school at 7:45 […]
Looking Back at Television
In early 80s, when I was 9 or so. Lakshmiah Naidu – the rich man of the Pagadamanu Street, Chittoor – bought a TV. Along with the other kids, we used to flock his house. They accommodated us for the first few days, but after the crowd became unmanageable, they shut the door on us. […]