We celebrated Sandeep's and Sunil's munji together in May 1995.It was held in the Subramanya Temple in Jayanagar 1st Block.The sweet was Badam Halwa for which I had brought the Badam from Singapore.
Sachin was now in the 12th Std and Sandeep in 9th Std.I was working in the Fisher Valves Division of Fisher-Xomox and was travelling a lot within the country with occasional trips to Singapore.
Here is an incident that I cannot forget. Aishwarya Rai had won the Miss World title in 1994 and was the Brand Ambassador for Pepsi.She had come down to Chennai for a promotional campaign and was staying in Chola Sheraton.The promotional campaign involved purchase of a Pepsi .The buyer was then supposed to write a slogan " I like Pepsi because........." and send the Pepsi crown to an address.If the crown had the lucky number and the slogan was catchy, Aishwarya Rai was supposed to visit the lucky winner's home.This much was known to the general public.
One fine day, I returned home at 9 PM from a trip to Delhi. Sudha was not at home and the house was filled with Sachin's friends, all dressed to their nines.I went straight to my room and , within a minute, Sachin rushed in.He was in a state of absolute panic.Here's what had happened--- just to play a joke, he had rung up all his friends and told them that he was the lucky winner of the Pepsi contest and that Aishwarya Rai would be visiting his home.He shouldn't have been surprised when all his friends trooped in by 7 PM. Anyway, his problems started then because he didn't know how to let them know that it was all a joke without getting beaten up. He tried to pretend to speak to Chola Sheraton and then told his friends that Aishwarya Rai had cancelled her program.They thought that he was now trying to get her all to himself when she came and refused to budge.They also wanted to know what was the slogan he had written and he told them that his dad ( me) had written the slogan and I would recite it when I returned from my Delhi trip.
So, when Sachin rushed into my room, he wanted my help in two matters:-
a) Think up a slogan quickly
b) Help him get rid of his friends
Here I was back after a tiring trip and you can imagine that I wasn't in my best mood.Anyway, after having read a lot of P G Wodehouse novels, I thought " What are dads for if not to pull their sons out of trouble at times like these"---- much like how Jeeves always bails out Bertie Wooster. So I squared up my shoulders, kept the old chin up, pursed my lips, gritted my teeth and strode out to the living room.I recited some slogan and mentioned that I was as disappointed as they were that Aishwarya was not coming and would they please leave now since it was getting late and their parents would get worried.
Sachin was now in the 12th Std and Sandeep in 9th Std.I was working in the Fisher Valves Division of Fisher-Xomox and was travelling a lot within the country with occasional trips to Singapore.
Here is an incident that I cannot forget. Aishwarya Rai had won the Miss World title in 1994 and was the Brand Ambassador for Pepsi.She had come down to Chennai for a promotional campaign and was staying in Chola Sheraton.The promotional campaign involved purchase of a Pepsi .The buyer was then supposed to write a slogan " I like Pepsi because........." and send the Pepsi crown to an address.If the crown had the lucky number and the slogan was catchy, Aishwarya Rai was supposed to visit the lucky winner's home.This much was known to the general public.
One fine day, I returned home at 9 PM from a trip to Delhi. Sudha was not at home and the house was filled with Sachin's friends, all dressed to their nines.I went straight to my room and , within a minute, Sachin rushed in.He was in a state of absolute panic.Here's what had happened--- just to play a joke, he had rung up all his friends and told them that he was the lucky winner of the Pepsi contest and that Aishwarya Rai would be visiting his home.He shouldn't have been surprised when all his friends trooped in by 7 PM. Anyway, his problems started then because he didn't know how to let them know that it was all a joke without getting beaten up. He tried to pretend to speak to Chola Sheraton and then told his friends that Aishwarya Rai had cancelled her program.They thought that he was now trying to get her all to himself when she came and refused to budge.They also wanted to know what was the slogan he had written and he told them that his dad ( me) had written the slogan and I would recite it when I returned from my Delhi trip.
So, when Sachin rushed into my room, he wanted my help in two matters:-
a) Think up a slogan quickly
b) Help him get rid of his friends
Here I was back after a tiring trip and you can imagine that I wasn't in my best mood.Anyway, after having read a lot of P G Wodehouse novels, I thought " What are dads for if not to pull their sons out of trouble at times like these"---- much like how Jeeves always bails out Bertie Wooster. So I squared up my shoulders, kept the old chin up, pursed my lips, gritted my teeth and strode out to the living room.I recited some slogan and mentioned that I was as disappointed as they were that Aishwarya was not coming and would they please leave now since it was getting late and their parents would get worried.
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