The Little girl in Dubai Dolphinarium…!

Recently I had been to watch the Dolphin show in Dubai Dolphinarium. There my attention was caught by a cute little girl who was very enthusiastic about the show ever since she entered the Dolphinarium. I could see that from the way she looked excited and how she actively she was interacting with her parents. Her parents were also happy to see their child so happy.

One of the items in the show was that some of the children were given numbered plastic balls to throw in water at one. The child whose ball is picked up by the Dolphin is a winner. This girl also actively participated in the game. However, her ball was not picked up by the Dolphin and someone else was declared a winner. The girl walked back to her seat along with her father but there was a total change in her mannerism now. She was no more looking excited and cheerful, as she did just before the ball throwing game. She sat on her seat with folded hands and frown on her face. She was trying to express her displeasure at not being declared the winner. Her parents were trying to console her and cheer up by saying that she was still the best and that this loss did not mean anything to them. However, she sat in the same posture for rest of the show.

It brought forward some important questions to my mind. Why did the child get so upset if she did not win a particular game? The reason is that she has not been taught how to take failure by her parents. Many parents, in order to please the child, always tell them that they are the best and praise them even if they err. That instills a super-confidence in them and they start believing that they are real heroes. This creates much bigger problems in life of these children later.

However, the more important questions was that after the child was upset with the results, she did not enjoy the remaining part of the show, which was equally or more exciting than before. However, she did not enjoy it at all, because she was too pre-occupied in expressing her emotions to her ‘caring’ parents.  In pursuit to display these emotions, she missed the show. And who was affected because of her endeavors? No one but her. The show went on as usual, The other hundreds of children and people clapped and enjoyed as before. Her parents were of course a bit concerned, but not to the extent she was affected.

Here is the irony. Many adults behave the same way. Whenever they get upset with someone or something, they cannot concentrate on what is happening in front of them for next few hours, days or even weeks, because they keep thinking of the past unpleasant incident. This behavior deprives them of enjoying life’s those moments which are not going to come back ever again. And again, who gets affected here is not anyone else, but they themselves.

There is no meaning in spending time about thinking regretful past and missing out on the current life.

Life is meant to be enjoyed each moment…!

Will the Wal Mart ever come to India…?

The Wal-Mart management convenes an emergency meeting to discuss the crisis situation arising after the ‘lobbying exercise’ is exposed. A senior management team from Wal-mart visits India and meets Karunanidhi, Mayawati, Mulayam, Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi to understand the issues and to start the process of opening the stores. Will they open their stores after meeting these leaders? Read on….! (This is a work of fiction and not intended to hurt anyone’s feelings. Apologies if anyone’s sensibilities are hurt.)

Will the Wal Mart ever come to India…?

The CEO of Wal-mart calls President and the MD to his office for an urgent meeting. The agenda is to discuss the crisis situation arising after the ‘lobbying exercise’ in India is exposed.

CEO: Gentlemen, what is the problem in India? Let me understand the issue first.

MD: Sir, there is no issue here. We paid ‘lobbying charges’ to the government for facilitating our entry in Indian markets.

CEO: So, what is the problem then?

President: Sir, the problem is created by those political parties outside the government, who have supported this bill in parliament. They are feeling bad that they did not get a share of the ‘lobbying charges’, even though their support was essential to get the bill passed in parliament.

CEO: Oh I see… no problem. Please go and meet them. Let us pacify them and do some ‘lobbying’ with them also, so that our passage to India is smooth.

Next day, the President and MD come to India. First, they meet Karunanidhi.

MD: Sir, we are very happy to meet with you. We thank you for supporting the FDI bill. We are interested in opening Wal-mart stores in India. Do you have any conditions for us?

Karunanidhi: Vanakkam. Actually I do not like your entry in Indian markets. However, to ensure that none of our ministers go into jail again, I supported the bill. Now, I have some conditions. Please note that all sign boards within all your stores in Tamil Nadu should be only in Tamil. The announcements are to be made in Tamil. The name of your stores shall be ‘Wal-mart kadai’. Is that ok with you?

President: Sir, what if we do not accept your conditions?

Karunanidhi: (Smiles) Then the government will fall in no time. No government... No Wal-mart. Mind it…!

The President and MD are very upset. They then go to meet Mayawati.

MD: Madam, we are very happy to meet with you. We thank you for supporting the FDI bill. We are interested in opening Wal-mart stores in India. Do you have any conditions for us?

Mayawati: Yes. I supported the bill to ensure that CBI does not chase me for the wealth amassed by me in my earlier tenures. However, I have some conditions. I want 50% of the staff employed by you to be from the reserved quota. Don’t bother if they do not perform. They will learn in few years. Also, I want that the customers from certain castes should be given 50% discounts. There should be special counters for these categories so that they do not have to wait in long queues.

President: Madam, what if we do not accept your conditions?

Mayawati: (Smiles) Then the government will fall in no time. No government... No Wal-mart.

The President and MD are very upset. They then go to meet Mulayam Singh.

MD: Sir, we are very happy to meet with you. We thank you for abstaining during the vote. We are interested in opening Wal-mart stores in India. Do you have any conditions for us?

Mulayam: Yes. My party is very strong and our party workers are everywhere. They take very special care of our people. That is why they carry weapons with them every time to deliver justice on the spot. Sometimes they brandish these weapons also and do not hesitate to use them whenever required. These loyal party workers will come to Wal-mart from time to time. They should not be stopped while entering or leaving the stores. No money should be asked to them for any good lifted from your stores.

President: Sir, what if we do not accept your conditions?

Mulayam: (Smiles) Then the government will fall in no time. No government... No Wal-mart.

The President and MD are very upset. They then go to meet Manmohan Singh.

MD: Sir, we are very happy to meet with you. We thank you for bringing up the bill in parliament for discussion. We are interested in opening Wal-mart stores in India. How do we proceed now that the bill is passed?

Manmohan Singh: Er... Oh... I see… but you know… yes yes... ah…!

MD: Sorry sir, but we did not understand you.

Manmohan Singh: Oh… Er... You know… see… actually… you know… Hehehe…!

The president whispered in MD’s ears: Sir, I had heard correctly. This guy does not speak. Even after one hour’s discussion, we will not get anything from him. Let us go.

They contacted CEO over phone in next steps. The CEO said, ‘There is one boy named Rahul Gandhi. People around him always pretend and give him a feeling that he is a superman. Maybe if our luck is good, he might do something for us.

So, they then go to meet Rahul Gandhi.

MD: Sir, we are very happy to meet with you. We hear that you are the future Prime minister of India. We are interested in opening Wal-mart stores in India. What are your views?

Rahul Gandhi: Oh good. I like super markets. You can go in and choose Ice creams, toffees, chocolates of your choice. Do you have play areas also in your hyper markets?

President: Sir, sorry, but we are discussing about feasibility of opening of the stores.

Rahul Gandhi: Oh yes. I love Butter scotch Ice creams. And the colorful Gems … I finish one packet in one go.

Soon, the President and MD realized that there is no point in any further talks with him. So, they return back to US after making some on-the-ground studies.

CEO: How was the trip to India?

MD: Sir, it is very difficult to deal with these politicians.

CEO: OK leave it. W shall manage them separately. How about logistics? Any issues?

MD: Yes sir, most of the Indian cities do not have power for many hours in a day. That would affect our cold stores.

CEO: Don’t worry; we shall install big Diesel Generators.

President: Sorry sir that would be unviable proposition because the government keeps increasing the Petrol and Diesel prices every three months.

Now the CEO was worried. He thought for a while.

Finally he said, ‘Ok. Let us withdraw from Indian markets.’

MD: Sir, there is a small issue here also. We need to do ‘lobbying’ to cancel our licenses and withdraw…

The CEO fainted in his chair.