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Ha Ha Ha - Laughter is the best medicine
Hariharan Narayanan
Author:Hariharan Narayanan
Engg at IBM India
Use Your Brain !!!
Wednesday 02nd, July 2008
I did not have breakfast and started to office. I usually take a route that is not with much traffic. On the way, I usually find people selling tender coconuts on bicycles and today also I saw one person selling tender coconuts and stopped by his side to get one. I parked my bike in side-stand as I knew it would take only a few minutes to drink the coconut water and start form there. So the bike was parked slanting a little.

I pointed to a larger coconut in his bicycle and asked the coconut seller to give me that coconut. He told it would cost me 12 rupees. I asked him the reason for the increase by 2 rupees and he told me it was because the coconut was larger. I did not want to argue with him and I just expressed my dissatisfaction about the price and asked him to give that same coconut.

There was a small boy who was standing next to me and watching me getting the coconut and drinking the water. After drinking the coconut water, I gave the coconut seller, the shell, to break it for me to eat the coconut inisde. I saw this boy watching me for a long time and I thought he would want a coconut and asked him whether he wanted to drink one. He shook his head in a way meaning he did not want.

I did not ask the boy out of generosity. I asked him because, I have heard people saying 'If you make a person watch while you are eating, you will get stomach ache'. So I did not want any stomach aches :) . Through this I just wanted to inform God, that I was not the one who is not giving the coconut to the boy, but it was the boy himself who declined the offer I made, so that God would not give me any stomach aches.

While I was eating the coconut, the coconut seller asked me to give him the money so that he need not wait for me and he could go on with his job. I was having the cocnut shell in my hand and I was searching a place to keep it. I could not keep it on my bike seat for it was slanting. So I just pushed down the helmet lock that was fit to the seat handle in the back, and tried to keep it next to it so that the lock would save it from falling down.

I could not fit the shell in the available place even though i tried the same for two three times. Then the seller suggested me to pull the lock upwards and keep the shell under the lock. I had a doubt whether that will work but tried it and it worked. So after keeping the shell there, I took out my hand kerchief to wipe my hand to take out my purse.

By the time I took out my kerchief, the coconut seller sarcastically smiled and said, "Abhi thoda dimaag bhi kaam karna padega sir!!" ("Now your brain also should work a little sir!!" - for those who can't understand this Hindi statement). After he told this, I was looking at him and looking at myself. I was wondering how this could have happened. A person who (looks like) does not even know how a school campus would look like, is advising a person who had 14 years of education in school from K.G , 4 years of PROFESSIONAL education in an engineering college, and a few years of job in a software company, to use his brain. I could not tell anything in reply and I was laughing inside, thinking about the funny part of the incident.
 
Comments
Comment 1: By EKRAMUL HAQUE on 04th Jul 2008
accounts policy

Comment 2: By Uday Menon on 04th Jul 2008
Your brain was occupied with the Rs 2 you paid extra and maybe that was the meaning behind the coconut seller's. That you did not bargain with him using your brain. He diverted your mind from that I paid extra feeeling

Comment 3: By Giridhar Sunku on 04th Jul 2008
Gone through the narration and comments, everyone has tried to give answer in a logical manner, but the fact in this is the mind is totally busy on two things where to keep and take out the money but the subconscious mind is not saying that u keep it how hence the individual is busy in just keeping and removing his purse to take out the money rather than to think how to keep the shell hence it is very common scenario for an individual in that manner as already he is on two terms of thinking actually he mind is totally thinking about taking out his purse and pay him the money so his mind says purse and take out money and give to the child. Hence this is common he never thought about the shell to fit it.


Comment 4: By Giridhar Sunku on 04th Jul 2008
Gone through the narration and comments, everyone has tried to give answer in a logical manner, but the fact in this is the mind is totally busy on two things where to keep and take out the money but the subconscious mind is not saying that u keep it how hence the individual is busy in just keeping and removing his purse to take out the money rather than to think how to keep the shell hence it is very common scenario for an individual in that manner as already he is on two terms of thinking actually he mind is totally thinking about taking out his purse and pay him the money so his mind says purse and take out money and give to the child. Hence this is common he never thought about the shell to fit it.


Comment 5: By Neha Mehta on 04th Jul 2008
There is something that doesnt work when we really want them to. Brains for instance take on toll on us on the same opportunity. U have 1000 things on your mind even while having that coconut water am sure. As far as logic goes, the seller may have better logic on that one because his focus in life remains limited. His only job is to observe engineers like you having water and vanish off! And as far as intelligence goes, you being an engineer at IBM is more than enough for anyone to apply their minds on :)

Comment 6: By chandrashekhar ramjilal yadav on 04th Jul 2008
great. keep up....

shekhar
09726076992

Comment 7: By Premalatha Reguraman on 03rd Jul 2008
Brain works on demand. If you are pre-occupied with finishing that months finance report or about your running late to the office on the day of your GM's visit, then you dont consider 'fitting the coconut shell in a bi-cycle carrier' as anything worth thinking about and your brain still keeps churning the fate of that day's event. Whereas, if you were taking part in a competition where success depends on how fast you fit the same coconut shell, then you would have done it in no time. But by then your 'un finished finance report' would have taken the back burner. This could be loosely termed as 'Absent mindedness'.
The fitting answer would be 'bechaaraa dhimaag tho zyaadha saa kaam kar rahaa hai boss! isiliye aisi kaamon ke liye distrub nahi kar rahaa hoon..'
(Im nt a native Hindi sspeaker. So, as long as you and your 'boss' can interptet, good enough :) !!)

Comment 8: By Dave Mahadevan on 03rd Jul 2008
An automobile engineer is not necessarily an automobile mechanic. Going to school and learning subjects does not necessarily make us pragmatic.

Comment 9: By Tiia Mathur on 03rd Jul 2008
We all have brain but the difference is made at the time when we use it. If we don't use it when required it is termed as sheer waste.

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