The Van and Other Jokes

Some original ones first.

If you had a Maruti van and you stayed in it, what would it be called?

    Vanvas (in Hindi).

If you were a rich guy who owned a Maruti van, what would you be called?

     Dhanvan. (in Hindi).

....and now some borrowed ones- they are better, obviously. That's why they come later.

The secret of longevity is to keep breathing. - Sophie Tucker

I have just had an operation for piles- all my troubles are behind me. - Ken Brett

There are more men than women in mental hospitals which just goes to show who is driving whom crazy. - Peter Veale

Show me a sane man and I'll cure him for you.- Carl Jung

Brands I Grew Up With

As a user, the first brand I recognised was Philips, most likely. Our radio was Philips, though Murphy was probably around at the time too. The next one that I became aware of was Colgate, which had a dominant market share, followed by Binaca and Forhans.

When I had to wash clothes in the hostel, it was always the blue Rin detergent bar that would be the preferred choice. The restaurant brand was the Hilton (not THAT Hilton) cafe at the corner of Osmania University campus. (there was a branded women's college called Andhra Mahila Sabha pretty close by, and I was aware of that too).

We had a club branded as Yellandu Club in the mining towns we lived in, and I spent a lot of  time playing Badminton or swimming there. Theraja is a great author brand in Electrical engineering, and we worshipped him.

Among the Hyderabadi hotels, Kamat and Taj Mahal were the most frequented for their south Indian meals, followed by Alpha or Garden for their biryanis. The theatre brands were awesome in Hyderabad, with Ramakrishna 70mm being the pick of the lot, till Maheswari and Santosh came in. Royal in Koti was also a good theatre. Sangeet was very good for English movies, with an upmarket crowd.

My first camera was a Pentax, though I learnt photography on a German folding camera my parents had.

Cars- I drove a Datsun, a Ford Granada (huge) and a Subaru while in the U.S., and a Premier Padmini and a Maruti 800 before moving on to an Esteem later (still drive it).