Monday, December 14, 2009

Gandhigiri at home

The investigations have been completed.

Mom and Dad have now eliminated the list of suspects in the curious case of the pumpkin thefts and now it's down to just one neighbour.

But there's one problem. You can't barge into someone's house and say "You! Gimme my pumpkin back!" If they did it, they'll deny it, and you've made an enemy. If they didn't do it, boy, are you in trouble.

Mom and Dad had been discussing all sorts of strategies to sort this out. I know just how much Dad values his vegetable garden, and how much it was stressing him out to have the fruits of his hard work just taken away from him like that.

So yesterday when I called to inquire on the case, Mom said something simple, but it was so freakin' awesome, I think my jaw is still on the floor.

"We have started giving vegetables from our garden to all neighbours. I think we should go over and give a pumpkin to the suspects. What do you think?"

Okay, how brilliant is that? You steal someone's pumpkin and the next day they come over to offer you another with a smile?

"Mom, you're a genius." I said. "Unko sharminda karo. Shame them in their own eyes. Gandhigiri at its best."

I don't even know if it will work. But I do think it's the best approach for sure.

Those who say Hindi movies teach us nothing useful should really go and watch 'Lage raho Munnabhai'.



20 comments:

Kranthi Kumar Gatta said...

Gold... :D

Love LJ Joshi said...

let's just keep our fingers crossed and hope that the suspects are aome decent ppl who would actually feel ashamed of their acts....

warna, mufat ka pumpkin khao mere bhaiya!

Iddy Albatross said...

Did it work?

~ Lopa said...

Coooool, so what was the effect on neighbours? :)

The Furobiker said...

super cool idea.. you can tell in an instant by watching their faces go red seeing the free pumpkin :D

Swathy said...

wow, super idea bhai...
bole to ekdum mast!! :)
I can imagine the red faces of the real culprits!

Arun said...

Just found your blog while searching for a ghazal. A real treasure!

Manasi said...

Hehe hehe.. that is really cool.. So wud the bhaigiri.. i mean .. gandhiri work? I wonder how bhai would have handled it..? heh heh.. :)

how about a new post on your neighbour's reaction?? :))

shweta said...

total filmy ....bt cool!!Hope it wrks!!

Shweta

aequo animo said...

Steal one and get one more delivered!!! , Quite a deal.

soleil said...

Your parents are geniuses! :D

mythalez said...

a post on the investigation procedure might also make for interesting reading ;) .. gifting pumpkins is a superb idea indeed!

that reminds me of this telugu saying, which when roughly translated means: "when asked who is the pumpkin thief, he checked his shoulders" ... here 'he' refers to the actual thief who gave himself away unwittingly by actually checking whether he was still carrying the stolen pumpkin :D

Sayesha said...

#Kranthi,
:)

#Love,
I really hope so too!!

#Iddy,
We won't know until the next pumpkin is ready for harvesting. :)

#~Lopa,
I'll ask Mom if they went ahead and did it (depending on whether a pumpkin was ready) and what the neighbours said. :P

#Abhishek,
Hehehehehe! :D

#Swathy,
I hope even if their faces don't go red, their conscience does! :)

#Arun,
Welcome and thank you! :)

#manasi,
Yeah I'll have a follow-up post some time. :)

#shweta,
Hahahaha! Main filmy meri mummy filmy. Kya karein? :)

#aequo,
Arre yaar! Thoda toh trust in the human spirit! :)

#soleil,
:D

#mythalez,
Hahaha! Investigation procedure was simple. Depending on the time of the theft and the angle from which the theft occurred, it could only be those folks.

Thanks for sharing the Telugu saying. Hehehe... I love these little sayings we have in different states. :)

Anonymous said...

I really do not know if this will work Sayesha. If they were so conscious, they would not have stolen it in the first place. But I like the spirit in which your parents are doing it.
And your dad is right in being concerned. What if his hard labour went to the hands of these thieves again?

Funny that same Telugu saying is in Kannada as well, with the same meaning. The south languages resemble in proverbs as well.
Since you have visited Bangalore few times, you might have caught on some Kannada :). Here goes nothing.
"kumbalakayee kaLLa andare hegalu muTTi noDkonDa anthey".

Sanchit said...

stellar bhai.. stellar...

lIl hIgH said...

Thats an awesome idea and your blog rocks. Just came across while browsing, it totally made my day. Its pleasent and nice. Keep Blogging :)

Sayesha said...

#varshaac,
Hmm... you have a point. But I think all of us do stupid things every now and then and only come to our senses when we get a jolt. Maybe offering the pumpkin would be the jolt their conscience needs. :)

#Sanchit,
Thanks. :)

#在乎,
Thanks! :)

#lIl hIgH,
Welcome to the bar, and thanks! :)

humblog said...

2 excellent posts in a row!

Next time I recommend Nehrugiri:

Give the neighbor of the suspected pumpkin chor a pumpkin and announce in a meeting that this exact pumpkin will show up at the pumpkin chor's house. ABRACADABRA! go into the pumpkin chor's house and get your pumpkin back.
How about that??? Let me know if this works.

Neha said...

So update us now...what happened? Did your parents actually do it? What happened? Did they meet the real culprits?

Sayesha said...

#aj,
Hehehehe! Good idea! :)

#N,
Yeah, they did it and the thefts have stopped. See latest post. :)