When I Came Face to Face with ‘Don’

As I switched on the television last night, I heard these famous words on Star Plus that was showing the Shahrukh Khan 2006 flick ‘Don’…

“Don ka intezar toh 11 mulkon ki police kar rahi hai! Lekin Don ko pakadna mushkil hi nahin, namumkin hai! (Police from 11 countries are waiting to catch hold of Don. But it isn’t just difficult to catch him, it’s impossible.)

Call it fate, or my bad luck, I accidently changed the channel. This time it was a business channel that was showcasing another kind of Don – D-Street Ka Don.

It was the first time I came across something as loud and funny on a business channel. Though I watch such channels only when I cannot find any comedy serial anywhere else, this show was seriously funny.

“How can people watch such programmes?” my wife taunted me.

“Yes papa, what are you watching? See how arrogantly this uncle is talking?” added my daughter who, at 7 years, is smart enough to differentiate between arrogance and intelligence.

“I’m not watching this. This came across just by accident!” I replied in my defense as my wife pulled the remote out of my hand as if I had tortured her senses.

Well, I’m not sure what my family thinks of my intelligence after last night’s ‘mishap’, but I do not doubt the intelligence of the anchor of the show. He might, in fact, be an intelligent man.

I’m only worried for people who watch such ‘loud’ shows on business channels – not accidentally but intentionally – and then act on the investment advice without bothering to understand whether the advice is right for them or not!

The anchor speaks as if his words are the ultimate truth that his viewers must believe in. Also, he scolds some callers in such a way that would embarrass even the most dominating of personalities.

Typically, strategists and pundits who appear on business channels do a wonderful job of parroting what everyone else is saying about stock prices. With the advent of the Internet, and 24/7 blabbing on news channels, it is difficult to not get caught up in the daily drama.

I mean, if you turn on any business channel any time of the day or night, you’re faced with crazy hosts and hostesses, duly accompanied by a gang of experts, indulging in wild fortune telling on where stock prices are headed.

It’s a chaotic scene out there…day after day…every day.

But switch off such channels, stand back a bit, and things become much calmer and orderly.

Only this is when you can realize that you are much smarter than these arrogance-spitting men and women, and have much powerful thinking ability then the Dons out there.

“By the way, this beats any other show on any other business channel in terms of its entertainment value,” I confided in my wife while she continued to stare at me.

I continued, “Iss Don ko samajhna mushkil hi nahin, namumkin hai! (It isn’t just difficult to understand this Don, it’s impossible.)

This time she burst out laughing.