Suits and Sayings: Wackiest whispers and murmurs in corporate corridors

The Humble Prince They say Mumbai is a great leveler. Prince or pauper, you are forced to stand in queues, get stuck in traffic snarls and on occasion, even take a local train. But then again, this royalty did not need a lesson in humility from the city. When Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who rang the closing bell at the Bombay Stock Exchange, an ornate chair was put up for him on the dias alongside the usual ones for the aam janta. Twenty minutes before the function kicked off, the protocol officer from the richest middle eastern country replaced the princely chair with a normal one. Apparently, the Crown Prince wanted none of the preferential treatment.

Happy Birthday, Guv RBI governor Raghuram Rajan had a pretty special birthday this year. After all, it’s not often that one is wished by the leader of a billion people. That’s right. We hear that Prime Minister Narendra Modi wished the governor. The greetings show that all is well between the man who is trying to fuel India’s economy and the man who is cleaning up the cobwebs in the Indian banking system.

Cozying Up With The Mantri Come Tuesday evening, a US-India Business Council (USIBC) gala bash will see Cisco Systems Executive Chairman John Chambers, who has just taken over as the chairman of the powerful US trade lobby body, and Telecom & IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad sharing stage. With the Budget less than a fortnight away, US business hotshots aren’t likely to miss the opportunity to cozy up with the mantri to demand sops for tech companies participating in Digital India/Make in India drives. Grapevine also has it that some USIBC members may crib about the telecom regulator’s recent decision to bar all forms of differential data pricing.

Bears, Bulls & Horses That the bears have their fangs and claws out in the stock market is well known. But the bulls aren’t making their own lives any easier. One big bull of Mumbai not just lost truckloads of money in the bazaar but also ended up on the losing side in the derby. We hear that this big bull’s horse was placed seventh in the derby, even though the bull had expected it to win by a fair distance. Wonder if the bull is drowning his sorrows in gallons of single malt?

Yogic Cures For All These tough times call for unusual cures. While some down single malts, others turn to more ‘uplifting pursuits’. We hear the scion of a prominent textile manufacturing family in Western India has introduced yoga sessions for employees to soothe their frayed nerves. Sirasana, anybody?


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