Thursday, March 4, 2010

Thought provoking Jokes ..

Dear Friend / Colleage,
I am writing about yet another Pustak Mahal publication. The earlier post I have made on another Pustak Mahal publication is about “Creative problem solving - the Birbal Way” http://ixchange.wipro.com/blogs/?p=8196 where i had talked about simple Akbar-Birbal Stories have been turned into a crash course on Problem Solving and Managerial Wisdom with a consistent format Problem->Birbal Solution->Managment Moral
I see a clear parallel to that approach in this little Joke book, which is again a Pustak Mahal publication. What you you find interesting is that this does not play like a typical joke book but it follows it with a little twist. First there is the initial set-up for the joke, which is followed by the format The Query -> The Answer -> The message.

I will explain this with an example from the book (Just one - I hope it is still within permissible guidelines citing from a published source, partly because i am also doing a free promotional for the book :-).

Learn to criticize without Offending
In a party a woman was requested by the organizers to sing. After she sang, she proudly announced that she had spent Rs 50,000 to learn music and singing.
“I want you to meet my brother” interjected a guest.
Is he a critic or an agent? Asked the singer.
The man replied.
The Query What was the reply of the man?
The Answer “Neither” was the reply, he is a lawyer. “He will get your money back”.
The Message A subtle way of telling her message was below par ..

Over 250 questions in this format for less than Rs 100 price of the book. Is n't a steal :-).
I guess, a good way to read this book is to read the query and try guessing it and see how close you are to the answer although it is quite likely that you get lazy and just read it anyway as I am doing right now :-). Anyway the reference of the book is http://www.flipkart.com/world-best-thought-provoking-jokes/8122308473-ku23fhirnb#previewbook

P.S: Made me recall the series of “a bit of laugh + a by(i)te of Sanity” series of posts made by Vasu Chittipeddi(an X-wiproite), where he used to take some popular jokes and convey a spiritual message alongwith the Joke. As at Wipro, once the first page fills up as the old blogs don’t have a good way to get retreived, i am taking opportunity to link those series of Joke-cum-Philosphical streaks which are wonderful read. Anyone bothering ot check them out can use the below link. http://ixchange.wipro.com/blogs/?uid=1595
thanks
-J2M