There were 3 others waiting at the ATM (of a Public Sector Bank) and I was there patiently waiting for my turn helmet in hand when the security guy addressed me, "Sir. You can't carry it inside" pointing his finger in the direction of a notice put up from inside the main glass door that read 'HELL MATE NOT ALLOWED INSIDE'
As an old customer of the Bank I felt obliged to draw attention of the bank's management to the spelling error. I spoke to the Bank Manager who instantly called the special assistant.
"Sir I've checked it up with Vasant and he has confirmed that the spelling is correct!", the Special Assistant said.
"Who is Vasant?" - I asked.
"He is our borrower customer. He runs an SSI-unit engaged in the manufacture of helmets."- was the shocking reply.
"The spelling error is atrocious! Tell him this spelling-error coming from him is bad publicity for his product. At once it speaks volumes for:
a) The futility of wearing it.
b) Scant security provided by it.
c) The near certainty of the deadly outcome (in the event of an accident) as also a hint at the likely destination thereafter and
d) Most importantly also its continued presence on one's head in whatever shape even after reaching there!"
This happened six months back and they are yet to rectify the mistake! When I spoke about it with the Special Assistant once again he said, "I have checked it up on the Computer also. The spelling is okay!"
The younger generation seems to rather excessively depend on modern gadgets for everything. Starting from simple addition & subtraction -not to talk of division & multiplication- right up to checking of spelling errors they seem to look for a virtual solution for practically everything! So long the computer does not show the words Hell and Mate underlined in red spelling is okay for them. But pray why would the computer show these words as miss-spelt so long these words exist in the English lexicon? I once again called on the bank manager trying to impress upon him the dangers involved in thus unduly depending on computers when I got to learn of yet another shocking incident that had occurred in the Bank a few years ago. The long and short of it as follows:
Few officers of the Branch had just then been promoted and their new designations announced. As per official requirement each officer's name and his/her designation had to be painted on small boards and prominently displayed on their respective tables. Entire responsibility in this regard was entrusted to a senior officer who had just then taken charge of Establishment Department. Within a week's time these attractively painted name-plates arrived and were placed on the tables of all the newly designated officers including that of a lady who had been designated as the bank's Public Relations Officer.
Too many people had already taken note of the letter 'l' that was conspicuous by its absence in the first word Public and had a hearty laugh also by the time it finally came to the knowledge of the officer concerned who was naturally furious! Even the guy who had painted it- reportedly a Mohammedan Abdul Lataf by name- could not have done it intentionally. His knowledge of English language being what it is restricted merely to its alphabets. It is too much to expect him to be aware of even the existence of the other word;leave alone its meaning.
But then it was literally Hell-Let-Loose for the poor old officer In-Charge of the Establishment Department who had the boards painted. The issue was blown out of proportion especially since the lady involved belonged to the Scheduled Caste and nothing short of a punishment transfer for the old man who was held guilty could pacify the trade-union leaders who had meanwhile joined the fray. And that is precisely what happened for that poor man whose only fault was 'blindly relying on spell-check done by the computer'.
Written by:
EKNAATH NAGARKAR
Flat # 24, BECS Millennium Apts.,
325, Vth Main, BEML Layout,
Basaveshwarnagar I Stage,
Bangalore - 560 079
Phone: 080 23480485 / 080 22748690
(M) 0919341279687
I left Bank of India in 1995 after serving that glorious institution for over 32 years under voluntary Retirement Scheme and took up acting as a career. Although I have a flair for writing I had never tried my hand at writing for Newspapers/Magazines earlier. I've been writing for DECCAN HERALD, MID-DAY, FREE PRESS JOURNAL & AFTERNOON DESPATCH & COURIER as also late Minoo Masani's magazine FREEDOM FIRST.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Eknaath_Nagarkar
