Ek pe ek free!

[Guest guest]

Ek pe ek free!

No matter which newspaper you open today, you cannot miss the advertisements

telling you that you will get one free with one. Irresistible offers which

you can't escape.

I was lured by one such ad which claimed to give six pieces of cookware at

an incredible price of 1500 bucks. Each was worth at least 400 apiece! When

I asked to see the ware, the shopkeeper, with much fanfare, plunked three

fry pans on the counter. I was mystified. I know I didn't score very high in

my school math's exam, but I could safely count till three.

" Excuse me, but these are only three fry pans? "

" Yeah! And each has its own glass lid. That makes it six pieces! "

" But that's like the doctor saying that he has delivered the baby, but

delivering the limbs of the baby will be extra! "

" Of course, they charge you for that! That is why it costs an arm and a leg

to deliver a baby, though all the 'mehanat' is done by you. "

I could not fault him his logic. He continued, " When you buy a mobile phone,

don't they say that the headphones, instruction manual and charger are free

with the phone. Aren't they actually a part of the whole deal and should not

be counted as free? "

Again: Faultless logic. I kept thinking, yes, I have been getting these free

deals my whole life. When I married, I got a mother-in-law and father-in-law

free as a package deal. There was an added bonus of a few sisters-in-law and

a brother-in-law thrown in. Of course, the father-in-law was a limited

period offer, because he was quite old.

As I trudged home with my 'six' pieces of cookware, I decided to write an

article about this, but along with it, I would offer my readers the title

absolutely free. As an added bonus you get the author's name also free. But

it is a limited time offer.

Kishore Shah