The All-knowing!

Dear Sri,

I began the day reading your article. Dont we all meet at least one such person in our lives?

And like Kamla, I also have unenviable happiness of sharing my house with guests when I am the midst of spring cleaning going on and eliciting comments from dear know all.

But like you say having a know all person around you (especially in the house) definitely keeps you on your toes and may be in shape also?

 

I enjoyed the piece, Sri

Dear Sri,

I enjoyed this piece which was at once humorous and enlightening. To be aware of such specimens will give us the strength not to be discouraged by their words.

Two things come to my mind regarding this all-knowing people. One is a very good short story Know-all by Somerset Maughm. The central character of that story is a know-all who pokes his nose into every thing. Throughout the 5 page short story Maughm will make us really irritated by that character. In the end the Know-all will do an act of compassion that will endear him to all the readers. The story's effect was so profound that I have started loving the Know-alls of this world.

Even before reading this story I happened to know of an irritating Know-all. This KA was a private Accountancy Teacher who made lot of money coaching CA students. I and a few other students had a clear policy not to seek any external help for Accountancy, the subject we were passionate about.

Now this KA will come to the CA Examination Venue on the Accountancy Exam day, when the exam was about to be over. His marketing technique was unique. He would get the Accounts question paper from the unsuspecting student and go through it. He would ask innocently, "Did you attempt the 3rd problem?" The student would say, "I did sir, but I could not complete it. The balance sheet did not tally."
"Oh, that's pretty easy. I can do it in 5 minutes flat."
"Really, who are you?"
Now he would talk about his Institute, his abilities, and his rate of success.

This was going for some time. In 1977 the CA Final Accounts was the toughest. And this time KA was confronting one of the brightest students of Madurai, my senior, by name Rajagopal. He is the MD of a company now.

Rajagopal would usually look like a villager lost in an exhibition. So KA targetted him and got his question paper. And when KA uttered his usual line about his ability to solve Problem no.3 in no time, an undaunted Rajagopal pulled out a paper and pen from his bag and gave them to him.
"Come on. Do it. If you finish the problem within an hour, I will prostrate before you."

Many students had gathered around them now. KA could not even start to work on that problem. And that was the last year KA adopted that marketing technique.

A very enjoyable piece, Sri.
sridhar

 

Dear Sri and Sri,

I would also like to develop th courage to call the bluff in people - maybe Varalotti can give us some tips on it, please?

I would be indebted to you forever.

 

Dear Sri and Dear Chitra,
Well, Calling The Bluff is not exactly my specialisation. Though my profession has forced me to do that a number of times.
Now that you have requested me Chitra and Sri says 'gullible' is printed on his face, let me devote my next topic on calling the bluff.

thanks,
sridhar

 

Dear Cheeniya sir,
I have decided that i will not post fb till 3 or 4 pages of ur thread goes on....you see the minute post my fb and i get ur reply, i dont bother to read that thread anymore....but of late i have realised that a lot of things happen later ....so have been patiently raeding the thread ....and your last reply about calling someone's bluff prompted the fb....
I was also thinking that i will never want to call someone's Bluff since i will feel sorry for that person....because i have encountered such a person here, and i know very well that he is bluffing all the time....but i feel that the minute i tell him he is bluffing, it will puncture his ego....and i being the one i am, i don't want to hurt anyone....so will bear and laugh at such a person......
So i personally don't feel we are gullible or we need to see if it as an asset or liability....any waiting for sridhar's post now!
And why a depressing morning.....is it external or internal!( we at IL dont let anyone feel depressed for any reason! After all isn't the thread about ALL KNOWING and Interfering people in our lives!::::he he....):mrgreen:

 

Dear Sri and Sri, and of course Sudha,

I am really honoured to have received replies from both of you immediately.

To Sudha, --On a serious note, while I agree harmless bluffers can be ignored, there are those who take advantage of our keeping quiet. This is where I would like to gather some courage and call their bluff.

On a lighter note, feeding their egos gives us unlimited amusement and therefore we can take them to be an asset in our lives, but to a limited extent, of course!!

To Cheeniya - (sorry i have to take your name now to avoid confusion) -- like Sudha said, we at IL dont allow anyone to get depressed especially young men like you even at the age of 64 -- So cheer up

And to Varalotti - I look forward very eagerly to your write up on calling the bluff :goodidea: