Saturday 26 May 2007

The attack of the notorious balancesheeters

The spread of their virus is as worrisome as the virulence of its strain. Or maybe, as is my wont, I am in the wrong place at the wrong time. But I must begin at the beginning.

A balance sheeter is a person with a criminally single track mind whose world begins and ends with finance, trade and of course balancesheets. Mind you, they are no less dangerous than notorious history-sheeters. Perhaps, it's a classic molehill into a mountain situation. But I'm afraid they are ganging up on me. Fast.

I seem to run into them everywhere. At work, in my apartment, parties and restaurants, while hanging out with friends and even friendly visits to relatives and family. I have tried to run but I, certainly, cant hide. They lurk in my morning newspapers, blare out of my television, stare at me from billboard hoardings, sneak onto me from magazine shelves and they even have my mobile number.

To be fair, balancesheeters are few and far between but their infection is contagious. An alarming number of my conversations circle around property prices, stock markets,esops, tax calculations and planning, mutual funds, insurance, business confidence, real estate etc. Its appalling. Needless to say my contribution to such conversations is minimal. Both, out of ignorance and indifference.

Far too many of my friends and relatives are falling prey. Perfectly sane individuals develop an overnight interest in the wily sensex. Heck, even my job requires me to be uptodate on all such topics.

So, I'm left wondering about the wisdom of age old sayings. That if i cant beat them, I must join them.

A balancesheeter in the making.

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