Incidental Smiles

By Harmohanlal Chhibber

A person endowed with a sense of humor has an inner richness for it often brings incidental smiles on his face. No potion, no beauty aid, no pencils and brushes can embellish a human face as the pleasant mark of an oft- worn smile does. A testy, tetchy, irascible or cantankerous person gets on his face easily discernible, disagreeable telltale clues that give him away even to his casual interlocutor.
A person can smile, laugh, cut jokes or find humor only if his mind is somewhat liberated, he is not overly bogged down with every-day-cares, neither is he too self-conscious to be always self-involved. To find humor or even to fully appreciate it, it is imperative to keep some channel of mind open to be ready to catch the subtle strands of others and ones own thoughts and actions. Similar is the case with Harmohan Chhibber who discovers humor where there appears none to a casual eye.
Laugh and the world laughs with you. Smile and the world smiles. A smiling face indicates an affinity, a bond, a link and a companionship of the voyage of life on this floating planet. A smiling face is cynosure of all eyes. Friends in office, social circle or wherever they are cluster him or her.
One who wears a smile on his face spreads sunshine and reflects a positive attitude. Harmohan Chhibber rightly exhorts his readers; you are not dressed for the day unless you wear a smile.
Even a casual perusal of an anecdotal narrative contained in incidental smiles will convince a reader that Harmohan Chhibber can smell or perceive humor instinctively. So hitch you wagon to Incidental Smiles and enjoy its inherent bliss.
Smile is an apparel of jovial heart and it can be therapeutic in its effect, it is also spiritual in content, it is mysterious Midas touch, an alchemy that turns every metal into gold. Smile is a mantra for success and bliss. It ensures facial uplift and cheerfulness. Smile is antidote to melancholy. They say act young and you feel young so wear a smile on your face and be happy. A smile can bridge the abyss between tantalizing bless and abject dejection, between friendliness and schizophrenic one-up-man ship.
A beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, so dose humor lie in the mind of the humorist. Mark Twain would find humor where none exists for others. When a high dignitary-the next speaker sitting beside him commented rather presumptuously that it appeared he would be talking over the heads of the audience. Twain took the wind out of the dignitary by saying feel easy, they dont listen.
in case when in an Old boys meet in an institution, a dignitary in visitors book wrote, I am what I am due to the institution. The person following him scribbled below it, Why blame the institution? When a legal luminary was a student, his teacher not being satisfied with his answer in the law class at Mumbai asked him where he had his schooling. On being told that it was at Shimla, the teacher said, Why go so far to learn so little.
It is apparent that in all the above incidents there initially appears to no point of humor but a person endowed with a sense of humor will discover it to the pleasant surprise of his company. Similar is the case with Harmohan Chhibber who discovers humor where there appears none to a causal eye.

Prof. P. L. Bhola

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Apr 2, 2012
• ISBN: 9781466916067

Harmohanlal Chhibber

Harmohan Chhibber was born in Gujrat District of West Punjab (now in Pakistan) and had his education at Jalandhar, Karnal and then Panjab University Chandigarh from where he obtained his Law degree. He worked as a legal advisor, for three decades in various capacities in a nationalized bank and rose to be the Assistant General Manager and also headed legal / Disciplinary Action division of personnel department at Central office. As legal expert he represented the Bank before various labor authorities i.e. Conciliation officer. Labor Counts and Industrial Tribunals. Several Training Colleges of different Banks utilized his vast experience by inviting him as a guest speaker and at the podium not only did he hone his delivery mechanism but also developed humor as an aid to dissemination of knowledge and putting across his view with better response and receptivity. His penchant and passion for writing was reflected in the articles and book reviews which were published in different newspapers and magazines. Due to inborn sense of humor, his articles specialize in this genre, he has written a few remarkable ghost stories though. He has a very lovable knack of effortlessly sharing his vast experience of men and matter in anecdotal form in a laid back manner which not only pleases but also brings incidental smiles to the reader’s face. Prof. P. L. Bhola

Book preview

INCIDENTAL

SMILES

Harmohan Lal Chhibber

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© Copyright 2012 Harmohan Lal Chhibber.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

isbn: 978-1-4669-1607-4 (sc)

isbn: 978-1-4669-1608-1 (hc)

isbn: 978-1-4669-1606-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012902857

Trafford rev. 03/01/2012

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Contents

1   SOUVENIR

2   HOMELY ATMOSPHERE

3   RELIEVING HANDS

4   DECEASED ACCOUNT

5   GOOD ADVOCATE

6   GETTING READY

7   INTERVIEW

8   ABUSIVE LANGUAGE

9   ABUSIVE SLOGANS

10   CONGESTED PLACE

11   REAL CULPRIT

12   MEDICAL CERTIFICATE

13   CARELESS HANDLING

14   MARSHALING FACTS

15   GOOD WITNESS

16   LONG HOURS

17   SMILE

18   NOD WITH THE HEAD

19   EXHIBITS IN AN

ENQUIRY

20   THE RICH PEON

21   PERFORMANCE

22   ENFORCING DISCIPLINE

23   SATISFACTORY

PERFORMANCE

24   GOOD JOB

25   DIALING THE

WRONG NUMBER

26   HIJACKING A BUS

27   THREE O’CLOCK

28   SWAPPING LIFE

PARTNER

29   WRONG IDENTITY

30   SWEET TALK

31   CONSCIOUS

32   SILVER JUBILEE

33   ROTATING CHAIR

34   ADVOCATE’S FEE

35   IMPERSONATION

36   EXPLICIT ORDER

37   FORGETFUL

PRESIDING OFFICER

38   ABANDONMENT

39   HUNGER STRIKE—

DINNER MENU

40   ANOTHER

HUNGER STRIKE

41   FLOODS AT DELHI

42   FORGETFUL

JUDGE AGAIN

43   CONSULTING

LAW OFFICER

44   GHERAO

45   SHOCKINGLY

FORGETFUL

46   RESULTANT VACANCY

47   LOOSE TALK

48   THE STOLEN PAPERS

49   CONDITIONS

OF SERVICE

50   CONTROL OVER THE TYPEWRITER

51   LUNCH AT WORK PLACE

52   CONFIDENCE

53   MANAGING

PROCEEDINGS

54   DUTY IS DUTY

55   BRINGING A WITNESS

56   CALCULATIONS

57   PASSING THE BUCK

58   BRIBING IN THE

OPEN COURT

59   LABOUR COURTS

60   SOCIAL JUSTICE

61   QUALIFYING

WRITTEN TEST

62   SCOOTER LOAN

63   FILLING DEPOSIT SLIP

64   HONEST TRANSACTION

65   DAILY EXPENSES

66   APPROPRIATE

AUTHORITY

67   TERMINAL DUES

IN SERVICE

68   X AND XX

69   HANDLING AGITATION

70   WITHOUT ANNOYANCE

71   DEFENCE PROVES MANAGEMENT’S CASE

72   STRONG LOGIC

73   POWERFUL OFFICER

74   SUSPENSION

THAT NEVER WAS

75   TRANSFER PAINS

76   THE RIGHT APPROACH

77   ISSUES

FOR DISCUSSION

78   HITTING BACK

79   SUCCESSFUL MEETING

80   IDENTICAL

PERSONALITY

81   UNDER PRESSURE

82   MISFIRED

83   LENGTHY NOTING

84   MISSING TEST

85   MEDICAL BILLS

86   DEALING WITH POLICE

87    COPYING WORK

IN TRIBUNAL

88   WORKING HOURS

89   IDENTITY CRISIS

90    RESCUED BY A DOG

91   SAVING A MARRIAGE

92   REWARD OF LOYALTY

93   POLITICAL

INTERFERENCE

94   THE INSURANCE

AGENCY

95   ATTITUDE

96   SERVICE BENEFITS

97   DOZING OFF

98   KNOWLEDGE

of ENGLISH

99   MILKY WAY

100   GENDER

CONFUSION

101   VENUE

OF DISCUSSIONS

102   GHOST STORY

103   ANOTHER

GHOST STORY

EPILOGUE

Extracts from a letter from Amitabh Bachchan

Humor is an essential element in all our lives, helping us to get a different perspective, get outside of ourselves and break down barriers. Best of all, it allows us to have a good laugh.

Medical Science has also demonstrated the biological benefits of laughter. We now know that laughter is not only good for the spirit but also for the body.

Your book Incidental Smiles creates an environment which is amenable to humour. Thank you for sharing it with me.

Warmly,

SKU-000549237_TEXT.pdf

Dedicated to my father late Shri Chuni Lal Chhibber who lived to be 91 with contentment and excellent sense of humor—which I inherited.

Harmohan Lal Chhibber

About The Author

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Harmohan Chhibber was born in Gujrat District of West Punjab (now in Pakistan) and had his education at Jalandhar, Karnal and then Panjab University, Chandigarh from where he obtained his Law degree.

He worked as a legal advisor, for three decades in various capacities in a nationalized bank and rose to be the Assistant General Manager and also headed Legal/Disciplinary Action division of personnel department at Central office.

As a legal expert he represented the Bank before various labour authorities i.e. Conciliation officer, Labour Counts and Industrial Tribunals.

Several Training Colleges of different Banks utilized his vast experience by inviting him as a guest speaker and at the podium not only did he hone his delivery mechanism but also developed humour as a need to disseminate knowledge and putting across his view with better response and receptivity.

His penchant and passion for writing was reflected in the articles and book reviews which were published in different newspapers and magazines. Due to inborn sense of humour, his articles specialized in this genre, he has written a few remarkable ghost stories too.

He has a very lovable knack of effortlessly sharing his vast experience of men and matter in anecdotal form in a laid back manner which not only pleases but also brings incidental smiles to the reader’s face.

Prof. P.L. Bhola

About the Book

A person endowed with a sense of humor has an inner ‘richness’ for it often brings incidental smiles on his face. No potion, no beauty aid, no pencils and brushes can embellish a human face as the pleasant mark of an oft—worn smile does. A testy, tetchy, irascible or cantankerous person gets on his face easily discernible, disagreeable telltale clues that give him away even to his casual interlocutor.

A person can smile, laugh, cut jokes or find humor only if his mind is somewhat liberated, he is not overly bogged down with every-day-cares, neither is he too self-conscious to be always self-involved. To find humor or even to fully appreciate it, it is imperative to keep some channel of mind ‘open’ to be ready to catch the subtle strands of others and one’s own thoughts and actions. Similar is the case with Harmohan Chhibber who discovers humor where there appears none to a casual eye.

Laugh and the world laughs with you. Smile and the world smiles. A smiling face indicates an affinity, a bond, a link and a companionship of the voyage of life on this floating planet. A smiling face is cynosure of all eyes. Friends in office, social circle or wherever they are cluster him or her. One who wears a smile on his face spreads sunshine and reflects a positive attitude. Harmohan Chhibber rightly exhorts his readers; ‘‘you are not dressed for the day unless you wear a smile’’.

Even a casual perusal of an anecdotal narrative contained in ‘incidental smiles’ will convince a reader that Harmohan Chhibber can ‘smell’ or perceive humor instinctively. So hitch your wagon to ‘Incidental Smiles’ and enjoy its inherent bliss.

Smile is an apparel of jovial heart and it can be therapeutic in its effect, it is also spiritual in content, it is mysterious Midas touch, an alchemy that turns every metal into gold. Smile is a ‘mantra’ for success and bliss. It ensures facial uplift and cheerfulness. Smile is antidote to melancholy. They say ‘act young and you feel young’ so wear a smile on your face and be happy. A smile can bridge the abyss between tantalizing bliss and abject dejection, between friendliness and schizophrenic one-up-manship.

A beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, so does humor lie in the mind of the humorist. Mark Twain would find humor where none exists for others. When a high dignitary-the next speaker-sitting beside him commented rather presumptuously that it appeared he would be talking over the heads of the audience. Twain took the wind out of the dignitary by saying ‘feel easy, they don’t listen’. In case when in an ‘Old boys ‘meet in an institution, a dignitary in visitors’ book wrote I am what I am due to the institution. The person following him scribbled below it, Why blame the institution? When a legal luminary was a student, his teacher not being satisfied with his answer in the law class at Mumbai asked him where he had his schooling. On being told that it was at Shimla, the teacher said, Why go so far to learn so little. It is apparent that in all the above incidents there initially appears to no point of humor but a person endowed with a sense of humor will discover it to the pleasant surprise of his company. Similar is the case with Harmohan Chhibber who discovers humor where there appears none to a casual eye.

Prof. P.L. Bhola

PREFACE

The difference between a man and an animal is that man knows how to laugh. If a person stops laughing it means he is becoming an animal and; and when an animal starts laughing it means that it is becoming a human being. I will be sharing my personal experiences in this book. Of course, we must not make fun of others or laugh at them but certain situations are funny and sometimes unwittingly we become the butt of jokes. For example when we have a Boss who is having lesser knowledge then our sense of humour should come to our rescue and we must not grumble because he is a great ‘asset’, as, working under him can let you shine in comparison. So, I always liked the Boss with less knowledge, preferably no knowledge of what he is supposed to do. I was lucky most of the time.

Of course, my experience was not always good as I committed the folly once by inadvertently trusting a Trade Union Leader, when I got a Boss with no expertise in Personnel Deptt. He was picked up for extraneous reasons. He started passing inappropriate and ill thought-out orders at times. The Trade Union Leader who had knowledge about it, enquired from me as how I was coping with the situation. I told him that in my childhood, I had read a story that in a jungle there was a democratic election among the animals and a donkey was elected as the king of the jungle. Being the king of the jungle, the donkey passed orders that Every female animal hereafter will lay eggs, nobody will give birth to pups. The lioness complained to the lion and the lion got angry and killed the donkey. Since then the lion is the king of the jungle.

We too were saddled with a donkey to rule us but no lion was coming forward to give relief. The leader conveyed my conversation to the said Boss. However, due to my equation with the superiors I was spared any harsh treatment but was politely advised to be careful.

In an office we have two types of employees, one who exaggerates everything and the other who minimizes or plays down even the grave challenges. In fact there are two jokes about it which will elucidate it in a better way. The first one is about exaggeration. There was a person who exaggerated everything and his friends got fed up. So, they told him that whenever in conversation he was found to be exaggerating one of the friends would make a sound of cough and he should pick up the hint and correct himself. Once during conversation with his friends, he told them I went to a jungle and killed a lion which was a mile long. His friend immediately coughed. Then the person corrected himself and said when I went still nearer it was not one mile but hundred meters long. The friend coughed again so he corrected again, when I went more near it was 20 meters long, thereafter the friend again coughed, then this fellow corrected himself and said I measured the lion by tape and it was 10 meters long. Since 10 meters is also unusual length the friend again started coughing, this fellow said I have already measured, I cannot reduce further.

The other type of person who minimized everything went to pick up his master from the Airport. The servant received him at the Airport. In those days there was no phone booth facility or any quick telephone system, so the master was not in a position to get in touch with his family. Immediately after getting down he enquired from the servant Is everything OK at home The servant who minimized everything replied Yes Sir, everything is OK except that the tail of your dog got burnt Oh, how did it happen? The servant said Sir, when the house got fire, the dog was sitting in the garage. Oh my house got fire, how did that happen? The servant again replied Sir, one of the candles around the dead body of your mother fell down and there was a fire which spread in the house. Oh my mother died? he again asked" The