Freeeeeee Freeeeeee!!!!!!!

"Buy 6 sarees from our showroom," the model screams,"and the 7th one is freeeeeeeee freeeee!!!"
Tempted, anyone?
If not by this, I guess there would be other things that, being free, tempt one.

Just after taking VRS, with a lot of free time and enthusiasm on my hands and heart, I used to visit different superstores , especially the new ones, to check out their 'offers'. While the teaspoons or bowls coming free with some beverage never interested me,I was always a sucker for pretty plastics and shiny stainless steels. In fact, my free collection grew so much that when my sister in law had to spend a year in India and needed to set up home,I was able to supply her almost all the containers for her kitchen!

Free...also brings to mind the euphemism used for the word by my erstwhile colleagues in Allahabad Bank, Bombay. I first thought it was a Maumbaikar habit, using"phenyle" for free, but realised later that it was typically Allahabad Bank!You got a gift? "Phenyle" it was. You gave someone something? That was also "phenyle". I first heard it when my manager Indira complimented me on a saree I was wearing. I told her it was a gift, and later when another colleague appreciated the saree, Indira said it was "phenyle" and they both laughed. When I demanded an explanation I was simply told "phenyle" meant free, or gift. I accepted that, albeit with reservations, as I could see no connection between the two words.It was some time later that the full impact of the term dawned on me.

One morning, when Indira and I were the only bank staff present, a customer turned up, and gave Indira a bunch of greeting cards. He spoke to her for a few minutes and then left. She later distributed the cards amongst us and told us we could use them.Even though I did not want any, she forced a few on me.
A few days later, the same guy who had given the cards came again, and there was an argument going on between them. This time too, only Indira and I were present, so I went into the cabin to see if she needed any help. I could make out that he was demanding money for the cards, while she,not having realised that he had meant them to be purchased by the staff and not just given away,had distributed them! How many cards had been taken, and by whom, she had no idea, so there was no way she would be able to collect the money. In any case, since she had told them it was free, no one would now pay for them either! I could see the frustration mounting within her, and when the customer once more started his demands, she told him in no uncertain terms to forget about the cards...."kyunki hamare staff, na, phukat me milega tho phenyle bi piyega!" (Our staff will drink even phenyle should it be supplied free!)
That was the etymology behind the term phenyle! It doesn't sound as funny in English, and at that point of time, it didn't sound funny to me at all! I was filled up to my throat with indignation (used to take myself pretty seriously those days!) I could hardly speak. Finally I managed to get the guy out, to pay him for my share of cards, and even went to the extent of buying a couple of sets of New Year cards, though I did not need them, just so he would go away! When the others trickled in later and found out what had happened, they just laughed. No one was going to take that card seller or their Branch Manager seriously. After all, they had got good quality Christmas and New Year Cards free, and phukat me milega, tho phenyle bi piyega! was proved right!