Rain rain go away. And please don't come again another day.

It has been raining almost continously in Chennai since 5PM last Tuesday (25th Nov).
And mind you, this is not the usual Chennai rain, which is a brief pitter-patter for 5-odd
minutes after which the sun comes up brightly. This time, it has been raining heavily a la
Kerala-style and the sun seems to have gone on vacation for the last 2 days.

While rain is a good thing, the problem with too much of it is that it exposes the poor roads
we have and the almost non-existent storm-water drainage system. Which means, the sides
of the roads get flooded with water. So, if a road has 2 lanes, one of them would be full of water and motorists would avoid that lane because there is no knowing what could be below the
water - potholes or even big ditches that can swallow a car whole.

As a family learnt to their dismay when they were negotiating a water-logged road last week. Their Tata-Sumo (an 8-seater people-mover) just vanished into a big water-filled ditch dug alongside the road. Luckily there were some people around who rescued the 3 passengers & driver from the rapidly sinking vehicle. The vehicle was eventually pulled out by a crane.

See pic below of the Sumo in the ditch, courtesy The Deccan Chronicle newspaper.


A few more days of such rain in Chennai and we would need to swap our cars/bikes for rafts
or boats to take us around.

The best gift is the unexpected one.

Gifting is an art. And one that requires keen observation, patience and lots of time. Oh yes, money also. But that is not the main factor because you could spends loads of money and still
end up with an unsatisfied recipient, while you could make a person happy with a well-thought out gift that did not really cost you much.

I was pleasantly surprised by a gift from a colleague today morning. He had come around to
my cubicle during tea-break and I presumed the intention to be just to discuss tips on what shares to buy, since we both discuss the stock market a lot and take tips from each other often.

Well, he did discuss shares and stuff, but before leaving, he handed me a small packet, which
he said was a small gift for me that he had bought from his recent vacation at Goa. It was a
bottle of Fenny (an Indian liquor native to Goa, made either from coconut or from the juice
of the cashew apple).

I was really surprised at the gesture, because I was not expecting a gift from him. He had
been to Goa on a week's vacation with his wife and while I would expect him to get gifts for
his family, I would really not expect to be on his gift list.

Thanks, man. Not only did you take me by surprise, but I am honoured by your gesture.

P.S. : More info on Fenny available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenny

It's the economy, stupid. Nothing to do with dope or a wrongly wired brain.

While travelling in trains week-after-week is boring, one also comes across so many varied people/incidents - some funny, some sad and some really a pain. The last category is when
you have a few cranky kids as co-passengers, coupled with parents who just let them loose without worrying about the inconvenience it causes others. I hate irresponsible parents and
just hope I am not termed one by others.

I am not sure how to categorise this incident that happened 2 weeks ago on a fine Saturday morning. I am on the train to Kerala when I am woken up by a commotion around 4AM.
It seems like 2 guys are having an argument. But why would you argue at 4AM and disturb
the rest of the passengers who are sleeping ?

I think it will die down, but the commotion persists. I can now see one of the parties in the argument - an average built man around in his late fourties. I tell him that he is disturbing others and should shut up. He comes near me and says something that I can't make much
sense of - something on the lines of the other party being at fault and stuff. Anyway, since
he doesn't seem to be making any sense, I decide it is futile to argue with him. He continues pacing up and down the compartment, talking gibberish.

And to my horror, he is cooly smoking inside the compartment. Much before the "No smoking
in public places" law came into effect on the 2nd of October 2008, smoking in trains was a punishable offence. And with atleast 3 railway cops patrolling every train, I am surprised how
he can smoke so freely. Maybe the cops stop their patrolling after midnight and doze off .

And it is then it dawns on me that there is no 2nd party to the argument. He is actually talking
to himself loudly. Some passengers snigger that he must be high on marijuana (rolled in the cigarette). Others suggest that he sounds mentally challenged.

Anyway, he continues his tirade at imagined enemies. Then he suddenly plays a movie song loudly on one of his cellphones (he had atleast 3 phones on him), which naturally makes his
co-passengers protest. Instead of switching off the phone, he just flings it down, breaking it. Reason he gave for that was that he does not know how to switch off the song.

Around 7AM, the train reaches Cochin station and the guy detrains there. It is only after he
is gone that someone notices that he left one of his cellphones in the train itself. A passenger
who boarded the train with him at Chennai wonders why he detrained atCochin when he had
a ticket till Chengannur (2 hours away) & which was where he said his final destination was.

Since he does not seem to be in a good state of mind, the co-passengers are worried about his family who might be awaiting him at Chengannur station. They look up the address book in
the phone and identify his home phone number and call up his folks to tell them about the
phone he left behind and also about our man detraining at Cochin itself.

It seems the guy already called them from Cochin and asked them to come to Cochin to pick
him up and already somebody was on his way to Cochin to get the guy. One of his sons agrees
to come to Chengannur station to collect the phone, which he does.

When I reach home, I am recounting this incident to my people. I am still not sure if it was
the marijuana playing tricks or whether there was something wrong with the guy. My wife
and parents debate as to what could be the reason for his abnormal behaviour. Ofcourse, a conclusion evades us. And that is when the following conversation happens, which was both hilarious and thought-provoking.

Wife : OK, what did his profession seem to be ?
Me : Don't know for sure, but he mentioned some army cantonment and stuff. So I guess he is in the Army.

Dad : I know for sure what his profession was.
Me : What is his profession ? And how did you deduce that from the little I told you ?

Dad : It is elementary. He must be a software professional who got laid off due to the current slowdown, resulting in the mental state he is in. :-)

While I don't know what to say, my wife and Mom burst into laughter.

I know that he was kidding, but for the past few weeks, the media has been reporting daily
about lay-offs here, slowdown there, organisations asking employees to take sabattical or
just plainly saying not to come to work etc. So maybe there is something in even what was
said in jest.

How do you know if the real-estate market is in the dumps ? Just keep a tab on your bike-mechanic.

Yeah, I know it sounds strange that your neighbourhood bike-mechanic has anything to do
with the real-estate market's fortunes. I don't know about other countries or even other
places in India, but if things in Chennai are an indication, you better keep a tab on the guy.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Chennai city has the highest number of motor-bikes in
India and it would only be natural if the number of bike-shops and bike-mechanics are also proportionately higher. Every street here has a small pigeon-hole shop that is supposedly
a bike-repair shop.

After buying my bike in 1995 (yeah it is 13 years old and nearing the government specified
life for cars/bikes of 15 years), I used the services of the authorised workshops only for a
year. This was because only they were qualified to do the 3 free services that need to be
done at 1/6/12 months of owning a bike and if you got these services done elsewhere, it
voids the warranty.

Once the free services were done with, I went about identifying a good mechanic near my
home with whom I could entrust my bike for any repairs. The criteria was reliability, honesty and reasonable expertise and ofcourse economical, when compared to authorised workshops. With help from friends, I identified one such guy and he has been taking care of my bike all
these years.

A friendly guy, he could easily detect problems and fix them too. And he had his shop on the same road where my apartment was. So, things were going fine. Atleast till a few years ago.

Some 3-4 years ago, I noticed that he would not be available whenever I went there. In his
place there would be a young apprentice, who while all eager to work, was not skilled enough.
Which meant that my bike would be a guinea-pig for him to learn the trick of the trade. But though my bike is old, I still like it as I did when it was new. So, I would give the kid some
excuse and come at some other time. But the friendly owner/mechanic would still be missing.

It was only after a few such visits and talks with my friends that I came to know that our man chanced upon an alternate occupation - broker for land/home deals. The real-estate market
was booming like crazy in Chennai and he was making quite a packet by helping sell/buy land. Compared to that money (typically a percentage of the deal value), the measly income from repairing bikes was negligible.

Still he did not want to give up his first occupation fully which explained his keeping the shop active with an apprentice. While his business repairing bikes suffered due to his absence and
the inexperience of the apprentice, he was making good money from real estate deals. This continued till early 2008. I gave up visiting his shop altogether & identified another workshop
for my bike-repair needs.

A few months ago, I was walking by his shop & see him working seriously on a bike. I dismiss
it as a one-off case of his putting in some time on the bike just for old times sake. But over the days, I see him regularly at the shop repairing bikes. The apprentice is gone and it is he himself who does all repairs.

I am surprised initially, but then can make out the connection. Like elsewhere in the world,
the real-estate sector came in for a correction here in India also, specifically in Chennai. As
they say, "When America sneezes, the world is sure to catch a cold". Effect of the American
slow-down/recession is to be seen here also. Not only are salary & recruitment freezes being
put in place, but lay-offs are also being reported.

When people are worrying about their jobs, buying a new home or plot of land would be the
last thing on their mind. As the situation stands currently here, there is a kind of stalemate
in the market - builders/developers have stopped new projects and going slow on projects
that are under construction because there are not enough buyers at the price they are demanding. And buyers are not buying because they are expecting the prices to crash.
Who will break first remains to be seen.

Anyway, this situation is bad for the brokers also. After all, if no transaction is happening,
where would they get their cut from ? Which explains why my bike mechanic is back to
repairing bikes.

Courting travails, the Xbox, Mace etc

There are some regular columns like "Ask Stella", "male call" etc in the Deccan Chronicle that
I like and follow without fail. Ofcourse, they would fall under the category "junk" if you go by
any test of news-worthiness or knowledge-addition. But, it is fun reading them & I guess that
also matters.

Anyway, I came across a particularly interesting 'male call' article a week ago, on the eternal
question of who should pay during dates - the guy or the girl. And the humorous way (esp.
the parts about Xbox, Mace, duelling etc) in which it was answered made it all the more
fun-to-read. Here it goes :

Ques : Is the guy always supposed to pay for the date? I’ve been out on a few dates with
this girl & she’s never offered to pay anything, even though she knows I’m no moneybag.

Ans : A few quaint Elizabethan-like customs have endured, like the practice of men paying
for everything. Oh, and also duelling. So the answer to your question is a qualified yes.
Guys are expected to pay, at least in the initial phase of the courtship. But contrary to what
you might be thinking (“I could be spending this money on a new Xbox 360?”), the girl isn’t
out to fleece you. She’s simply trying to get some insight into an important aspect of your character: Are you a cheapskate?

But it gets trickier after you’ve been dating a while. If she has a decent job & still never offers
to pay for so much as mints, you are allowed to question her motives. Which doesn’t mean
that if she does offer, you have to accept. Often, the correct response is “Thanks, hon, I've got it.” Of course, for all you know, she’s got nothing but a can of Mace in her purse anyway. But
at least she offered.

After a month or so, you should know each other well enough to say, “I’ll get the tickets if you get the popcorn,” or “Do you mind picking up the lunch tab?” That should be enough for her to dust the cobwebs off the Gucci. And if she still manages to head to the restroom to freshen up just as the check is arriving, well, maybe you should be looking for a new love. Or a dueling partner.
Article courtesy : The Deccan Chronicle.

An interesting quote

Came across this quote a few days ago in the Chennai edition of the "Deccan Chronicle" newspaper. Found it interesting enough to post it here.

"I love being married. It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy
for the rest of your life." - Rita Rudner.

Makes sense, doesn't it ? :-)

Young lives lost for so trivial a cause.

Of late, I have been reading many newspaper reports of suicides committed by youngsters,
mostly in their teens. Reasons have been varied - parents scolded the kid, teacher rebuked
the kid, a girl spurned their love, parents did not like their daughter being chummy with some guy etc etc.

While adolescence is one of the most troublesome phases of life (for both youngsters and their parents), I don't think previous generations resorted to taking their lives for such trivia. While growing up, I cannot remember even a single case of suicide by any youngster for any reason whatsoever. Looks like the young today are really a breed apart. Very confident about themselves, to the extent of being cocky, but at the same time, prone to breaking up for a
trivial thing. Any which way you look at it, it is not a good sign when kids give up their lives at the drop of a hat.

What made me write this post was two such incidents that came in the newspapers on two consecutive days. Yesterday, a girl in her teens committed suicide because she was hurt that
her parents scolded her for her 'friendship' with a guy. Obviously, the parents felt that she should be concentrating on her studies instead of being involved with a boy. But, the girl just went and took her own life, without even thinking how it will remain a lifetime loss for her parents.

And even stranger and bizarre was the suicide reported in the day-before-yesterday's paper. Three boys (looks like friends) were interested in the same girl and propose to her. Faced with
a dilemna of whom to choose among the three, she could have either chosen the one she really liked or if she did not like any of them, could have asked all three of them to scoot.

But, in her infinite wisdom, she chose to proclaim her verdict as, "Of you three boys, I will
choose the one who will lay down his life for me".

Hello there, madam !!! Once they have laid down their lives, how do they claim their prize ?

Atleast the boys should have had some grey matter to see that this is a lose-lose proposition.
But no, their minds are already racing to prove themselves the best in laying down their life
for her and then getting her affection. Though I can't figure out when they will get her affection
- in after-life ?

Anyway, the three of them get hold of some poison, go to some field/open area and consume
the poison. By the time, some passers-by can get to them, 2 of them have died, while the other
is in a critical condition and is rushed to hospital.

What a waste of life ? And all this when the effort is not going to get them what they desire. I know love is blind and all that crap, but ain't this a little too much even for that ? I am not sure how the girl in question will live the rest of her life, knowing that her silly prank cost two lives.

My favourite store bites the dust.

A few days ago I had emailed my friend who works in the U.S. about the effect of the whole recession, economic slow-down thing in the states. He mentioned about the value of his home going down, car dealers getting hit by dip in sales, electronic retailers getting hit bigtime etc.
On a personal level, he said he is avoiding buying new gadgets (he is a gadget freak), has
decided to postpone changing his car & instead is sticking to his few years old Honda Odyssey van etc.

But it was only when I read in yesterday's newspaper about CircuitCity filing for bankruptcy that the seriousness of it all hit me. CircuitCity and BestBuy were my 2 favourite stores for shopping anything electronic, while in the U.S.. I liked the reasonable prices, the store display/arrangement, the big spacious stores, the huge parking lot, the shopping experience
etc that these two offered.

So, knowing that one of these stores is going down makes me feel bad, even though I don't
own any stake in it or know anybody who works for them. To me, they seemed to be doing everything right - atleast from a customer's POV. Maybe the relentless price-war with other retailers killed their margins or maybe it was the ridiculous pay/bonus/stock-options of the
top executives that bled them.

It is stores like these (and others like WalMart, Target, ToysRUs etc) that make shopping
such a pleasurable experience in the U.S., unlike the irritating experience it is in India. One
of my long-time dreams is to take my wife to the US and let her experience this amazing shopping experience. I think it would take her atleast one full week to just go around a
"Super WalMart" and check out all the stuff in the store. I am sure though that she would
love the experience.

I hope CircuitCity is able to make a turnaround soon and are back to what they do well -
not just selling a wide range of electronic goods, but making shopping pleasurable.

Of thirsty squirrels and baby aligators.

I am having a coffee break with a colleague at the corner of the office basement car park, which is lined with coconut trees. We are talking when something falls with a thud in front of us from the nearby cocount palm. It's a squirrel, which immediately scampers away. The following conversation ensues between me and my friend, who is a know-all - he has a firm opinion on everything from falling lizards to satellite launchers.

Me : The poor thing must have lost its grip and fallen.
Friend : Naah. It fell because it was either thirsty or hungry.

Me : What ? !!!!
Friend : Yes, because you know squirrels belong to the lizard family.

Me : So ?
Friend : Don't you know that when they are really thirsty, lizards just drop to the ground ?

Me : And ? How does this help quench their thirst ?
Friend : They have some internal mechanism which quenches their thirst when they fall down.

Me : @#$%T(#(#@

Ofcourse I know that it is pointless to argue with him due to 2 reasons :
1) I have no knowledge about the dietary habits of the lizard family.
2) From experience, I know that there is no way you can win an argument with him.

I leave the conversation at that and as we walk back to the office, the topic of lizards brings another interesting incident to my mind. Some 6 years ago, there were 2 engineers visiting us from our Belgium office. Since I have enjoyed the hospitality of my Belgian colleagues many times during my visits there, it is only perfectly natural for me to take them around Chennai after office-hours and on weekends.

One day, I invite them home for an Indian dinner - they had already tasted Indian food and found it good. So, after work, I drive them home, where my wife has prepared a decent Indian meal - rotis, rice, chicken, veggies, fish etc. Ofcourse, I ask her to tone down the spice because the western palate would not be able to handle the hot 'n spicy Indian food.

We reach my apartment and while we wait for my wife to answer the door, my Belgian friends happen to look around the corridor wall and see a couple of house lizards on the wall, and almost in unison they say, "Wow, baby alligators".

Everytime I recount this incident to someone here, it raises laughter. From just a plain house lizard, these creatures got an instant upgrade to the scary alligators. Well, can't blame the Belgians because I think it is their first sighting of a lizard - don't remember seeing any during my stay in Belgium.

The next time a lizard falls off the wall, I guess I should have some water handy for the poor thing. On second thoughts no, I just can't stand the sight of lizards.

Globe-trotting - All it needs is the will. The means will follow.

A month ago, my parents went on a 10-day trip outside India, covering Egypt, Israel & Jordan. This was a kind of "Holy Land" tour organised by the local Catholic diocese and costing around Rs.65000 (approx. $1350) per person. This was the first overseas trip for my Mom, and the second one for my Dad, who had been to Russia in the late eighties on a short official visit of 3 months.

It took quite some convincing by me and my sisters to make my parents agree to go on this trip. The interest was definitely there and money for the trip was not an issue for them. But spending it was. Like most people of that generation, they had worked hard in life and had only learnt to save and avoid unnecessary expenses. And so blowing up Rs.1,30,000 in 10 days was something they could not reconcile to.

But once convinced, they looked forward to the trip and I am glad that they had a good time. It was not only about seeing the Sphinx/Pyramids, Dead sea, or seeing cities like Cairo, Amman, Jerusalem etc, which they ofcourse enjoyed. But being devout Christians, this trip was also significant for them because the itinerary covered places having a strong connection to Christianity.

Till they did this trip, Galilee, Cana, Jerusalem, Bethlehem etc were just places that they read about in the Bible. But thanks to this trip, they actually found themselves at those places. Any Christian would be aware of the "Miracle at Cana" where Jesus turned big casks of water into wine, at a wedding feast. The marriage party had ran out of wine and Jesus intervenes (on his Mom's request) to convert water to wine to avoid embarassment to the host. Now, my parents were actually able to visit this place and even bought a bottle of wine from there - which was much in demand back home.

Now that they have experienced the pleasure of going to new places, they can't seem to wait before heading out on another trip to another country. My Dad is planning a longish European trip, but before that we thought a short trip to some place nearer home would be good - like Sri Lanka, Singapore or Malaysia. Sri Lanka, while a nice place, is ruled out for some time since hostilities have escalatedthere between Government forces and the LTTE.

I was going through the newspaper yesterday night, when I came across this couple who in my opinion are the real globetrotters. Which convinced me that all it takes is the will to travel. The rest will follow. We keep postponing vacations, thinking that we will do it later, when the kids are older or when we retire etc. But in planning for the future, we miss enjoying the present. Read on to know about this globe-trotting couple whose modest means does not prevent them from seeing the world. Truly commendable.

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For 58-year-old Vijayan, owner of a tiny tea stall in Ernakulam, travelling has been an obsession for long. Ever since 1988 when he accompanied a godman as his cook on a pilgrimage to the Himalayas, Vijayan has made it to Badrinath-Kedarnath six times.


A sworn Marxist, he has visited Tirupati 81 times and is keen on scoring a ‘Balaji century’ pretty soon. His first foreign trip was on a package tour of West Asia taking him to Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Israel and the UAE.

He is getting ready for the next journey, this one to Europe and London. And he takes wife Mohana on all his trips. "I save Rs 200 a day from my tea shop earnings in a chit fund and that takes care of the travel tickets. I spend just 10 dollars or less on picking up some tiny souvenirs from the places of visit while my co-travellers waste huge money on costly liquors," Vijayan says about his budget-tours.

"Rome, Vatican, Paris, Geneva and London are the places I will be visiting next April. Paper work for the journey is progressing," the tea-man told Deccan Chronicle.

Vijayan does not remember when and how he caught the travel bug. "I visited all the temples in Kerala during my school days. With the passing away of my father, I had to take care of the family and had to temporarily call off the journeys," he said. Old-timers in Kochi remember Vijayan cycling along arterial roads selling tea and coffee.

"My sons-in-law also help me. People ask me from where I get the funds. I tell them God is my funder," said Vijayan. Impressed by his passion for journeys, an old acquaintance has offered to take him around South Africa. "He has asked me to pay for the air-tickets. Once I reach South Africa, he will take care of me," Vijayan said.

Article and pictures courtesy : The Deccan Chronicle newspaper dated 3-Nov-2008.

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Reminds me of my long-pending promise to my wife to take her on a vacation outside India. Ofcourse I stand by my promise. But can we postpone it till the global economic slowdown/recession is behind us ? :-)

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Palin falls for prank call by Canadian radio comedians.

This came in yesterday's Deccan Chronicle. The Republican vice-presidential candidate falls for a prank call. The conversation is pretty hilarious, especially the hunting part and about Carla Bruni, the French President's wife. Read on.
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Pretending to be French President Nicolas Sarkozy, two Canadian radio comedians tricked US vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin into talking to them for about seven minutes on Saturday afternoon.

Marc-Antoine Audette, a member of comedy duo Masked Avengers on Montreal radio station CKOI, said they talked about a whole range of issues — from politics to hunting with vice-president Dick Cheney — in reference to Mr Cheney’s shooting of a friend during a bird hunting trip in 2006.

When one of the pranksters told Ms Palin that “I see you as a President one day, too”, she replied: “Maybe in eight years.” When the Sarkozy impersonator told Ms Palin that “we have such great respect for you”, she said: “John McCain and I, we love you and thank you....” At the end, when the prankster tells Ms Palin that she has been tricked, her aides snap the conversation line.

The pranksters — Audette and Sebastian Trudel — said it took them four days of persistent efforts to get through to Ms Palin. Excerpts from the phone call:

Sarah Palin: This is Sarah.
Masked Avengers: Ah, yeah, Governor Palin.

Palin: Hello.
Avengers: Just hold on for President Sarkozy, one moment.

P: Oh, it’s not him yet, they’re saying. I always do that.
A: Yes, hello, governor Palin.

P: Hello, this is Sarah, how are you?
A: Fine, and you? This is Nicolas Sarkozy speaking, how are you?

P: Thank you sir, we have such great respect for you, John McCain and I. We love you and thank you for taking a few minutes to talk to me.
A: I follow your campaigns closely with my special American adviser Johnny Hallyday, you know?

P: Yes, good.
A: You see, I got elected in France because I’m real and you seem to be someone who’s real, as well.

P: Yes, yeah. Nico, we so appreciate this opportunity.
A: You know I see you as a President one day, too.

P: Maybe in eight years.
A: Well, I hope for you. You know, we have a lot in common because personally one of my favourite activities is to hunt, too.

P: Oh, very good. We should go hunting together.
A: Exactly, we could try go hunting by helicopter like you did. I never did that. Like we say in French, on pourrait tuer des bebe phoques, aussi (we could kill some baby seals, also).

P: Well, I think we could have a lot of fun together while we’re getting work done. We can kill two birds with one stone that way.
A: I just love killing those animals. Mmm, mmm, take away life, that is so fun. I’d really love to go, so long as we don’t bring along vicepresident Cheney.

P: No, I’ll be a careful shot, yes... You know, I look forward to working with you and getting to meet you personally and your beautiful wife. Oh my goodness, you’ve added a lot of energy to your country with that beautiful family of yours.
A: Thank you very much. You know my wife Carla would love to meet you, even though you know she was a bit jealous that I was supposed to speak to you today.

P: Well, give her a big hug for me.
A: You know my wife is a popular singer and a former top model and she’s so hot in bed. She even wrote a song for you.

P: Oh my goodness, I didn’t know that.
A: Yes, in French it’s called De rouge a levre sur un cochon (Lipstick on a pig), or if you prefer in English, Joe the Plumber... it’s his life, Joe the Plumber... I just want to be sure. That phenomenon Joe the Plumber. That’s not your husband, right?

P: That’s not my husband but he’s a normal American who just works hard and doesn’t want government to take his money.
A: Yes, yes, I understand we have the equivalent of Joe the Plumber in France. It’s called Marcel, the guy with bread under his armpit.

P: Right, that’s what it’s all about, the middle class and government needing to work for them. You’re a very good example for us here.

A: Governor Palin, I love the documentary they made on your life. You know Hustler’s Nailin’ Paylin?
P: Ohh, good, thank you, yes.

A: I really loved you and I must say something also, governor, you’ve been pranked by the Masked Avengers. We are two comedians from Montreal.
P: Ohhh, have we been pranked? And what radio station is this?

A: CKOI in Montreal.
P: In Montreal? Tell me the radio station call letters.

A: CK... hello?