Monday, 20 January 2025
Monday, 20 January 2025
Chicken extortion in Chhattisgarh
In the sleepy town of Masturi, Chhattisgarh, a farmer dreaming of expanding his poultry empire approached the local bank for a loan of Rs 12 lakh. What followed could be described as Game of Loans — but with chickens.
The farmer was ready to put his faith in the banking system, but little did he know he’d end up putting his desi murga on the line. Enter the manager, a man whose appetite for chicken could rival a food blogger’s weekend itinerary. According to reports, the manager devised an ingenious “approval process”: desi murga every Saturday.
Within two months, Manhar had handed over Rs. 39,000 worth of chickens to the manager, likely making him Masturi’s largest single consumer of poultry. But the manager wasn’t satisfied with just the meat — he also apparently demanded a 10 per cent cut upfront. In this twisted barter system, it became increasingly clear that the only thing growing was the manager's cholesterol level.
To add insult to injury, not a single rupee of the farmer’s loan was approved. Week after week, as the manager polished off succulent drumsticks and biryanis, Manhar’s hopes were left as bare as the bones on the manager’s plate.
The final straw? The farmer, armed with chicken bills (yes, he kept receipts!), stormed into the sub-divisional magistrate’s office, demanding justice for his lost poultry and dignity. His ultimatum was clear: refund the murga money, or prepare for an act of protest that could put Bollywood’s most dramatic scenes to shame.
The manager, meanwhile, has become an overnight celebrity — not for approving loans, but for his culinary audacity. Locals are now calling him “Chicken Chhattisgarh” and suggesting he swap his banking desk for a seat at MasterChef India.
Gujarat thief returns bike after owner’s emotional message on social media
A Gandhian episode unfolded in the Mahatma’s home state of Gujarat last week.
A resident of Mota Varachha in Surat found that his bike was stolen from the parking spot. The next day, he uploaded the CCTV footage of the theft on Facebook, referring to the thief as a “gentleman” and asking him to collect the key and the papers of the bike from the parking lot.
He asked the thief not to worry about him as he would “be able to survive by travelling on a cycle”.
He also lodged a complaint with the police.
The “selfless” message struck a chord in Surat, swiftly circulating across social media. Remarkably, the thief chose to return the motorcycle to the very place it had been taken from a few days earlier.
Following this, the bike owner told the media that he withdrew the complaint after seeing the “honesty of the thief”.
We can only applaud.
YesMadam’s 'stressful' PR stunt: When marketing meets masala
In a country where chai breaks are sacred and workplace stress is cured with samosas and office gossip, Noida-based salon-at-home startup YesMadam somehow managed to turn workplace woes into a full-blown Bollywood drama this week.
The story began when Anushka Dutta, a UX copywriter at YesMadam, dropped a LinkedIn bomb on December 9: “What’s happening at YesMadam? First you conduct a random survey and then fire us overnight because we’re feeling stressed?”
Along with her cry for justice, Dutta shared a screenshot of an HR email allegedly sent by the company, telling employees who confessed to workplace stress in an internal survey to 'part ways.'
And just like that, LinkedIn ke log lost it. From IT professionals to HR managers (and even those who just log in for 'motivational' posts), everyone chimed in. Outrage spread faster than a discount notification on Big Billion Day. On December 10, the company clarified that the email wasn’t real; apparently, this was a 'planned effort to highlight the serious issue of workplace stress'.
Wait, what? An email threatening to fire employees for stress was supposed to start a conversation about mental health? This twist had more masala than a plate of chaat.
"Free promotion done right, huh? Who needs a marketing budget when you have outrage as your social media manager?" one user posted on LinkedIn.
YesMadam co-founder Mayank Arya said in a note on December 13 that the intent behind the campaign was to highlight an important issue, but it inadvertently triggered negative reactions. "It is important to clarify that no firing mail was sent to employees, and no one was terminated. The picture shared on LinkedIn was the first step toward introducing the initiative, and the clarification shared the following day was meant to serve as a wake-up call for the industry about the importance of mental health awareness," he said.
Now, YesMadam finds itself at the centre of gupshup in Indian offices, with employees jokingly asking their HRs, “Are you planning any stress survey?”
Surat man cuts off fingers to avoid work
In what can only be described as the most extreme resignation letter ever, a man in Surat has given new meaning to cutting ties with his job. The 32-year-old apparently decided the best way to escape the monotony of working as a computer operator at his family’s diamond firm was to chop off four of his own fingers.
Initially, the man spun a dramatic yarn for the police, claiming he had blacked out while riding his bike and awoke to find his fingers mysteriously missing—because, of course, black magic is the first explanation that comes to mind. However, the truth was far less mystical and a lot more absurd: The man had apparently performed the "operation" himself with a knife he purchased just for the occasion.
A meticulous planner, the man reportedly staged the whole act like a Bollywood thriller. He parked his bike, whipped out his shiny new knife, and went snip-snip. To ensure he didn’t bleed out (and miss out on his big confession later), he even tied a rope around his arm like a seasoned pro. The crime branch later found the severed fingers and knife neatly packed away in separate bags, proving that while he might not have wanted to work, he still had an eye for organisation.
As the police pieced together the puzzle, the man admitted he couldn’t muster the courage to simply tell his family he didn’t want to work anymore. Evidently, cutting his fingers was easier than cutting the conversation short at Sunday dinner.
Three of the man’s fingers have been recovered, but his family might need more than just stitches to fix the situation.
Madhya Pradesh principal’s happy hours in school
Day drinking on a weekday can land you in trouble. Especially if you are a school principal who does not like to skip work.
Unsteady gait, wobbly walk, incoherent speech – this is the principal of a government high school in Madhya Pradesh’s Rewa was filmed entering his workplace during an inspection. In the video that went rushing through social media, the principal can be seen getting into an altercation with the inspection officer.
The incident followed charges lodged by the villagers against the principal’s behaviour.
The principal would often fetch up at school sozzled. His conduct had deteriorated to such an extent that students had begun to avoid school. Based on the barrage of accusations, the inspection was ordered. Apparently in the past, too, he been suspended for similar behaviour but had apologised his way back to work.
Now that the issue has got people’s attention, Munna Lal’s ‘happy hour’ comeback looks a little tricky.
