Belonging to much-before era from the ‘Harry Potter’ series and the Sci-fi movies and the advent of Net and ‘Net-flix’, many of us during the 60-70s were hooked onto one of the most prolific British writers of racy thrillers, called ‘James Hadley Chase’ ! I for one, can hardly remember having missed any of his ‘un-putdownable’ pieces of fiction which portrayed the underbelly of an amoral society driven by avarice and carnal lust to become rich and violence and crime that invariably surfaces there-from.

Born as René Lodge Brabazon Raymond, he was well known by his various pseudonyms, but by far the most popular one was ‘James Hadley Chase’. With pulsating titles like ‘Strictly for Cash’, ‘Tiger by the Tail’, ‘Safer Dead’. ‘You’ve Got it Coming’. ‘The Whiff of Money’ and many others, the Chase novels could grip from the first page. No literary genius, he was a superb spinner of spell-binding yarns set in Europe and US, which would occupy most of my waking hours in long train travels ! The climax would generally be explosive as the title of one of his famous novels ‘The Sucker Punch’ !

My favourite was ‘Hippie on the Highway’ which provided the inspiration for the amazing Hindi comic-thriller ‘Victoria 203’ ! It is said that one of his novels ‘ The Wary Transgressor’  was lifted by Hans Hellmut Kirst in perhaps his most famous novel ‘ The Night of the Generals’, which later became a popular film starring the incredible actor, Peter O’Toole in the title role.

Another facet was the wry humour and sardonic feel of his protagonists. Some interesting characters of the police force also recurred in his novels – Sergeant Lepski, the brilliant but violent cop, his superior Lt.Beigler and sensible Chief of Police, Terrell – all working to control crime in the city and nail the killers ! There was also ace Investigator, Maddox, who could smell a false insurance claim, miles away.

All his plots, however, reveal that many with dysfunctional backgrounds have a grouse against socially successful and immoral greed and lust brings out their sordid side to commit heinous crimes for which there is no redemption eventually. It’s really doesn’t pay in the end.

Why revel in the Chase novels after all these years when the present generation wouldn’t know them. It’s uncanny that his depiction of seamy side of civilised society with all its scars and blemishes surfaces with more frequency in today’s world specially the West.

Despite being a major superpower, with all its research, technology, innovations and Nobel prize winners, America’s recurring incidences of mass shootings and it’s violent gun-culture, show ugly manifestations of extreme materialism and break-down of core human values from time to time in certain sections of its society.

 

It seems a strange paradox but even the top-of-the-shelf world leaders, senior statesmen, spokespersons, media and corporate honchos, orators, performers, actors and stand-up comedians can hardly be credited with the magnificently powerful, moving or funny lines they speak with such conviction – for like all successful people, great writers are behind them !

The inaugural speech so eloquently delivered by US President Kennedy and the immortal lines ‘Ask not what your country can do for you, ask..’ had it’s chief architect in his long time aide, Ted Sorensen ! It’s no secret that leaders often speak words they themselves did not write but what works is the speech-writer’s adeptness in sync with their grand vision and style which must move human multitudes with impact and power.

Feature films, sitcoms, television dramas, radio plays, cartoons, TV ads get their life and soul from their scriptwriters who are the incredibly talented people who write the storylines creating fascinating characters, crafting dialogues and writing an engaging plot. Essentially, these creative dynamos form something which acts as the framework on which a director or film-maker can map their art and creative vision.

What about the puns, jokes and wise-cracks that the stand-up comedians endlessly deliver with punch-lines that nail them – well there are a team of gag-writers out there creating them. The world is a crazy place and there is humor in near everything. No matter how serious the subject, there’s the lighter side, writers seize the humor and wrap it up into jokes.

What is it that makes a writer or artist tick even if he remains consigned to the background – possibly the creative satisfaction of the blossoming of a beautiful idea, thought or dream that gets transformed into a work of art on canvas or celluloid.

When the then super-star hero, Rajesh Khanna poignantly declares to Amitabh Bachan ‘ Babumoshai, zindagi badi honi chahiye, lambi nahi ..’ in the classic 70s film ‘Anand’, it was actually the writer Gulzar, who wrote the immortal lines ! For that and many beautiful verses, dialogues and stories he continues to create in his long and illustrious career, he remains few of that golden era where verses and words would have so much depth and yet be so lyrically exquisite !

‘Naam gum jayega, chehra yeh badal jayega, meri awaaz hi pehchaan hai, gar yaad rahe..’

It’s been said that in businesses and services ‘Customers may forget what you said, but they’ll never forget how you made them feel’. That said, somehow the bad experiences (such as the recent ‘Indigo’ fracas) are often highlighted but happy ones are glossed over – marked ‘satisfactory’ if a feedback is so desired. Why not also recognise those few who stand for the four human Cs that matter so much in today’s mechanical service delivery – care, competence, convenience and communication !

Employers /managers continue to replicate plethora of study material, hold training seminars, workshops, panel discussions, award points on on performance parameters and so on, all directed to improving service quality, yet customers rarely look happy, leave alone delighted ! What’s not understood is people don’t expect immediate solutions or a set-up free from all technical, administrative or regulatory glitches – but for sincere redressal to problems, some courtesy and transparency in deals.

A shining example of good service presented itself to us when we, as  customers, interacted in his cabin with Amit Pradhan, General Manager with Hyundai and Head of its plush showroom in Kandivili (West), Mumbai. In a departure from the standard official defensive stance, he pleasantly acknowledged us, patiently listened to the issues raised ( with no furtive glances at his watch, mobile phone or laptop !), immediately understood the case from the concerned staff, accepted the deficiencies in office communication and promised to fix our problems in a clear time-frame of three days ! This took place in a space of 30 minutes. His parting lines were ‘It’s so important that we deliver what we promised’ !

In our next meeting a few days later, not only were the promises kept but we as customers were made to feel special with token gifts, snacks and request to participate in a small event organised for customers and their children. Amit Pradhan, in many ways, did remind me of our days as Branch Managers in the Bank when we all worked together as a team to go beyond merely communicating and really ‘connecting’ with people !