Monday, June 27, 2005

A Basel memory


Of all the photos my colleague and I took on our Baselworld junket in March-April, this is the one that means the most to me. On the left is your blogging Jabberwock (this is about the only photo from that trip in which I’m not glowering at the camera) and on the right is Stephen Urquhart, president, Omega, one of the many watch company heads I asked the same tedious questions to over and over and over again.

What makes this photo special is that tiny wisp of a watch in Mr Urquhart’s hand (barely visible here, click the photo for a larger view). It’s a 52-year-old Omega gold watch that belongs to my grandmother; it was gifted to her in 1953 when she and my grandfather (then a Brigadier) visited Switzerland for a diplomatic mission, and it was apparently the smallest wristwatch in the world at the time. Now I’m usually disinclined to do these things but sentiment won out this one time and I not only carried it with me for luck but also produced it after my interview with Omega Bossman was over. I was a bit embarrassed about the whole thing (the photo would never had been taken had it not been for my colleague’s over-enthusiasm – the one time on the trip I was grateful for it) but Mr Urquhart’s reaction made it all worthwhile. He had been cool and distant throughout our interview but his demeanor changed completely when I showed him the thing and related its provenance – he started gesticulating wildly, studied the watch through a magnifying glass, rushed out and called in some of his staff to show it to them, asked me if there was anything the company could do to fix the glass (which was slightly chipped).

This was one of the highlights of the trip; despite the general antipathy I developed towards all watches and watch-companies, I was quite taken by how childlike the CEO became when shown a fragment of his company’s history. Guess that will happen when you’ve spent practically your entire life obsessed with something: the man has worked with Omega for 30-odd years himself and lives and breathes watches.

Best of all, my grandmother was over the moon when I showed her the photograph of one of her most treasured possessions; apart from everything else it brought back memories of her own trip more than five decades ago.

17 comments:

  1. Was that your grandpa's sweater too? ;-P

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  2. Ha ha. Actually, looking at the photo again reminds me how casually dressed I was compared to the many thousand others who attended the fair - not least my marketing colleague, who took along eight sets of full suits and who was constantly embarrassed by my presence.

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  3. photo no show, Jai!

    Does this mean I shall get special-email-delivery again?

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  4. duly sent, smittenkitten. but WHAT is wrong with your Net speed? I uploaded this from home, where I have a dial-up connection, and there was no problem either posting or viewing it.

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  5. dun-absobloominlutely-no!

    Our office net thingy prides itself at being like super upgraded et all - and it has been so till oh-so-recent times...

    it's so very sad

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  6. Cute! Now we have a face to go with the name.

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  7. Great post. But, Jai Arjun Singh now that you have finally managed to get over your extreme diffidence to being publicly recognised (and not having your mug shot accompany your column in Today), prepare to get stalked by smitten/crazed/snubbed bloggers!

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  8. well then
    thats not how I pictured you

    (dont ask how I did, but I dont think it was like so)

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  9. That wasn't how I pictured you either. Man, what crime did you commit just before the picture was taken? Not quite a deer-in-headlights look, but close. :-)

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  10. What a sweet story! And nice pic :-))

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  11. Nice to put a face to a terrific post(er)!

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  12. One touch of glamour (three, if you count the sweater and the watch) and you draw in more comments than the confessor. when i post photos, i usually get polite silence.

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  13. Ducky: what's the first touch of glamour?!

    But ya, it's incredible how easy it is to predict which posts will get the most comments (did you see the PR one? I couldn't stop laughing at some of the comments. And I mean laughing at, not with.) The posts that I'm personally most interested in - the long, analytical ones on books/films - hardly get any responses. Oh well, guess it depends on the quality of comments you're looking for ;)

    BTW, if I put up any of the other pics from the Basel trip I'm sure I'd get nothing more than polite, very scared silence. This was the only halfway decent one.

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  14. if u so touch abt "quality" of comments, mr blogger, i suggest, u begin an exclusive community blog / site... time u stopped riding a high horse...no?

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  15. Anonymous: no. High horses are fun.

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  16. now, if only wishes were horses...

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