Ever since I won a malfunctioning torch in a contest conducted by a magazine, I have been on a subscribing spree, egged on of course by the wife keen to lay her hands on bigger prizes.

Many a time the offers have been too tempting for me to desist from sending across a filled in form and a draft for the subscription amount. For instance who could not fall for a bait like the one by a periodical which has screaming headlines like “Want to meet Kangana?”

Now who in his right senses would balk at an offer to meet the newcomer who has taken the Mumbai film industry by storm ?

And there is another publication which snares me with this catchphrase “Want to holiday in
Switzerland?”

And though residing in Bangalore I have never even set foot in Mysore just a three hour drive away wouldn’t I like to make a trip to Switzerland? So off goes another subscription.

Recently I have dashed off a subscription to a publication that promised a three in one offer, with three magazines offered for the price of one. But that was not what swayed my mind. Lucky subscribers can win a Mercedes car, the ad said.

Sadly, however, on most occasions nay on all occasions I have often ended up being the bridesmaid and not the bride often collecting the poor consolation prizes while the lucky blokes walked away with the mega offerings. So my attic today is filled with a dozen or so timepieces all in a state of rigor mortis as I couldn’t afford batteries for them; torches and fountain pens that have never been working models.

Yes, there is a small snag here; many a slip between the cup and the lip to put it in a better way and though in most cases delivery is prompt one never knows whether one gets a good bargain or the bad one.

I would therefore advise my readers to take this as a caveat and weigh the pros and cons before filling up a subscription form. But now I must sign off for I have to send a draft to a weekly that promises one lucky subscriber a three bedroom flat, something that I can never afford in this lifetime at least what with real estate prices skyrocketing in the metropolis. So wish me luck, folks.