My allergy to initials also dates back to the years (15 of them!) that KM spent working for a south Indian automotive ancillary company. There, just after he joined as Marketing Manager, I called up one day and asked for “Mr Mohan”. “Oh! you mean, Yum Yum!” replied the telephone operator, as if my spouse was some kind of candy bar.

I then realized that in this organization, the executives were addressed not by name, and not by their designation, but by the initials of that designation! I was tickled pink to learn of Mrs CMD and the three Miss MD’s. I am not joking, once I spoke to a gathering and referred to Mrs. Chairman by her name..and the next day, the Manager, HRD, sorry, M-HRD and his wife came to visit me and tell me that such liberties should not be taken as it would affect KM’s career badly!)

KM (how apt for this post that I call him by those initials) was promoted to Gee Yum, and after the next promotion to the post of Vice-President, started sounding very sad when I would call up and ask the operator to connect me to him and would be told, “Weepy is busy, Madam!”

I was petrified that after he received his next promotion as President, he would be referred to by everybody as Pee. Luckily, this did not happen, and the operator would refer to him in a ponderous way as “President” (with that capital P ringing loud and clear in his voice) as if he was heading some third world country.

But on becoming P, er, sorry, President, he also got a free doctoral appellation! He was President, Hosur Division, so envelopes would arrive marked to Mr Mohan, PHD. Ah, no Tamizh Nadu politician has got a doctoral title as easily as KM did!

Well, I had to put up with being Mrs Yum Yum, Mrs Gee Yum, Mrs Weepy, and Mrs President and it was hard to hide my grin sometimes!