Bengaluru: Dial 94481278** (actually, please don't) and you are likely to hear a youth almost wailing, "I am not Shankar Bidari and I was never a police officer in my life. But if you know of a job opening, please do tell me about it!"
Indeed, the number does not belong to Shankar Bidari, the former state police chief. It belongs to one Mr Munnagol, who lives far away in Dharwad, but who still pleads with at least 20 insistent callers a day that he is not Shankar Bidari!
How did this mix up happen?
Well, it seems the number did belong to Mr Bidari while he was still serving, but upon retirement, he surrendered it. Ordinarily, a number that had belonged to a public figure is not re-allotted and is permanently shelved. That's what private telcos do. But BSNL being BSNL promptly allotted it to Mr Munnagol.
The sim and substance: BSNL has not forgotten its monopoly days of landline telephony. Those days it often connected one to the wrong number, these days, it connects you to the right number, but the wrong person!
"I am tired of telling callers I am not Shankar Bidari. I am already in distress because I am jobless. Please spare me," pleads Munnagol.
