TRUE TALES: Patherya sources anecdotes from flea markets, libraries and the Net

Ever hear about the paan vendor who provides his customers a stain remover to erase betel juice stains from their shirts? Or the toll booth operator who spots which currency note a driver is holding out from 15 ft away, takes it and hands over the change and the receipt in two seconds flat? Or the airline carrier that gave a flier five new shirts because the stewardess accidentally spilled a drink on his?

These are not myths, just true tales about people who provide remarkable customer service in the most mundane of professions. These people, and hundreds of others like them, would remain unrecognised if it wasn't for a media organisation that prepares annual reports for corporates. Kolkata-based Trisys branched out this year into purveying inspiration to those caught in the rat race of life.

Among Trisys' offerings are six theme diaries that contain feel-good anecdotes about everyday people-and some celebrities, a sort of Indian Chicken Soup for the Soul that beats older diaries carrying cliches masquerading as soul-stirring material.

The diaries are designed to cater to a customer's business environment. The diary Trisys created for an international bank contains stories of courage and generosity, like that of former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar rushing out of his apartment to save the lives of a group of Bohra Muslims during the Bombay riots in 1992. Or how J.R.D. Tata allowed his competitor in a race, Aspy Engineer, to fly ahead of him.

Another compilation lists people who have made India proud. Mahatma Gandhi, who was a hero to later-day leaders like Martin Luther King Jr and Nelson Mandela, could not be excluded, of course. There are others with their own tales. Most Indians know of hockey star Dhyan Chand. But do they know that he so impressed Adolf Hitler in the 1936 Berlin Olympics that the Feuhrer offered him German citizenship?

The man behind many of the imaginatively etched stories has a prosaic explanation for why his "mission statements" tick. "The pace of life has accelerated. Inspiration and slow absorption that once came from books is no longer there," says Trisys head Mudar Patherya. "We are like a pharmaceutical company that sells vitamins to people."

Finding inspiring anecdotes is not easy, but the Trisys team spares no efforts in hunting for appropriate ones. It regularly runs up huge bills at flea markets and second-hand bookstores. When visiting Mumbai, Patherya spends thousands of rupees picking up autobiographies, anthologies, old magazines and corporate manuals, and was overjoyed to find a dog-eared edition of Readers Digest's 50 People Who Made a Difference. Patherya and his colleagues, most of whom fortunately love reading, wade through the raw stock, scour the Internet and consult friends as they mark out stories that can be reshaped into something special.

The group has realised that the most remarkable stories are found where least expected. Patherya recalls how he contacted a mountaineer to track down acts of courage under extreme pressure, and was told instead of a visually challenged girl who came in second in her university because of the support of a close friend. In a touching letter that Trisys carried unedited, the sight-impaired Alefiya Tundawala thanks her friend Darakshan for practically sacrificing everything to be by her side.

Patherya follows a threefold mantra when creating these inspiration diaries. "They must be retentive, meaning you'd like to keep the diary for years, and memorable, which means it should move from your desk to your library at the end of the year," he says. "Not to mention cost effective." Companies this year placed orders for betw`een 500 and 5,000 copies of the diaries, and each cost around Rs 50. However, the diaries are not for sale in the retail market, which is how Trisys sidesteps copyright problems.

After the initial diaries were circulated, Trisys found itself flooded with orders. A media consultant took several samples to a pr conference abroad, and called back to ask for more. A Bengal politician wants to distribute them among the MLAs in his party.

"Perhaps one reason for the demand is that about 60 per cent of our content is Indian," feels a Trisys employee. This diary item then is easier to relate to than a tale of gumption set in an obscure American town. It also makes for good bedside reading. Soul curry, anyone?