The Hindu Business Line : Monday {+T}{+M}

WHEN any of the Big Five hunts for names, it has to leave enough room for the others too. That's why perhaps PwC Consulting chose Monday as its new name, allowing scope for two more players to occupy the weekend. The $110 million `real money' rebranding exercise announces the new company as standing for three things: "Real business, real people, real experience." So, a `real name' that is "universally understood and easy to remember".

Monday may be a name not already gobbled up by another business, but it worries me to remember that Solomon Grundy was born on Monday. For those who recollect the nursery rhyme, he was christened on Tuesday, married on Wednesday, took ill on Thursday, worse on Friday, died on Saturday, buried on Sunday, and that was the end of Solomon Grundy. Also, the largest (in percentage terms) stock-market drop in Wall Street history occurred on "Black Monday", October 19, 1987 — when the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 508.32 points, losing 22.6 per cent of its total value.

While one needn't be superstitious about Mondays — to believe that `if you sneeze on Monday, you sneeze for danger', or `Monday for wealth, Tuesday for health' — entities going for name-changes are apparently allergic to having the old stickers on. I used to think that only the local politicians were finicky about names, of by-lanes and bus companies.

There could, however, be a lot of practical problems, apart from the day being the most unpopular among the seven. The accountant says, "I am working on a report on Monday." The boss shouts, "I wanted it yesterday!" Before signing the merger deal, you ask your deputy, "Did you ask our consultant?" He replies, "Ji, sir, I consulted Monday on Friday." For those who want to drown their week's worries in a Friday night party, the unwanted guests would be those from Monday. The Monday-ers have to be clear when they order pizzas and ice cream: "Deliver it in Monday, on Tuesday at 2 p.m. And add a sundae on Friday."

hindubusinessline@hotmail.com

D. Murali

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