BANGALORE: ‘Trusted always trusting again, The New Indian Express name, may always remain with fame, intimately’, scribbled T L Shridhar within a matter of seconds, justifying the innumerable prizes he has won through slogan writing competitions happening across the country.Two four wheelers, three television sets, three Enfield motorbikes, five bicycles, 500 t-shirts, washing machines, three walkmans, CD players, watches, several small gadgets, ‘All Expenses paid’ trips to Singapore, London and Atlanta Olympics including free supply of Pepsi for one year, all this and many more feature on his award list of the contests, wherein he participates not for winning prizes, but as his hobby.The man has been taking part in these competitions since 1967, when he first penned down a slogan for Epic toothpaste.“I received three consolation prizes of `15 each for three slogans I wrote. Since then it has been a non-stop journey of hundreds of such competitions and prizes,” said Shridhar.Recently, Shridhar received a Maruti Alto, after his slogan again stood apart from thousands of others in Vivek’s Diwali Slogan Contest. The contest and his unmatched slogans made him win a television set and two mixers apart from the Maruti Alto. “I always make multiple entries on the names of my family members as well. This is because winning such contests also require a little luck apart from talent, and multiple entries increase my chances of getting selected,” said Shridhar. Ask him about the mantra behind emerging victorious at so many instances and the man reveals the secret. “I have always been into reading magazines and newspapers.I started solving crossword puzzles since my school days and have been quite regular since then. Reading enriches vocabulary and that is what you need to come up with catchy and crisp slogans. I am very familiar with phrases and at times it just flashes in my mind. But there are days when I need to modify my sentences a number of times till it is gratifying. It is all about getting the knack,” said Shridhar.The man keeps an eye on all such contests, whether on TV or in any newspaper and pitches in right away to experiment his talent and luck. But after winning so many prizes over the years, Shridhar has gained the confidence. “I am quite confident about the merit of my slogans. Luck has very little role to play in such competitions.But an important factor that has kept me winning these contests so far is that I do not participate for winning prizes. I do it as I love doing so. Taking part in such contests has been my hobby since the very beginning.Moreover, it also exercises my brain and keeps it ticking all the time,” said Shridhar.Shridhar is also into the wonderful hobby of collecting postage stamps and related objects. The man also possesses a wonderful collection of Olympic gold medal replicas.
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