Bum Chums

The love-hate relationship Bijoy Gupta enjoys with Shekhawat is the kind of stuff bum chums share. On the surface, they would appear as arch enemies, constantly taking digs at one another, much of which is of course, meant for public consumption/ amusement.

Bijoy Gupta, busy spinning yarns

For deep inside, they are bound by a strong sense of mutual love and camaraderie that is hard to come by these days.
It therefore came as no surprise that Gupta should disappear soon after Shekhawat took off on his Rajasthan holiday late last month. He stopped turning up in the Garden, obviously because there was nobody for him to spar with during the exercises.

Shekhawat

(He is not as close to anyone else who he might call a “rusty engine”, “virus”, etc.) That apart, the monsoon had turned really foul and Gupta was down with viral fever.
Now that the weather has cleared, Gupta has started showing up and is back to his old ways. That he misses his dear friend is evident from the manner he makes discreet inquiries about his welfare and when he is expected back from Rajasthan. Outwardly though, he never spares an opportunity on going hammer and tongs at Shekhawat, accusing him of various acts of misdemeanor – clearly, all a figment of his imagination.
His latest now, is that Shekhawat is behind bars for an unspeakable crime that he too would rather not utter. “I got to know he was arrested in Jodhpur last month,” Gupta told Fehmida Khan this morning. “For how long can he escape the law? A notorious chap like him deserves to be behind bars. I had warned him earlier...”
Fehmida walked away, realizing Gupta was pulling a fast one on her. Before long, he moved on to Bhaswati Bose and Geeta Latte to spin another yarn. And then, on to Swati Panjabi… when the truth is Shekhawat would be boarding the train to Mumbai this afternoon from Jaipur. He has had a “first class" tour of the pilgrimage spots of Rajasthan and is now itching to narrate his experience to us.
“I will be there at the Garden day-after morning,” he informed on phone.