Apples and Oranges

Sorting out room partner problems

Early morning, before sunrise, a minor fracas broke out in the Garden with a member threatening to withdraw from the Kerala tour (February 10 – 17) because she would have to share her hotel room with a person she cannot stand. “How can you put me up with a 70-year-old woman?” she protested.
“Then whom should I put you with?” Shekhawat turned defensive.
“I don’t know,” she snapped back.

Ruksana Khan

“You better put me with someone else or cancel my booking. Or else, I shall make YOU share your room with a 16-year-old!”
The slip of tongue instantly triggered a burst of laughter from everybody around and Shekhawat hopped and clapped at the prospect of having a nubile nymphet in his room. This was music to his ears.
“But you should have consulted everyone before pairing them,” interjected Arun Patil, taking the lady’s side.
“I’m sure he has consulted everyone,” Arora mumbled, studying the list on room allocations.

Harbans Kaur distributes prasad after the exercises

Quite clearly, it has been a monumental task pairing apples with apples and oranges with oranges in a large group of 40. Besides, there is the question of sharing seats in the bus (during local travel) and furthermore, the group being split into four parts for the night-long houseboat ride as there would be only five bedrooms to each boat.
“I’ve done my best,” Shekhawat threw up his hands. “I’ve studied everyone, A to Z in the group. I know who gets along with whom and made the jodis accordingly, only to avoid last-minute complications. That apart, I have discreetly made inquiries wherever I had any doubt. But now I realize that you cannot please everyone.”
“So let us call a meeting and ask everyone if they are satisfied with your jodi-making,” suggested Arun. “We don’t want people complaining there in Kerala that they want a change of room partner.”
Inconclusive as these discussions were, the good part of the morning was that Mrs Harbans Kaur had brought a box of delicious prasad from the gurudwara to share with us. There is something selfless and intensely spiritual about this lady that makes us feel blessed in her company.
And then, there was Ruksana Khan saying her good-bye as she takes off for Ajmer Sharif this evening. Arora has directed her to also bring some prasad when she returns on February 12. He seemed to have forgotten that he should be in Kerala and cursing the world at that time.