Who is Ganga Ram?

Kiran Makharia

Does Ganga Ram really exist? Only Kiran Makharia believes he does and she has been searching in vain for him in the Garden for the past one week. We believe he is no more than a myth – someone like Godot or perhaps, an imaginary character from folklore. We would have ignored him were it not for Kiran showing up every morning at the Garden gate, taking a few steps in and past the watchman’s cabin, doing a sharp about-turn and disappearing, only to be back in five minutes for the exercises with a worried look on her face. This has been the routine for the past few days.
When asked what Ganga Ram looks like, Kiran shrugs her shoulders. She cannot say whether he is tall or dark, short or fair, old or young… but yes, he is human. “I have spoken to him once on the phone,” she says. “Now whenever I call him, he switches off!”

But why does she need Ganga Ram so badly?
“He has promised to wash my car in the morning. And he has not shown up. I don’t know what to do. I am driving a dirty car every day.”
Today Kiran revealed that she has managed to track Ganga Ram’s movements up to a lane close to Ashok Academy school (almost a kilometer away) where some mad people feed pigeons. But he is as elusive as the fictitious Scarlet Pimpernel. One moment he is here and the next, he is gone. And for the life of Kiran, she just cannot buttonhole him.

Dilip Babani

So now, she has decided, perhaps wisely, to bide her time, waiting for him. She is confident her Ganga Ram will show up one day and give her gadi a good wash.
While on the waiting game, Dilip Babani came up with a smart one this morning when he declared that our only respite from the stifling summer heat would be Srichand Arora. “When he comes, there will be some breeze and we will get some relief,” he predicted.
So we waited. Arora came and still no breeze. Sunita Jajodia took Dilip’s cue and urged Arora to release some 'hawa'. Flabbergasted, Arora retorted that his hawa was already “tight”. And if he were to release some wind from his stomach, people would run away from the foul odour.
So no hope there. But like Kiran Makharia, we waited and waited… till Kajal Babani turned up with Bhaswati Bose and miraculously, a gentle, soothing breeze blew across the Garden. “Now who will you credit for this hawa?” Nahid Khan questioned Dilip in all innocence. He had no answer.