Lucky Talisman

Shekhawat (in red) brags about his talismanic powers 

Hari Singh Shekhawat is on the tenth heaven. At last he has found a reasonable justification for collecting saalis like loose change (ref post of May 4). He has four of them already (on last count), the last acquisition being a replacement for one who dropped out. She is shifting to her new apartment in Goregaon.
Earlier, the oldest of the four had bought a house in Pune soon after becoming Shekhawat’s saali. And now, by a freak coincidence, the latest one has picked up a sprawling 3,600 sq feet luxurious apartment in Lokhandwala for Rs70 million. Even by today’s standards, this is no ordinary accomplishment.

Arora watches the fun from afar

The lady was so overjoyed that she couldn't contain herself this morning and treated us to luddoos while breaking the news.
But Shekhawat is happier than her. All morning he kept projecting himself as a lucky talisman for the women he chooses to ‘ordain’ as his saalis. “See, how three of the four have acquired new property,” he boasted. “They had no plans to do so.

Celebrating the new apartment with luddoos

It happened only after they became my saali. Watch out, the fourth one too will acquire a new apartment soon.”
Clearly, there’s a neat pay-off here. But somehow, the equation does not work the same way for others – especially guys. He had made Ram Shankar Shukla a bum chum, teasing him for running a chain of gurukuls and not sharing the premises with him… till one day, Shukla fainted while exercising. Rukhsana Khan then became the target of his playful jibes till she slipped and broke her hip bone. Bijoy Gupta was the next and predictably, he too became a casualty – falling flat one morning on his back and thrashing his legs in the air.
Shekhawat himself became so terrified of his ‘black tongue’ that he stopped using it for humans and instead, started targeting coconut trees and the like. Making saalis is undoubtedly a better bet – more so, when they stand to benefit with newer apartments in the bargain. After all, Shekhawat is a good man at heart.
Kiran Prakash:
I would not wonder if some female reader of this blog approaches Shekhawat to become his saali, if that's a sure way of getting an apartment in this dream city!
Bihari Milwani from Los Angeles:
Jo mazaa piyali mein hai, woh thali mein nahin / Jo mazaa kali mein hai, woh saali mein nahin... If the saalis are prospering, one can imagine the prosperity of ghar wali!!!
Lt Col Angad Singh (retd):
Mr Shekhawat is lucky for his saalis. He is not so for his male colleagues and not even for the trees. Coconut trees have been cursed and they are not bearing any fruits in the Garden. Enjoy with more saalis.