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my wife and i are now
thinking of investing in a
house.
i’d like to share two
anecdotes.
Gidyup
One late evening at
Bishnauth Gymkhana Club
after having exceeded our
quota of whisky, we decided
to hit the then famous
‘Pandit Dhaba’ located close
to Bargang. The Senior
Assistant to whom the Jeep
belonged took the wheel and
the other Senior Assistant
the front seat. (i shall call
them G and D respectively.)
My other three colleagues
quickly stuffed themselves
tight on the back seat
leaving me no options, but,
to my misfortune, to sit
behind, on top of the spare
wheel! we decided to take
the back road through Mijicaijan T.E. which had a
broken wooden bridge. Our journey started with the
word ‘Gidyup’ uttered by D to which G’s Jeep responded
with a start as if it were actually a horse. Each time, the
word ‘Gidyup’made G press the accelerator and the Jeep
would gather more speed.The road being broken, i kept
jumping on, and with, the wheel and jack at the back,
which were unfortunately not bolted to the body. My
cries for help were all drowned by the ‘Gidyups’. By the
time we approached the broken bridge the Jeep had
gathered too much speed to stop, so with one more loud
‘Gidyup’ the ‘horse’ jumped over the broken bridge. Yes,
Sirs and Ma’ams, believe me it did and thank God!There
is a saying often repeated over the bar, “Sharabio Ko
Bhagwan Dekhta Hai.” (God looks after the Drunks.)
Thank God this came true for all of us that day. At the
end of my ordeal, once we reached the Dhaba, my
colleagues pulled me (or what was left of me!) from the
back and it took all three of them to separate me from
the spare tyre, which i was holding on to for dear life
with my fingers embedded in the grooves.
Black Label
Before going on Annual Leave once, i decided to leave
my precious old bottle of ‘Black Label’ whisky with my
friend and colleague just in case my bungalow was
burgled in my absence. Those days, this particular
whisky was not easily available and was reserved for the
Advisors or Directors. On my return from leave i asked
my friend to return my whisky. He delayed for a couple
of days and then confirmed my fear, that it had been
accidentally consumed! To add to my dismay he had
shared it with another twit, who did not know the
difference between whisky and brandy – a total waste!
After one month of continuous verbal abuse and the
story being repeated at every gathering to embarrass my
guilty ‘ex-friend’, he finally gathered the courage to buy
me a replacement which was easily worth a month’s
salary. He insisted we head to Bishwanath Charali town
to buy the whisky and said there was one particular
shop where it should be available. On reaching the shop
he inquired from the owner if he had Black Label.The
shopkeeper replied that he would have to check,
returning after some time and confirming, to my
amazement, that Black Label was in stock!Then my ex-
friend, with a sly glance and a taunting “hmmm” in my
direction, authoritatively ordered the owner to bring the
bottle.The latter returned with a bottle of Black Label
- Strong Beer. To this day, i haven’t forgiven my
(former) friend.
Life in the plantations is getting tougher with the ever
fluctuating market, the changing weather patterns and
the work culture, but we Blue Bloods will not only
survive but thrive with time.
Cheers.
JULY 2015 53