YDN-9

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good evening! Congratulations for continuing to remain a member of the ever growing list of ‘honorable’ subscribers of ‘Your Daily News’. The interesting and the fascinating world of news, gossip, views, comments and stories that will not only help you enlarge your knowledge base, but will also help you digest better!

In the last one and a half months of our stay in Mumbai, I have encountered lots of experiences worth sharing with you, most important being the virtues of my friends, Triyog Pandya and Rahul Banthia.

Triyog is the reincarnation of Lord Rama. He is a non-smoker, a pure vegetarian, a non-drinker and a hundred percent pious Brahmin. Well, the same is also true for a couple of other auditors in our Department. No points for guessing who! But there is one difference between him and them. He is a man….... with a very high level of energy and enthusiasm.

So, on a Tuesday, after work, we decided to pay our respect to the Raja of Mumbai, Ganapati, at his residence, the Siddhi Vinayak, sharp at 9:30pm. But alas, little did we know the Raja does not have a drawing room. Neither does He entertain guests on a one is to one basis. He has a huge durbar, with hordes of visitors queuing up for a glimpse. In common parlance, this is called a ‘darshan’. But my friend just will not give up. Like he never has before in his life. He fought his way in. Amidst girls, ladies and women. Holding my hand tight, lest I should get lost in the pallus and the dupattas. Thankfully, all the sandals and the chappals had already been taken off!

On yet another day, he decided to show me the real Mumbai. The lifeline of all Mumbaikars. So we planned to take a joy ride of the local train from Churchgate to Andheri. It was a ride yes. But I am not sure if it was joyful. By the time we got off, the two of us looked at each other and laughed. Like mad men. Possessed of the powers of spirit and alcohol. We were all ruffled. Hair messed up and standing upright. As if we had been just been electrocuted. Shirts out of our trousers. The knuckle of the belt on our waists having turned 180 degrees, was now just above our backsides! No wonder wise men always encourage two layers of clothing. An under and an outer!

I will also have to give equal footage, if not more, to Rahul, in this edition. Mr. Banthia has a fancy for three things in life. Audit issues, audit observations and audit points. As all of you must have realized, there is one word common to all of the three mentioned above! The difference though is very subtle. So when he calls you at 7 in the morning, it is to discuss an issue. During normal office hours, he discusses observations. But, when he will wake you up at 11 in the night, with his never-ending phone calls, you can rest assure, our man has arrived!

My friend, I am told, also has a personal life. He takes time out for himself once in a while. These personal moments are the ones when he prefers staying to himself and not interacting with anyone. Its like a mini sanyaas. The time when he is totally secluded from the rest of the world. Meditating and praying to God. His only accompaniments then are the toothbrush, the toothpaste, bathing soap, the melody of incessant water flow and the towel.

God bless you my friends.

Warm Regards,
Abhishek Gupta.