His name was Chhaganlal, but being the eldest of an Ahmedabad family, he was addressed as Motabhai (big brother) by all of us. He had come to my city and wanted to open a branch office. I was asked to introduce him to a bank manager to get started.

“We have a lake of money,” said Motabhai to the banker, and at once proceeded to explain his projected money needs. There was a contradiction at the very outset. If Motabhai had a “lake of funds”, why go to the bank at all? But the banker was not baffled. Among his postings were some years spent at Gujarat branches of his bank and so the banker knew that the “lake of funds” actually meant “lack of funds”.

The two then discussed the contractual obligations, pledging, and other loan jargon. “I pray to Goad (God) that all goes well with the application,” said Motabhai as we left the bank.

We went to his newly rented flat where Mitheeben was setting up house. She said, “Now we get good frying pains in various sizes, even of the non-stick variety.” I was on to them and looked on with approval at her newly acquired Teflon-coated frying pans.

The “snakes” she offered with tea included gathia and jalebi. As we chatted, Motabhai avoided the jalebi because he was supposed to reduce his weight. “To get the weight off my bake,” he said, “I must watch what I eat, as I have a sleep disc.” He pulled out an opaque black sheet with the X-ray of his back and said, “The bake pictures are hard to understand, but between the fourth and the fifth vertebra, I have a sleep disc.”

... contd.