[Reader-list] Colonial Gatecrashing

[Sopan Joshi]

This is in response to Joy's posting "Gates":

ours was the corner house. the good people of our
Delhi "colony" decided that security depended on a
tall, heavy iron gate. it came up just outside our
very own 'main gate' and was just the sort that Joy
mentions. one of the gentlemen residents of the colony
got the gate constructed. I’m not sure, but i think he
was in the construction business. the stalwart who
guarded this gate was over 50, had a wrinkled face,
and used to walk with a limp. he could barely carry
the weight of his lathi.

one day the gate came down upon the chowkidar and
smashed his head. he died. the gentleman who had got
the gate constructed handled the matter with the kind
of concern and dexterity that one associates with the
Delhi Police. he paid some compensation to the
chowkidar's wife (and blamed the man who had welded
the gate). some concerned people in the colony also
contributed.

a few days later, we shifted to another colony. this
house is on the main road. So we don’t have to
negotiate any gates. but the gate--bigger and heavier
than the one that crashed--is two houses away. and the
chowkidar here is a young man with the first
suggestions of facial hair.



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