My favourite Pondicherry tailor
In Pondicherry I have a favourite tailor. I went to him again this time to have a pair of shorts made. I said, “My waistline is 36 inches, but how I wish it could be 34!”So he measured me. He said, “You are fooling me.”
I said, “What?”
He said, “Your waistline is more than 36.”
I said, “No, no, no, this is all my sister’s fault and my cousin’s fault. They have been cooking and cooking for me. Please do not tell me I am over 36.”
He said, “No, you have come to a truthful person, you have come to a sincere person. I am telling you, people are fooling you if they say your waistline is 36.”
I said, “I do not want to hear that. I want to hear less.”
Then he measured me and showed me the tape. O God, O God! It was all true. “Now, can you say you are 36?” he asked.
I said, “For God’s sake, make it 36 and put elastic on each side. I am wise, I am clever.”
He said, “That I can do.”
I said, “Now put whatever measurement you want. You do not have to tell me what it is, but put elastic.”
So he has put elastic on both sides. I am wearing these shorts today. I do not know whether my real measurement is 35 or 36 or 37, because elastic is solving the problem.
