Of double identity and single occupancy

I was posted at Jammu in 1985 when I visited Chandigarh on an official visit with my boss who was a South Indian. We stayed at the Piccadily Hotel in Sector 22. My boss was entitled to a deluxe room while I stayed in a standard room. We were to stay there for two days. On the day we were to check out, as I reached the reception, I heard some loud voices. One of them belonged to my boss. He was at the reception to settle his bill and an argument was going on between him and the clerk. To make matters worse, the clerk could only understand Punjabi and Hindi, while my boss understood only English and Tamil. I rushed in to broker peace.

The clerk was charging him for double occupancy and my boss was insisting he was staying alone, which he was. I asked the clerk that why was he charging my boss for double occupancy.

The clerk said there were two persons staying in his room —   one was ‘Rajgopal’ and the second was called ‘Subramaniam’. The full name of my boss was ‘Rajgopal Subramaniam’.

Even now whenever I am introduced to a South Indian gentleman, this incident still brings a smile to my face.

Nagesh Mittal, Chandigarh