Hundredweights

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Here are some tidbits for KGPhians:

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DB weighed 100 kilos or more (as he said) in his College Days.

Reason was that he was the youngest of nine brothers (apart from a few sisters), and he was living under the loving care of his elder sister-in-law who used to fret over his frail health and somewhat overcompensated it.

DB told me that he developed a complex and was trying to run away from home; which he did at the earliest opportunity after his M Sc, running away to Delhi forsaking his fond Cal. He hated the Delhi climate, its rough and tumble culture, and lack of hilsa and rosogolla, but took the first chance to doggedly reduce his weight to about 45 kilos when I first saw him at KGP (he was a bachelor then). He said he did it by simply starving and substituting tea and fags for food, apart from one roti each for lunch and dinner (no breakfast).

Mind over Matter!

And this news of his 'ultimate' thinning was used against him by an unkind Senior Prof @ KGP to try and block his marriage proposals, saying that he must have been seriously unwell...but the bride's party let bygones be bygones...very wisely.

By the time he joined me in C-239, he recovered and gained a healthy 20 kilos...Baudi is a great cook and caregiver as I know from personal experience.

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When I joined KGP, HNA was already an RS and subsequently he joined us at the Faculty Hostel.

He must have been about 80 kilos then while I was about 42 kilos.

That worked to my advantage because during our horseplay, I used to punch him in his stomach and run away while he was constrained to merely hurling some choice Punjabi galees...he would say that there was no way he could punch me back because, "What would public say?"

He used to tell me that he weighed more than 100 kilos during his College Days, and he was unanimously elected Student Leader for his weighty presence in battles with opponents and faculty members.

Working with Silicon for decades ruined his health and at one time he was just about my weight (marriage and scooter enhanced my weight by about 5 kilos).

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These 100 kilos stuff were hearsay for me since I never actually closely SAW someone weighing 100 kilos till I shifted to Hyderabad.

There was this restaurant in front of which was installed a Digital Weighing Machine...the one that doesn't spew a ticket but displays your weight digitally in an LCD window after you stand up on its platform and insert a one rupee coin.

There was also a crowded ATM beside it and me and my son were standing in a queue when two giggling girls came up and weighed themselves...girls in AP are slim before their marriage...and joined the queue behind us.

Then came the turn of a golmattol Punju lady in her 50s to stand on the platform and insert the coin.

Nothing happened and the display went dead.

She was flummoxed and wished to check if the machine had gone out of order; and kindly requested one of the two girls to stand on the platform and inserted the coin on the girl's behalf; and the machine came back to life and showed the true earlier weight.

That pleased the mahila and she took her turn again; and once again the display went dead.

It was a great sight to watch her stunned face; and then my unsporting son compounded it by showing her the legend on the sticker of the damn machine:

0 to 100 kgs only

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