Things have changed today. While every member has a separate towel, my wife has two towels, one for herself and one for the road because more often than not she is in Rishikesh than in Vasant Kunj where I am forced to take up my residence. I must clarify that I am here not because of any choice but because I have no choice. I hate Vasant Kunj because there is no DTC bus. Why?. They say because everyone has a car. My regret is that although everyone has a car but he/she looks a driver even in his own car. And as per an old proverb, every driver has a towel. Some truck drivers keep a towel under medical advice. There are others who carry a towel on non-medical grounds.

The rickshaw-pullers of Agra and Kanpur carry a wet towel on their head while on the road. If a towel is not available, they put an onion in a handkerchief and wrap it around their head to beat the heat during the summer days, because the onion is a great heat absorber. The halwais all over keep a towel on their left shoulder, the way in which modern women carry a dupatta. It is very difficult to decide who is who imitating whom?

I had an opportunity once to stay in a five-star hotel on Government hospitality. There in the bathroom I found eight towels. I was puzzled. I asked a bearer about it. He looked at me with culpable contempt. He sensed I was the first-timer. He did not reply.

Some VVIP rooms called suites have two bathrooms. That means sixteen towels for a couple. Some towels are as short as handkerchiefs, others as long as bed-sheets or blankets. I took the manager into confidence and asked him: ‘Brother, tell me the rationale for eight towels’? He ordered tea and explained:

"One towel for the morning shave, one for the evening shave, three towels for bathing: pre-bath, bath and post-bath, three for drying the various parts of the body".

"That totals up to seven": I asked.

‘The eighth towel is for the road’.