Even as I was about to pack up for the day, I found that another colleague had still not left. When I asked him how come he was still around, he said he had been speaking to somebody on the phone. When prodded further, he said the words that sent me into uncontrollably hysterical laughter. His words, I quote “I was speaking to a third-class friend of mine!” He meant that he had been speaking to a friend of his who had been his classmate in class three but English being a ‘punny’ language, it took on a wholly different meaning!

Caste clashes are passe. It’s now the era of the class clashes. One Mr. Shashi Tharoor realized that the hard way around, I’m told.