A tale of 9 ears.

Let me keep this short. It's a classic that would be enjoyed most by people who were at the scene. I am lucky that I was among the four of us in the auto this evening. Ok, so I will come straight to the point.

Three of us were in the auto, on our way to a friend's marriage. Unknown to the driver, so that he does not charge up his already exorbitant price for the 14 km journey for the additional passenger, another friend was to join us on the way. When he told him, of course after the deal was made and we had travelled some distance, his expressions changed and surfaced through his wry sense of humour. "Where do I drop one of you?" he asked. And when we insisted it's rather a 'pick' it was obvious that wasn't picked up well by his highness. Nonetheless, we stopped him at the mentioned place. His pride was further bruised when we did not pile up in the rear seat and the friend instead opted to sit beside him. And he kept slicing his being with looks of contempt each time we, as usual, burst out laughing. He even cleared his ears a couple of times.

Then as we were in the middle of a busy road, he did something that had us guessing initially. He screeched to a halt and told the friend to get down. He himself got down as well - and removed the seat cushion and brought out a packet from its intestines. Having done that, he motioned him to sit and drove on. Moments later, he was holding a small piece of paper and rolling and folding it. When the size was just right, he put it in his left ear and smiled at the friend - "Talk as much as you want now."

"I use it to wipe the mirrors, but sometimes it comes good in emergencies," he smiled even as he turned a literally deaf ear to the thunderous laughter inside the auto.