L: When I was in college, they said, 'She's like a champa flower.' It took me a while to realise what they meant. (nods significantly)
Nancy: Champa is related to jasmine, right? So it must be a compliment?
L: It's mixed. You know what they say about champa: its fragrance is so strong that even snakes can't go there. So the meaning was that everyone was attracted to me, but I was standoffish, so they could not approach me. I used to wear a rose in my hair every day, and every day one boy would come up behind me to smell it. I knew he was there, but I never turned around.
D: A couple of years ago our landlord came home and said, 'I need five lakhs (Rs. 500,000).' He is a government official. He has several houses and a number of office properties, which he rents out. I said, 'Why do you need it?' He said, 'My corruption trial is coming up, and the judge says he'll acquit me if I pay him.'
That's an almost-perfect corruption story. (Another gem was when a friend's son described how he met a purchase officer at a factory where he wanted to sell a product. The order was given, and as he was leaving the purchase officer said, 'Be sure to send my bribe by registered post.') But I've heard so many such stories. They tire me now.
