Anitha : Hello ! Geetha?
Geetha : Hi Anitha ! You had spoken to me only a little while ago. Now you’re back on the line. What’s up?
Anitha : I need your help Geetha. I just received a call from Mumbai. My cousins from the U.S are arriving at Chennai by the 11.30 a.m. Air India flight. That’s less than an hour from now.
Geetha : So how do i fit into this information?
Anitha : I need you to receive them at the airport and drop them at my flat, Geetha. I have an important Board Meeting in half an hour and I can’t get away from it. You’ll do me this favour, won’t you?
Geetha : Hey! How can I receive them when I don’t even know what they look like? Don’t tell me you expect me to stand there with a placard like a tourist guide!
Anitha : Not a bad idea! But jokes apart, let me describe them to you so that you’d be able to recognise them by the description.
Geetha : OK! Shoot! I am all ears!
Anitha : There are four of them – two men and two women. Kannan is the tallest. He is a thirty-year old six footer with broad shoulders and a ruddy complexion. He sports a heavy moustache and a thick but well trimmed beard, both these being in sharp contrast to his bald pate. He’s got a round face with a short nose and small close-set eyes. He prefers formal wear so, if it is not a suit and tie, he would surely be in a full—sleeved, checked shirt with matching tie, and in leather shoes which match his trousers.
Geetha : OK-How about the rest?
Anitha : Varun is easy to identify in any crowd. He, too, is around thirty years old but he is short, stocky and swarthy. He is clean—shaven but his head is crowned with a thick mop of black hair which is often untidy and unkempt. He is always in polo necked T shirts and shorts when he is in India and sandals are a compulsory accessory to his dress code! He is a cheerful guy and when he grins, the sparkle of his white teeth competes with the twinkle in his eyes.
Geetha : Are the women too so distinct in their appearance?
Anitha : Divya is Kannan’s sister and she is tall like him. But that ‘s as far as the similarity goes. She is fair- smooth-skinned, slim with long brown shouldcr-lengthhair. Unlike her brother,she is aquiline-nosed and doe-eyed but like him she prefers formal wear whether it is western or ethnic. So she is bound to be in a narrowbordered Kancheepuram Silk Saree or an elegant flannel skirt with a high collared cuff-sleeved satin blouse. Kannan, Varun and Divya are my paternal cousins but Preethi, the last on the list, is a maternal one. She is my mother’s sister’s daughter. She resembles me in many ways. We be in tight jeans, baggy shirt and high-heeled shoes! are of the same age, both of us are of jockey height, we are thin, wiry-haired, wheat— complexioned, freckled, spectaicled, with beady
eyes and a snub-nose. Without doubt, she will : be in tight jeans, baggy shirt and high – heeled shoes!
Geetha : Phew! That’s quite a lot to remember! Perhaps I’ll first look for Preethi, your look-alike, and the real would then easy. OK Anitha. Go ahead with your meeting. I’ll set out for the airport now. I’ll call you up or ‘SMS’ you when we get to the flat. Bye.
Anitha : Thanks a lot Geetha. Bye!