All about timing

This August, the city, in a fit of mischief, decided to go all monsoon-ish, leading to happy viruses, some very sick people, and anxious souls reacting nervously to every sniff and sneeze.

"Hmm, I wonder why my kulfi is tasting so salty..."

A badly timed sneeze can really cause damage – as the sweetdeprived guests at a recent shindig will confirm, after having watched, horrified, the entire dessert section in a buffet being engulfed by a sneeze of humungous proportions.

Apparently, a certain gentleman approached the tables, paused, wiggled his nose and upper lip desperately, then helplessly bent forward over the dishes and gave way to... A Sneeze.

And this wasn’t one of those shy, retiring sneezes that go ‘ichikk’. No – this was one of those gigantic, hearty ones that rattle windows and loosen nearby teeth.

(Buffets, though convenient, tend to allow a motley mix of humanity too close to the food.)

A pained silence followed – then, a marked herd movement away from those dishes.

Sad.

Take introductions. Do you or don’t you shake the hand that’s just been sneezed into... even if the contrite sneezer wipes his hands on tissue, ‘kerchief’...(or his outfit?).

Well, we subcontinenters have the answer for Situation Two.

The good old namaste/namaskaram – addresses both courtesy and health.

We’re more ‘like this only’ than we realise.