Rajan was the proud possessor of a plateful of spoons. These were not family heirlooms in the traditional sense, for he had built up the collection all by himself. Nonetheless, he had grown attached to them over the years, and they were on display to all the visitors to his home.

A fondness for antique (and antiquated) spoons was not his only weakness. In his heyday, he had been a senior government servant in the ministry, and over the years he had acquired the services of a veritable assembly of flunkeys and flatterers. Some of these continued to pay lip-service to him even when he no longer graced the august office where he had been sovereign. It pleased him no end to present some of these (false) courtiers to his newfound friends.

Whether this was his true self, I cannot say, but it was part of the persona that he presented to the world. He derived importance from the fact, and perhaps it was the source of his self-worth.

Alas! A time must come when our fondest dreams flounder on the unforgiving rock of reality. It was the holiday season, and his friends decided to proceed on a vacation. Naturally, as the man with the (right) connections, they chose Rajan to make all the arrangements. Rajan confidently assured them that the needful would be done. And he picked up the phone with an air of confidence about him…

The first flunkey was taking a bath – morning, noon and night. The second flunkey was attending to some urgent work. Another was indisposed. And yet another had gone out of town. One by one, Rajan contacted all of his courtiers, but all he got were excuses. And as he proceeded down the list, the excuses got lamer and lamer.

It is difficult to say precisely when the moment of truth dawned, but eventually it came. But Rajan had given his word, and appearances had to be kept; and so an older (and wiser) Rajan caught the first bus to Connaught Place, and threw himself at the mercy of the travel agents there – at a not inconsiderable expense to himself.

And what of the silver, one might ask? Well, the family silver, the symbols of a bygone era, retained their pride of place; the last remainder (and reminder) of those glorious days. When Rajan’s word was law and no whim was left unattended.