An Important Parcel

He strode into the lobby of a small-time Dubai hotel. Approaching the reception desk, he said "There's a parcel left here for me by a colleague who was your guest last week. It's addressed to ___" The clerk rises to his feet, looks a little confused, consults with some others, and says, "Just a minute, Sir."

The young man waits, impatient. There's a taxi waiting for him outside and his wife is in it. He really needs that parcel in a hurry. He's had to go out of his way to pick up this package, and he can't afford to come again. The one-week wait has been long enough.

Meanwhile, the clerk and a few others are looking puzzled and unsure of what to do. The young man receives a call and wanders off to a corner of the lobby as the hotel staff buzz without arriving at a conclusion. Finally, the call ends and they approach him worriedly, "Sir, it's in the store room, and the key can't be located." Without waiting to see if this angers him, they hurry to assure him, "But we've called for the carpenter to come, Sir. He's on his way. He'll break the lock."

The young man nods and looks at his watch. His wife peers anxiously from the taxi into the lobby to see what's taking so long. The taxi driver grumbles a bit, then turns to the radio for solace. There has been some trouble in his country and a shrill-voiced woman protests in Urdu that the only way to stop men like these is to have someone like Phoolan Devi to stand against them. The wife is intrigued, forgetting about her husband and the parcel and the long wait.

In the lobby, the carpenter has arrived. The clerk briefs him, he nods. In a timely manner, the senior manager walks in. "What's going on?" he asks, as if to establish that he is the problem-solver in the building.

The situation is explained. The man looks annoyed and produces a key from his pocket.

The door is opened. The parcel retrieved. The young man receives it with thanks and hurries out. His wife asks, "What took so long?" He outlines it briefly and asserts, "But we got it."

She's looking at him in shock. "You'd have let them break the door?" she asks.

"Sure," Anando replies. "He brought the packet all the way from India for me, as a favour."

"But still!!!" I protest. He shrugs. I understand, I am compelled by the same attraction for the contents of this package as is Anando.

Obviously, nothing gets between us and our Sunfeast Glucose biscuits.