What Pegman Saw – Unwelcome Guests

“What Pegman saw” is a weekly challenge based on Google Streetview. You can read the rules here. You can find today’s location on this page,  from where you can also get the Inlinkz code. This week’s location is Mumbai, India.

[1] Mehndi – elaborate designs in henna. It is believed that the more intense the colour, the more your husband will love you.

[2] Sangeet – the day before the wedding ceremony. Guests are received, and there is entertainment, often on a lavish scale.

Unwelcome Guests

The Juhu Club was a wonderful venue for Tarangi and Mithin’s wedding. Its walled gardens accommodated eight hundred guests without any sense of crowding. Two thousand rose bushes perfumed the evening breeze, whose gentle warmth was a caress. Scores of chefs, sommeliers and waiters ensured the guests were never without refreshment.

Tarangi glanced with delight at the mehndi^[1] on her arms. Its darkness meant that Mithin would love her very much indeed. She exulted in the heavy gold jewellery that her father, Pralay Gangulay, had given to her at the start of this, her Sangeet^[2]. It must be worth a fortune, she gloated. The metal glowed in the flickering light of the torches illuminating the scene.

“Thank you so much, Baba,” she said again, beaming at him.

But why were the police here? And who was this small, bespectacled man?

“Gangulay-sahib, I arrest you on charges of tax evasion.”

Note

Indians are no fonder of paying taxes than anybody else. To avoid detection they sometimes keep the money in cash and use it to pay for events such as an extravagant wedding.