Uncle Ken and The Zigzag Way 2

When grandmother asked him to go to the station to meet Aunt Mabel and her children, who were arriving from Lucknow, zigzagged through the town, taxing the botanical garden to the west and the lime-stone factories to the east, finally reaching the station by way of the good yards, in order, as he said, 'to take it by surprise '.

Nobody was surprised, least of Aunt Mabel, who had taken a Tonga and reached the house while Uncle Ken was still sitting on the station platform, waiting for the next train to come in. I was sent to fetch him. 

'Let's zigzag home again', he said. 

'Only on condition we eat chaat every fifteen minutes,' I said So we went home by way of all the most winding bazaars (and in North Indian towns they do tend to zigzag) stopping at numerous chaat and halwai shops until Uncle Ken had finished his money. We got home very late and were scolded by everyone; but, as Uncle Ken told me, we were pioneers and had to expect to be misunderstood and even maligned. Posterity would recognise the true value.