Hum dono = Confusion
Meet Mahesh and Suresh, Amdavad’s very own Guddu and Charlie
By Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Thursday, September 03, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20City§id=3&contentid=20090903200909030217373145f2bd8e)
If you thought Guddu and Charlie existed only in director Vishal Bhardwaj’s Kaminey imagination, go visit Ahmedabad Railway Station. Once you reach the station, ask any railway official, vendor, sweeper or coolie to take you to the Gehlot twins, Mahesh and Suresh. Of course, there is no bad blood in the lives of these twins, and thankfully, there are no kamineys around them as well.
Born six minutes apart
Mahesh and Suresh, born six minutes apart on October 10, 1969, are identical twins. Even today, these two TTEs (travellers’ ticket examiners) are cause of much amusement and confusion at Ahmedabad Railway Station. Growing up in the dusty lanes of Ajmer, the Gehlot twins have always stuck together. In fact, to keep their vow of getting the Railways job on the same day, the brothers appeared for entrance test seven times! If Mahesh flunked, Suresh too would opt out, despite himself passing, and if Suresh failed, Mahesh would do his bit. The job interview itself was straight out of a Bollywood movie.
Said Suresh, “Mahesh had gone in first for the interview. When my turn came, the interviewer growled, ‘Why have you come back? I just finished talking to you’. Mahesh had to be summoned again to make the interviewer believe that identical twins do exist in real life.”
So bewildered was the poor interviewer that Suresh overheard him telling the next candidate, “I hope you don’t have any more twins around here.”
Trouble at workplace
Then there was a time when the brothers got into a huge amount of trouble professionally. Some years ago, Mahesh was posted in Viramgam while Suresh was in Ahmedabad.
Mahesh narrated the story, “A high-level Railway delegation had come for an inspection and had interacted with Suresh for some time. As luck would have it, the delegation’s next destination was Viramgam. Upon meeting ‘Suresh’ again, the officials asked him for an explanation. This time around, Suresh had to be rushed to Viramgam for the officers to believe me.”
After Mahesh was posted in Ahmedabad along with his twin, there were allegations that just one of them was on the job at any given day. An inquiry was set up. Laughed Suresh, “At that time, we seriously thought of doing something drastic to appear different.”
The brothers don’t look identical now, and there’s a story behind that as well. Said Suresh, “We were on our way home when we became victims of the Asarwa Mill wall collapse. Mahesh got seriously injured while I escaped with bruises. But that’s the story of our lives. We have always been together.”
Same school, same college
Indeed it has been. Both went to the same school, sat in the same classroom, then attended the same college. Correction. Mahesh attended college for himself and for Suresh. “I would be roaming around, confident that Mahesh would sign the roll call muster for both of us.”
The Gehlot family had become quite famous in Ajmer because of the twins. Once, Suresh bore an ugly brunt of the fame. Said Mahesh, “We were in our early 20s, and I got into a fight. The boys had threatened to sort me out later but I kept on a brave front. Some time in the evening, those boys thrashed Suresh thinking it was me.”
Added Suresh, “I kept on telling them that woh doosra hai, main Suresh hoon, and that enraged the boys even more. They thought I was trying to fool them.”
Things began to get really confusing post Suresh’s wedding. “I got married a few years before Mahesh tied the knot,” Suresh said, “My wife had such a tough time...”
Suresh recalled a pre-wedding event. “I reached my to be in-laws’ house only to be told at the gate that everybody was busy with the groom. What the heck, I said, I am the groom here. I later saw everyone feeding Mahesh, and he would not open his mouth to clarify.”
We are special
Even today, after so many years in matrimony, kids of Suresh and Mahesh do mix up their daddies. And no, the kids are not twins.
Suresh and Mahesh are men content with their lot. Said Suresh, “We believe we are special because of each other. Often, I would be thinking something and Mahesh would speak it out. At times, I would recover from an illness and Mahesh would get it. We just want to live in each other’s company.”
Mahesh seconded the thought. “The thought that my own brother, who even looks like me, will be there even if the world will turn against me is very comforting indeed. We don’t want much from life.”
LAUGH RIOT
Anecdotes from the lives of the Gehlot twins, Mahesh and Suresh
» IN SCHOOL The twins loved to confuse everyone. Every day, Mahesh and Suresh would dress identical, down to their socks, and would play the other in front of their teachers
» REVERSE SWING Once, Mahesh got into a fight, and was threatened by the boys in his locality. Later in the day, an unsuspecting Suresh was thrashed by the gang. He kept yelling, “Woh doosra hai, main Suresh hoon”
» TWIN TROUBLE The twins appeared for a job interview on the same day. Mahesh went in first, and when it was Suresh’s turn, the interviewer was not amused. “Why have you come back ? I just finished talking to you,” he asked Suresh. Mahesh had to be summoned again to make the interviewer believe identical twins do exist in real life
» JOB SOB Higher-ups in the Railways suspected only one twin turned up for work every day. In fact, an inquiry was set up to find out the truth
» DULHA MAIN HOON Suresh’s in-laws mistook Mahesh as the groom. Mahesh too was enjoying the VIP treatment and didn’t bother to correct them. Suresh was not amused
» AAP YAHAN? Passengers checked by one of the twins are often shocked to find the other brother again asking for tickets. “But you saw my ticket at platform number 6,” a passenger once told Mahesh. He didn’t believe in the twin theory
By Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Thursday, September 03, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20City§id=3&contentid=20090903200909030217373145f2bd8e)
If you thought Guddu and Charlie existed only in director Vishal Bhardwaj’s Kaminey imagination, go visit Ahmedabad Railway Station. Once you reach the station, ask any railway official, vendor, sweeper or coolie to take you to the Gehlot twins, Mahesh and Suresh. Of course, there is no bad blood in the lives of these twins, and thankfully, there are no kamineys around them as well.
Born six minutes apart
Mahesh and Suresh, born six minutes apart on October 10, 1969, are identical twins. Even today, these two TTEs (travellers’ ticket examiners) are cause of much amusement and confusion at Ahmedabad Railway Station. Growing up in the dusty lanes of Ajmer, the Gehlot twins have always stuck together. In fact, to keep their vow of getting the Railways job on the same day, the brothers appeared for entrance test seven times! If Mahesh flunked, Suresh too would opt out, despite himself passing, and if Suresh failed, Mahesh would do his bit. The job interview itself was straight out of a Bollywood movie.
Said Suresh, “Mahesh had gone in first for the interview. When my turn came, the interviewer growled, ‘Why have you come back? I just finished talking to you’. Mahesh had to be summoned again to make the interviewer believe that identical twins do exist in real life.”
So bewildered was the poor interviewer that Suresh overheard him telling the next candidate, “I hope you don’t have any more twins around here.”
Trouble at workplace
Then there was a time when the brothers got into a huge amount of trouble professionally. Some years ago, Mahesh was posted in Viramgam while Suresh was in Ahmedabad.
Mahesh narrated the story, “A high-level Railway delegation had come for an inspection and had interacted with Suresh for some time. As luck would have it, the delegation’s next destination was Viramgam. Upon meeting ‘Suresh’ again, the officials asked him for an explanation. This time around, Suresh had to be rushed to Viramgam for the officers to believe me.”
After Mahesh was posted in Ahmedabad along with his twin, there were allegations that just one of them was on the job at any given day. An inquiry was set up. Laughed Suresh, “At that time, we seriously thought of doing something drastic to appear different.”
The brothers don’t look identical now, and there’s a story behind that as well. Said Suresh, “We were on our way home when we became victims of the Asarwa Mill wall collapse. Mahesh got seriously injured while I escaped with bruises. But that’s the story of our lives. We have always been together.”
Same school, same college
Indeed it has been. Both went to the same school, sat in the same classroom, then attended the same college. Correction. Mahesh attended college for himself and for Suresh. “I would be roaming around, confident that Mahesh would sign the roll call muster for both of us.”
The Gehlot family had become quite famous in Ajmer because of the twins. Once, Suresh bore an ugly brunt of the fame. Said Mahesh, “We were in our early 20s, and I got into a fight. The boys had threatened to sort me out later but I kept on a brave front. Some time in the evening, those boys thrashed Suresh thinking it was me.”
Added Suresh, “I kept on telling them that woh doosra hai, main Suresh hoon, and that enraged the boys even more. They thought I was trying to fool them.”
Things began to get really confusing post Suresh’s wedding. “I got married a few years before Mahesh tied the knot,” Suresh said, “My wife had such a tough time...”
Suresh recalled a pre-wedding event. “I reached my to be in-laws’ house only to be told at the gate that everybody was busy with the groom. What the heck, I said, I am the groom here. I later saw everyone feeding Mahesh, and he would not open his mouth to clarify.”
We are special
Even today, after so many years in matrimony, kids of Suresh and Mahesh do mix up their daddies. And no, the kids are not twins.
Suresh and Mahesh are men content with their lot. Said Suresh, “We believe we are special because of each other. Often, I would be thinking something and Mahesh would speak it out. At times, I would recover from an illness and Mahesh would get it. We just want to live in each other’s company.”
Mahesh seconded the thought. “The thought that my own brother, who even looks like me, will be there even if the world will turn against me is very comforting indeed. We don’t want much from life.”
LAUGH RIOT
Anecdotes from the lives of the Gehlot twins, Mahesh and Suresh
» IN SCHOOL The twins loved to confuse everyone. Every day, Mahesh and Suresh would dress identical, down to their socks, and would play the other in front of their teachers
» REVERSE SWING Once, Mahesh got into a fight, and was threatened by the boys in his locality. Later in the day, an unsuspecting Suresh was thrashed by the gang. He kept yelling, “Woh doosra hai, main Suresh hoon”
» TWIN TROUBLE The twins appeared for a job interview on the same day. Mahesh went in first, and when it was Suresh’s turn, the interviewer was not amused. “Why have you come back ? I just finished talking to you,” he asked Suresh. Mahesh had to be summoned again to make the interviewer believe identical twins do exist in real life
» JOB SOB Higher-ups in the Railways suspected only one twin turned up for work every day. In fact, an inquiry was set up to find out the truth
» DULHA MAIN HOON Suresh’s in-laws mistook Mahesh as the groom. Mahesh too was enjoying the VIP treatment and didn’t bother to correct them. Suresh was not amused
» AAP YAHAN? Passengers checked by one of the twins are often shocked to find the other brother again asking for tickets. “But you saw my ticket at platform number 6,” a passenger once told Mahesh. He didn’t believe in the twin theory
