Check-In Luggage With a Difference

Readers of a certain vintage of this newspaper are likely to hear the word 'suitcase' and associate it with Harshad Mehta and stuffed wads of currency notes. Times have, however, changed significantly. And so has dodgy, creative usages of suitcases. In an incident that would make both master contortionists and heistmeisters proud, a Manipal Institute of Technology student tried to sneak in his girlfriend in his hostel room by hiding her inside a suitcase. The girl, reportedly a good dancer and obviously agile (without having to involve any strange 'barbell strategy'), was the perfect contraband - until the hostel warden, suspicious of the 'uncharacteristic bulge' on the suitcase, got the chap to unzip his suitcase and spill the human bean. Full marks for trying.

Almost rivalling Shivaji's ingenious escape from house arrest in Aurangzeb's court in oversized mithai crates, the two Manipal students' attempt to sneak in will stand as a testament of trying to overcome the barriers - and baggage - of forbidden love. As an engineering student, the boy clearly knew the importance of topography. The suitcase may well become a symbol of Harshad Mehta-ish hera pheri in the age of crypto behaviour gaining currency. If it weren't for some fundamental differences, one would have even deemed the suitcase containing the girlfriend to be a Trojan bag.