Railway Romance
___
On a cold December evening at Kot Lakhpat Railway Station I walked into Station Master office, took this unique recliner and got myself photographed in repose
All this inspired by Salman Rashid's fabulous piece on the railway antiquity called Chair, Long Arm
@odysseuslahori tells us this item of railway inventory is also called Planter's Chair
He then puts the readers through his crafty wit
"Imagine a sugar cane plantation, a house with verandas, sahib in ash-gray cottons lounging on one of these in the shade with a gin and tonic"
Now some will say this piece of mahogany with a caned sloping back was originally West Indies Planters' Chair
In the original design the flat arms had foldable swivel extensions
The planters used these to 'elevate their swollen and weary legs after a day's toil in the saddle'
Come to Bombay and Bombaywalla quoting Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable tells that these folded yet potent footrests when extended become 'long enough to facilitate sexual intercourse'
We now get a fabled name for a not so scandalous furniture item: The Bombay Fornicator
Back to Salman who would go to all details to prove that 'old fashioned sport' is a 'tricky business' to be attempted in such a reclining posture and that Ladies' Waiting Rooms with North Western Railways were STRICTLY for Ladies leaving almost no chance for attempted fornication
and just there craftily tucked as an undernote comes this from the Master of Storytelling
"there is the thought that Chair, Long Arm, a.k.a the Bombay or Roorkee Fornicator, could be very handy in the event of an emergency delivery"
On a cold December evening at Kot Lakhpat Railway Station in Station Master's office I reclined into a siesta with both legs spread out, one leg extended on each footrest of our Chair, Long Arm a.k.a Planter's Chair a.k.a Bombay Fornicator
I became a traveler of longs routes, then a planter in Caribbean saddles
But dear reader, as I tried to stretch my imagination to the next levels of utility as implied in the latter purposes, it was my marital status and the natural obstacle of being a male that prevented me
and Ladies and Gentlemen, here's the Grand Master in repose on Bombay Fornicator
( @odysseuslahori apologies for sharing this lovely pose without permission) and here's his masterpiece on our Chair of Sorts
http://odysseuslahori.blogspot.com/2014/03/bombay-fornicator.html
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