Romesh Ranganathan reluctantly recounts embarrassing Crawley shopping trip with mum Shanthi
Romesh Ranganathan was forced to remember an embarrassing shopping trip in Crawley, when he had to abandon a purchase of underwear – because a pupil from the school where he taught was working behind the till.
The comedian was speaking to his mum Shanthi during the latest episode of his podcast on Thursday (October 15) – when she reminded him of an awkward encounter at Next.
The conversation began with Shanthi discussing her outfit, revealing that she was once again wearing clothes from the high street retailer.
Shanthi explained that she was a loyal customer because the clothes fitted her perfectly, but joked that she was still waiting for the company to reward her loyalty.
Romesh encouraged his mum to make a direct appeal to the retailer – and she quickly obliged.
But the conversation soon took an unexpected turn when Shanthi recalled accompanying her son to Next during his days as a maths teacher at Hazelwick School.
"Once I went with Romesh to Next, he picked up some boxer shorts and socks. He said 'I can't go to the till mum'."
Initially, Romesh could not remember the incident.
"Is this true? I don't remember this. How old was I?" he asked.
Shanthi replied: "You were teaching at Hazelwick. You said 'I can't pay for this mum'."
The comedian then remembered why he had been so reluctant to complete the purchase.
"Oh because there was a student behind the counter," he said.
"You can't know what underwear your maths teacher is wearing."
Shanthi pointed out that she could have paid for the items herself, but said her son had instead decided to abandon the shopping trip.
"I could have paid for it, you didn't ask me. You put everything back and walked out."
Romesh joked that his mum had now made the situation even more embarrassing by sharing the story with his podcast audience.
"Thankfully you've publicised it now but I think it's embarrassing if the person behind the counter had seen you paying for it and then seen me.
"Now you've got a double whammy. They know what underwear I wear and my mum paid for it. You have to leave teaching, if that happens."
Shanthi was quick to point out that her son had eventually left the profession anyway.
"I did. Not because of that, though," Romesh replied.
After Shanthi suggested there had been another reason for his departure, Romesh delivered one final punchline.
"Yeah, I became a national treasure."
Ranganathan worked as a maths teacher in Crawley before embarking on his successful career in comedy and television. He has frequently shared stories about his hometown on the podcast.
The 48-year-old recently recalled teaching award-winning actress Erin Doherty at Hazelwick – saying she was ‘incredible’ even then.
In another recent episode of his podcast, Ranganathan revealed how a joke about The Hawth theatre in Crawley came back to haunt him months later.
This came after actor Ray Winstone took a brutal swipe at Crawley, on the podcast, describing the Sussex town as a ‘cheap version of Surrey’.
You can find The Romesh Ranganathan Show, wherever you get your podcasts – including YouTube and Spotify.