Under The Weather

Some time back, Srichand Arora (left) came up with a wicked idea to activate his music system in the Garden area. He suggested that someone hold one end of a wire while he inserts the other end into the extension socket to check whether the electricity supply had been restored. Quick on his feet, Kishor-bhai volunteered to himself insert an end of the wire in the plug point while Arora held the other end: “Arora jump marega toh current hai. Nahin jump karega, toh current nahin hai. Simple!”
Fortunately, none of that was necessary, as the system was singing merrily this morning at its appointed corner on the Garden bench. But unfortunately, Arora had to be down today as he suddenly developed uneasiness during the exercises. Till then, he was his normal exuberant self, exhorting everybody as usual to pay attention and stop talking. He even completed two rounds of the laughter exercises when he complained of feeling unwell. He requested Razia Khan to take charge before stepping out of the circle.
This had never happened before. However, to ease the tension, everybody pretended that all was well and continued with the exercises. Arora stood at a slight distance, assuring himself (more than anyone else) that he’d be fine and for a while, also tried to participate in the proceedings. “Zyada cigarette pi liya hoga,” he joked gamely, but the unease was writ large on his face. Before long, he excused himself and walked homewards, a lonely figure.
Let’s hope that it’s really nothing serious.
Meanwhile, Mrs Harbans Singh (right) has returned after what seems like ages. She said she had to rush to Ludhiana to attend the last rites of a relative close to her family. Her brother’s brother-in-law, who used to be in the garments’ business and stayed with them whenever he visited Mumbai, succumbed to a heart attack earlier this month. He was only 52. May his soul rest in peace!