Like Old Times

It’s back to old times with Yusuf Rassiwala (right). He has been attending the Club every day, the whole of this week and what’s more, is conducting the exercises as regularly as he used to earlier. Maybe this has something to do with the treat he had given for his Xylo on January 24 (see post). Let’s hope he acquires many more such goodies and we get to have him more often in the mornings… along with the khajoor barfis, of course.
Many may fault Yusuf-bhai for being too laidback, even slow in the way he conducts himself in the middle. But in many ways, that is what makes the exercises so very enjoyable. Rather than being rushed through one drill after another at breakneck speed, we can take our time to smell the attar (yes, every morning comes with a fresh gush of the aroma, thanks to some of our lady members) and enjoy Kishor-bhai’s divine collection of music from his mobile.
Yusuf-bhai engages in small talk, keeping everybody at ease and there are no military-like commands, “Baatein Kum” or “Pay Attention”. At the same time, should he notice somebody faltering, he would re-do the exercise for his/her benefit. This has happened a number of times. The upshot of it all is that we get to let our hair down and be more playful with one another -- especially Shekhawat-ji (below, right) who just needs an excuse to go charging at the ladies during the Slow and Fast laughter round.
Today, Shekhawat-ji did a double whammy. After he was through with ‘emptying his pistols’ on Ramila-ben, he turned his attention to Mumtaz Jahan for the Lion and Lioness round. Surprisingly he went full-throttle at her, grunting and growling on and on, till she finally threw up her hands: “Kya Shekhawat-bhai, aap ek ke saath naachte hain and mujhe khaane ko aatey hain?” Yusuf-bhai had a ready reply: “Kyonki aap masaaledaar hain!”
Amidst all the light-hearted jabs and jokes, it was nice to see Sandhya Narang (left, above) looking more composed and confident about herself since her husband’s passing away (see post of September 20, 2010). She is nowadays more into yoga than the Laughing Club exercises. She complained about the weather “not suiting” her and promised to be regular with us once it becomes warmer.