Republic Day

Today was Republic Day, the one national holiday that has become totally out-of-sync with the times. The occasion means nothing to the common man – members of the Club included. Most of us don’t even know why it is celebrated. So it was hardly surprising that no mention was made of it this morning at the Garden – barring a customary ‘extra laugh’ at the close of the exercises.
Still we had our fun. In keeping with the holiday mood, there were smiles and a sense of bonhomie all around. Sunita Jajodia looked relaxed for a change and mingled around after the surya-namaskar prayers. One obvious reason was that her old friend and walking partner, Santosh Tyagi had come visiting. The latter had stopped attending the exercises after shifting residence (see post of January 21) earlier in the month. She joked that today being a national holiday, she could “get leave” from home to visit the Garden.
For Geeta Sardhana too, it was a reunion of sorts with friends, since she had been away for her daughter’s engagement ceremony. Happily, everything has gone off well for her. And then, there was Ramila Mistry, who had been preoccupied with her daughter’s return from the U.K., now determined to attend the Club regularly. Also, Renu Babani and Kajal Babani hugged each other for the camera in a rare display of sisterly love (right).
Everybody was into bonding big time, even as there was no special reason to do so. If Shekhawat was in a particularly playful mood while training his ‘pistols’ during the Slow and Fast laughter round, there were three ladies today vying for his attention. And at the end, Arora had to comment, “Bahadur sipahi, maidan chhor ke bhaag gaya!” Quite clearly, everybody was making the most of a holiday that had fallen mid-week after a long time.
Yet another member to have returned to the fold today was Nazma Sayed (left). She has been through a harrowing time after her nephew was hospitalized in a near comatose state following medication for malaria that had gone horribly wrong. The 20-year-old boy regained consciousness after eight days and is still in a precarious condition as he has to be fed through a tube inserted in his neck. Meanwhile, Nazma’s sister who suffers from high BP and diabetes, collapsed one afternoon on the road and had to be also hospitalized.
“All this had to happen at the same time,” she narrated, tears in her eyes. “Please pray for them!”