Reverse Ratio

Men outnumbered the women today. This is a rare occurrence in the Garden for what has come to be a predominantly women’s laughter club. It looked as though the men had decided to turn the tables on the ladies this morning with an emphatic show of strength.
The key culprits for letting the ladies down were absentees Geeta Sardhana, Harbans Singh, Razia Khan, Ramila Mistry, Mumtaz Jahan, Neelam Garg and so on. They are known regulars, instrumental at maintaining the status quo in the Garden. What additionally tipped the scales in favour of the males was the sudden appearance of some not-so-regular members like Yusuf Rassiwala (left), Ram Shukla and P.Motwani. In the end, the tally was 13 men, 10 women.
The women did not like it one bit. Initially they were patronizing enough to indulge the men in their sudden jubilation. “Kuchh der ki khushi hai,” Sunita Jajodia remarked in the hope that before long, the missing lady members would stream in en masse through the gate. When that was not happening and instead, Sitaram and Motwani walked in one after another, she lost heart. “Gate bandh karo!” she yelled, echoing Arora’s typical clarion call every other morning.
Still, with Monthi Serrao and Kajal Babani showing up, there was some hope left. Their presence was however, to be offset by the likes of Dilip Babani and Harish Wadhwa striding in purposefully to uphold male pride. By then, the other men had unwittingly become the butt of many female jokes.
Nafisa Sayed (right) for one, began mimicking an elderly member’s awkward Nachh Baliye movements with a vengeance, punctuating each body turn with a loud “Yehhh jhatka! Yehhh jhatka!” As if on cue, the poor fellow kept to his rhythm, little realizing that the joke was on him. Ultimately, Nahid Khan brought about a truce by rejoicing with the men: “Aapke khushi mein hamaari khushi hai.”
What more of an ego boost do men need?

Renu Babani says:
YAAAYY! Finally, the men outnumbered the women. What a victory for them! They were overjoyed. It showed on their faces and of course, they made sure they pointed it out to the ladies constantly. But the ladies were not to be outdone. They took it in their stride bravely (no choice really) and laughed. Yes, today was another day of constant chatter and non-stop banter, causing disturbances galore during the exercise session. Despite being chided and reminded to pay attention and talk later, no one paid heed. The atmosphere had reached its climax. Will the men outnumber the women till the end of the exercise? They did!
--Renu