Maha Shivratri

On the occasion of Maha Shivratri, let us join our hands in prayer and wish everybody the very best with a resounding “Bum Bum Bhole!” May the blessings of Lord Shiva be showered upon you and all your dreams, aspirations, hopes and wishes be fulfilled manifold. As they say on this day, “Jai Baba Bholenath!”
Owing to the festival, the turnout this morning was somewhat low, but the mood was upbeat. Kishor Babani came prepared with a special joke (meant for select ears) linked to the Shivling principle. During the exercises, Bapu Rane (left) kept everybody in titters with his one-liners on enforcing discipline: “Hansne ka nahin”, “Zyada bolne ka nahin”, “Hum sub strict ho gaye”… and when it came to closing in for the second laughter round, he used the Marathi equivalent of “Kareeb aao” -- much to everybody’s amusement. The idea of enforcing discipline is clearly being turned into a farce.
Shekhawat-ji announced that the next picnic would be to a resort, “Jawaar” (or some such), for which Kishor-bhai is making preliminary enquiries. It would be a day-long excursion during a week-end. He appealed to everybody not to let him down this time, once the venue and date are firmed up. Too many picnics have been cancelled because of the indecisiveness of members, as a result of which he has had to cut a sorry figure with the bus operators. “Each time, I have had to lie to them, saying that some elderly member in our group has kicked the bucket,” he reminded us. “But you all must understand that it does not befit my age to be lying so often!”
Earlier, during the exercises, Prakash Motwani (right) had a trying time as he was seized with a bout of giddiness. He insisted that it was not a blood pressure issue, but weakness perhaps. He did not want to be taken to a doctor either. After resting for about 15 minutes on a bench, he made his way out of the Garden all by himself. Let us hope and pray that it isn’t anything serious.