Beat the Heat

During summer and especially in the pre-monsoon stillness of the mornings, people devise their own peculiar means to beat the heat. Many just do not stir out of the air-conditioned comfort of their bedrooms. Some soak themselves in the bath. Others imbibe fluids. Those of us who land in the Garden to exercise, seek distractions to combat the ill-effects of foul weather.
Nafisa Sayed’s (below, left) pet peeve has been the medical prescriptions she must abide by for her "sugar" problem. She gets up before sunrise every day, walks down more than a kilometer from home, maintains a strict diet, does yoga, but finds no relief. What’s worse, she's completely fed up of the stream of unsolicited advice, often from strangers. “Kantaal aa gaya,” she complains.
For Gopvinita (below, right), the spate of chain snatching incidents in the locality, offers the mental diversion she requires from the oppressive heat. This morning she narrated two incidents of ladies who were hoodwinked into surrendering their gold chains to confidence tricksters. She is convinced that the victims were under a hypnotic spell to oblige the crooks without raising an alarm. Being over-concerned, she wonders if approaching senior cops (perhaps through the media) would serve any purpose.
Razia Khan (lead pic) too has found a reason to keep herself preoccupied. Back from a bout of viral fever, she is quite confused by the conflicting responses to her proposal for a joint-birthday bash in June (see posts of May 10 and May 13). Many seem intent upon putting spokes in the wheel by raising questions on financials, the venue, menu, etc. without themselves doing anything to facilitate matters. On her part, Razia clarified this morning that it would cost around Rs350 per cover and the b-day boys and girls should budget about Rs1,000 per head for a guest list of 40-odd.
Looks like there can be no clarity on this till such time the money is actually collected.
Says Renu Babani:
Let's face it, without Mr Shekawat, nothing seems to materialise. I guess all that can be done is make the necessary enquiries and wait till all members are present before things are finalised. The presence of just a few members at the Garden doesn't really help and everyone just goes through the routine, looking fed up by the heat. Looks like many members are on holiday or just don't want to bear the morning heat. However, all one can do is wait and hope that everyone returns to the Garden soon, before things start getting really boring.
--Renu