Day 356

A pleasant but uneventful morning – except for the sighting of Om Puri, the actor (pic right). Looking slightly overweight in brown shorts and tee, he was no doubt ill-at-ease for the attention he was drawing to himself. But being a perfect gentleman, he graciously acknowledged Harish Wadhwa’s greetings – especially, when he was told that we would be looking forward to seeing more of him at the Garden.
The buzz though, was about two senior members, Yusuf Rassiwala (below) and Santosh Tyagi (below, right), who have been missing for over a month. At one time, they were among the most regular at the Club and a number of activities used to revolve around them. To Yusuf-bhai goes the credit of organizing movie outings (almost every month) and keeping everybody on their toes with his constant banter and humorous digs. And Santosh-ji’s jokes’ narration at the end of the exercises was an event by itself, not-to-be missed.
Sadly, both of them are not keeping well. Domestic compulsions have of late, forced Santosh-ji to divide time between Mumbai and Delhi and the repeated trips to-and-fro have taken a toll on her health. According to Sunita Jajodia, she is now here in Mumbai, but has yet to recover from severe joint pains – mainly in her knees and ankles.
As for Yusuf-bhai, a heart condition detected recently has robbed him of the confidence to undertake the walk to the Garden every morning. He says he wakes up in time and would very much like to come for the exercises “par chalney ka nahin hota”. Today, Hari Singh Shekhawat informed us that Yusuf-bhai is away at Ahmedabad on a short visit.
Let us hope and pray that both recover soon and are back with us, in fine fettle -- like before.
Says RENU BABANI:
Yes, some regular members were missed and remembered by everyone. I suppose we tend to get used to meeting daily and just being together and knowing that all are well is a consolation. I am sure those not in good health shall recover soon and return to the morning sessions. The weather was great and we succeeded in performing the exercises outdoors. (Mrs Bose: Seems like you had too much fun on your birthday, as you did not come this morning. Hopefully you have rested it out and we will see you tomorrow.)
Says HARISH WADHWA:
We miss our colleagues and wish them a speedy recovery so that they join us soon. By the way, Yusuf-bhai's birthday is round the corner. A few of us must drop in to cheer him up. Kishor-bhai, the joke on the bhikari asking for coffee for himself and his girlfriend was great. History and experience tell us of many cases of girlfriends turning rich men into paupers. Phir bhi kya karen? Dil hai ki manta hi nahin! So let's keep searching... Ooops!