Rain Again

What can be said of yet another rain-soaked morning when you have to perforce remain confined to the Chinese Hut and exercise – except that Geeta Sardhana is back from an “emergency visit” to Delhi; that Najma Syed showed up to celebrate her turning into a proud “nani” (pic right); that Nafisa Sayed had a bad fall on the way to the Garden and bruised her knees; that the ladies are largely confused over whether it was Saif Ali Khan’s mother or father who had passed away yesterday; that Hari Singh Shekhawat is keeping alive the prospects of a Lonavala picnic since another guest house has been located nearby, at Khandala…
But the funniest part was of Harish Wadhwa acquiring the identity of a movie star, following his picture published in last Sunday’s Pic of the Week (reproduced alongside). “Aap acting kartey hain?” was the common query this full-time engineer had to field this morning from some star-struck members. Razia Khan tried to raise his stocks by egging him to say that he was also a movie director and producer, till Harish explained that the photograph was a working still of a character he had once played in a tele-film to oblige a friend. The instant disappointment on the faces of his “fans” was palpable!
The death of cricketing legend Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi was another topic of animated discussion during the exercises, as not many ladies were familiar with the name. Bapu Rane describing him as “Sharmila Tagore ke aadmi” scarcely clarified matters, until somebody explained that he was “Saif Ali Khan ke papa”. By then, a few like Nafisa had caught on to the mention of Sharmila Tagore’s name and began to speak of her in the past tense – only to deepen the initial confusion. Before long, good sense prevailed as everybody decided to go home and consult the newspapers -- on whether it was Saif Ali Khan’s mama or his papa who’s no more.
Renu Babani:
Confusion, confusion all around. Please don't bury people who are alive and well. I am sure by now everyone must be aware of the facts, but I suppose it was a matter of discussion. Interesting, so much happened this morning. I guess we are capable of events occuring amongst ourselves, be it big or small. What a group!