Question Mark

A huge question mark hangs over the Lonavala picnic this week-end with Hari Singh Shekhawat, the chief organizer of the trip, suddenly becoming scarce. Enquiries with his household revealed that due to a certain “skin reaction” on the medication he had been prescribed of late, he has had to rush to the Colaba military hospital this morning.
Last seen at the Garden on Saturday, Shekhawat had cut short his exercises because of a prior appointment at the hospital (for a routine check-up) in the morning. He did not show up in the evening and was found to be missing on Sunday as well. So this morning, when he was not to be seen, several eyebrows went up – more so, because he was to go with Kishor Babani this afternoon to book the bus for Lonavala. Calls from the Garden to his residence yielded no response.
As of now, only 22 members have paid up for the Lonavala trip. We need at least 10 more to join, if only to occupy the rooms (tentatively) made available to us. This has however to be confirmed with the guest house management, well in advance. Time is running out. And now, with Shekhawat’s health in question, chances are the trip would have to be deferred – if not cancelled.
In this air of uncertainty, the Club is witnessing a spate of comings-‘n’-goings. Bapu Rane (right) has returned from his ‘mulk’ in Ratnagiri, but Pratap Bhatt has disappeared. Najma Sayed showed up today, but Santosh Tyagi and Nafisa Sayed have gone missing. Ramila Mistry is away on pilgrimage at Somnath Temple while Srichand Arora and Harish Wadhwa are cooling their heels on foreign soil – one at Singapore and the other at Kazakhstan. Not to be left behind, Geeta Sardhana (left) is today taking the flight out of India for a brief vacation with her husband at Thailand…
At this rate, those keyed up for the Lonavala picnic should be finding themselves at a loose end.
Srichand Arora:
Bapu Rane, you must be very happy as MI won the final of CLT-20 today. Congratulations!
Renu Babani:
This solves the mystery regarding Mr Shekhawat's sudden disappearance. I am sure he will recover soon and be back in action. We all know Mr Shekhawat is not the sort to give up easily. His mobile is constantly busy as he makes those calls urging guests/members to pay up due to time constraints. So let us all take a positive note here and support him all the way.