Pit Stop

Those arriving at the Garden before time have found a lovely pit stop near the gate. Stretching over three benches (left), this is where they cool their heels after a walk and till the signal is given for the exercises to start, they would be shooting the breeze and pondering over grave worldly issues – from movie stars and cricket to commodity prices, BlackBerry and You Tube. Kishor Babani would serve his ‘starters’ for the morning – today’s special being on animals joking about an anatomical peculiarity in human beings. The discussions also veered around the school Ram Shankar Shukla runs during the day and the bizarre trend of suicide tourism. It is at this spot that the Chandaal Chaukdi had first set up base (see post of 27/12/2010), before graduating to form the Badmaash Company.
By and large, the pit stop puts everybody in a cheerful mood for all the fun and games that follow during the exercises. Sadly though, Bapu Rane’s exuberance misfired twice this morning. The first time was when he enthusiastically greeted Monthi Serrao (right) with his trade-mark “Namaththe” which was more in the nature of pelting stones at her. Quick on the uptake, she made a gesture of gathering the stones and throwing them back at him repeatedly. Then later, for some strange reason, he had to address Santosh Tyagi as “Santosh Bhai”. The lady did not respond as this was towards the end of the exercises. But Rane knows well enough that he has not heard the end from her.
Incidentally, Harbans Singh (left) has left for Ludhiana today for her winter sojourn. In all likelihood, she will not return before her birthday on the 29th of this month. So let us wish her good health and many, many happy returns of the day -- in advance.
Renu Babani:
All in a day's work! The discussions that go on between the gentlemen before the exercises is known to the ladies and the rest through this blog. No wonder, being so engrossed in conversation they have to be reminded to make a move. The past few days have seen more male members which is surprising, but I am sure this is short-lived. Nafisa Syed, Razia Khan and Nahid Khan were absent this morning. Yusuf-bhai seems to have gone back to his old ways, deciding not to attend the morning sessions. Let's hope the females are back in regular numbers.