Chilled Out

As predicted by the met office, the mercury slipped below 11 degrees Celsius (a good five degrees below normal) in the morning, making all of Mumbai shiver. Lokhandwala shivered. The Garden shivered. The trees and shrubs shivered. We shivered. And so when the call for “Hai mera dil” (at the beginning of the exercises) was met by a stony silence, Tara Chand’s cheeky comment was telling: “Thund mein dil sukad gaya!” The heart had shrunk.
Unlike yesterday, everyone was out to humour everyone, making light of the severe cold. Hari Singh Shekhawat, his head wrapped in green muffler, insisted on exchanging “dua-salaam” with Rehana Sheikh, knowing well that the ladies would get on his case. Sure enough, they wanted to know why he cannot wish from a distance and his need to shake hands. But Rehana jumped to Shekhawat’s defence: “Heii! Koi kuchh bolney ka nahin. He is my Shekhu darling!”
Then there was Razia Khan's unusual demand that a fire be kept burning in the middle of the circle so that we could all huddle around. “Toh main jal jaaoongi,” reasoned Nahid Khan, who was conducting the exercises. Later, she consoled Razia that the cold would last till the sun came up: “This is just the 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. chill of Mumbai. During the day it should be pretty warm.”
The tea ordered by Dilip Babani at the end of the exercises came as a welcome surprise. Today was his birthday and wife Kajal was there with him to celebrate with “chai-biscuit”. Nothing could have been more godsent. The beautiful couple struck lovey-dovey poses (left pic) while seniors like Sitaram Hivarkar and Srichand Arora dropped by, especially to wish Dilip many happy returns of the day.
Earlier in the morning, Mumtaz Jahan (right pic) showed up with a box of sweets and a bag of walnuts from Srinagar. Brandishing a sheaf of papers, she announced she had joined Sharad Pawar’s National Congress Party (NCP) as president of its Rashtrawadi Granthalaya Sabha, Jammu and Kashmir. She is already chairperson of Mother Women Welfare Organisation, an NGO engaged in providing vocational training to jobless women and has also been actively involved with Tamir-i-Hind and Aman Mela on Indo-Pak amity.
To plebians like us though, what matters most is whether we get a ride in her lal-batti gaadi – the car with a red beacon, promised by her party.
Harish Wadhwa:
* I am convinced that winter has set into Mumbai, now that Bose Babu decided to wear a full pant today, instead of his usual capris.
* Happy Birthday to Dilip-bhai on his 21st birthday (Dil toh jawan hai abhi)! Nice pic of him and Kajal-ji. They indeed make a lovy-dovy pair with nice expressions. Thanks for the chai and biscuits.
* Thank you also Mumtaz-ji, for those nice sweets. May you become the chief minister of J&K some day. You will do much better than the present lot of politicians.
* Missed Kishor-da and his Ganju-Panju jokes.
Bhaswati Bose:
* Many happy returns of the day, Dilip Bhai. Though I missed the chai, I thank you for sending my share of biscuits.
* Nice to have our "Kashmir ki Kali" back with us. Do we have to address her as "Madam" now?
Anonymous:
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Renu Babani:
Having a blast with family in Goa. Weather is beautiful and the beach hut is great. An experience so worth it. Lovely clean beach and so huge. Are you guys familiar with the name Calangute? This trip is the best ever!
Harish Wadhwa:
Renu-ji, Calangute Beach is indeed beautiful and with clean water, unlike Baga and others. I am sure you are all having a great time. By the way, Calangute also offers nice eye tonic to tourists. So keep an eye on Kishor-da!