Bum-Bum Bhole

Mahashivratri – the Great Night of Lord Shiva (left), marking his wedding anniversary. It was on this day that he had performed the cosmic dance (tandav nritya) also. So the turnout at the Garden had to be low. Most of the members chose to stay away, presumably to visit temples or perform puja at home on an empty stomach.
A religious ceremony was also held across the road at Lokhandwala Garden No 2, much to Hari Naraiyani’s consternation. He could not understand the logic behind the ritual of pouring gallons of water, milk and honey over a stone shivalinga (phallic symbol) from morning to night. He kept cribbing about the colossal wastage on this day when millions of children across the country go hungry to bed every night. He wanted all the milk and honey be diverted to the children… when Srichand Arora politely told him to shut up and stop being "philosophical". Obediently Hari-bhai kept his counsel, but nevertheless went across to Garden No 2 to “check what was going on there”!
Yes, Arora has resumed his morning routine, but looked to be still in pain. He skipped some of the exercises. For the past one week, he has been under the care of a neuro-surgeon for his ailing back and was advised bed-rest for another week. But obvious boredom and inactivity at home drove him to the Garden, only to find himself in greater distress and he had to abruptly excuse himself from the tea session.
Earlier, Shekhawat stepped into Kishor Babani’s shoes to narrate (right pic) some jokes he had obviously come prepared with. Santosh Tyagi too did her bit at regaling her fans soon after the exercises, followed by Jagmohan Papneja as usual. The other day Nahid Khan had proved to be quite a good narrator of jokes. At this rate, everybody is having a go at everybody’s funny bone. Clearly, the more the merrier… as they say.
Dilip Babani:
On Mahashivratri day, Hindus visit temples and enjoy thandai with prasad. I went to the Lokhandwala temple of Shiv-Ganpati-Hanuman. The place was nicely decorated and lots of people were standing in a queue to visit God Shiv. The government had declared Mahashivratri a public holiday.