Capping the Club

Today, for the first time in Club history, Sitaram Hivarkar stood in the middle and conducted the exercises with a lovely navy-blue polo cap perched on his head. Looking every inch a no-nonsense drill sergeant, he thus inaugurated what is now to be recognised as the 'club cap'.
With a distinctive red trim around its peak and the club’s Happy Face insignia in front, the cap instantly reduced everybody's age by at least 15 years! The bald pates and silver hair were all gone. Prakash Motwani and Ved Prakash Grover looked like geeky school boys while Nazma Sayed (in picture) was mistaken for a little girl. Nahid Khan wore the cap over a dupatta around her head and for a moment, in half-smile, she appeared as an Arab sheikh.
Actually, nobody had expected the caps to bring about such a dramatic transformation, both in the appearance and behaviour of the members. Bapu Rane lost his trademark Gandhian chrome dome and became funnily unrecognizable while Ram Shankar Shukla turned into an overgrown ‘Alvin the Chipmunk’. Bose transmuted into a security guard. Tara Chand Seth, Kishor Babani and Pratap Bhatt looked a cross between young army jawans and punters at the race course. Even the ladies started behaving out of character -- more like mischievous boys. The most hilarious though was Hari Singh Shekhawat (left) who presided over the cap-distribution -- a field marshal ‘doubly-anointed’, with two caps planted firmly on his head!
The blame (or credit) for all this must fall squarely on Srichand Arora – ably abetted by Harish Wadhwa. Two years back, the former spotted some people in Singapore wearing caps and exercising and since then, he has wanted our club members to do likewise. Today, Harish turned that intention into action. The question now is what if some members per chance forget to wear their caps to the Garden. The penalties being suggested are (a) debarment from exercising; (b) standing on the bench; (c) treating everybody to chai; and (d) doing ten laps of the Garden in ten minutes. Or does anyone have a better idea?
Harish Wadhwa:
* Option (c) seems to be the best bet. But frankly, I don't think wearing the cap every day is required. Yes, on picnics and celebrations, it could be the ticket to the bus or party.
* Bose Babu and Arora-ji, appreciated the gesture at chai. Arun-bhai joining us gave hope that he would soon become permanent company.
Renu Babani's PICSPEAK:
* "Tirchi topiwale, babu bhole bhale..."
* "I get two caps because I am in charge. No one must forget that!"