‘Deejay Change!’

In perfect harmony: SUPERB SYNCHRONISATION

We are getting more and more hep. We do not call the person who conducts exercises a ‘teacher’. (That distinction is reserved for Khatoon Baig, a proper school teacher, now retired.) Nor do we refer to him/ her as a conductor. (That sounds suspiciously as a bus employee who collects loose change and issues tickets.) Instead, we shall be calling this worthy who orchestrates exercises from the middle a ‘deejay’!
The credit (or blame) for instituting this designation goes to Ramila Mistry, famous for her no-nonsense approach to exercising. Whenever she steps in the middle, the Garden reverberates with cries of “No Talk”, “Out-Out”, “Silence Please”… The trouble is nobody takes her seriously. We continue to be on our own trip, doing our own little numbers (though without music) and performing to our own beat, which can get quite exasperating for a task master like Ramila. So today, when she announced, “Deejay Change!” between the laughter and exercise sessions, nobody was surprised.
This is however, not to belittle the efforts of others who conduct the exercises to the best of their ability – just that Nahid Khan is beyond reproach since her promotion to ‘Bhai’ and that Arora can get quite moody, switching from disciplinarian mode to a chatterbox. Ditto for Razia Khan. And with Yusuf Rassiwala, the buffalo (to quote, Sunita Jajodia) literally "lands in water"! So every time you see a beautifully orchestrated scene like the one photographed above, check who the disc jockey was.
NEWS FLASH: Bapu Rane is no more. He passed away this afternoon in his sleep. May his soul rest in peace.
Jagmohan Papneja:
Very sad day for us to hear about the demise of Rane-ji. Our heartfelt condolences to his family. We would repeatedly refer to Rane during our exercises, "Lion Ban Jayo". We pray to the Almighty to grant him eternal peace.
Kishor Babani:
'If tears could build a stairway / And memories a lane / I’d walk right up to heaven / And bring you home again...'