‘Mandap’ Inaugurated

Exercises shift to the mandap

Light morning showers led us to inaugurating the Garden’s new shed today. Erected out of bamboo poles and tarpaulin roofing, the make-shift structure had, for long, presented a welcome sanctuary from the stuffy and claustrophobic confines of the China Hut. Some wisecrack had mischievously named the shed, ‘mandap’ – perhaps because of its rudimentary construction, much like that of a marriage pandal. Somehow, the name stuck.
So half-way through the exercises this morning, when the skies opened up, we trooped in en masse behind Nahid Khan and continued with our drill uninterrupted. Initially though, Ramila Mistry needed to get used to the unlit cavernous interiors and promptly did a ‘pole dance’ holding on to a bamboo pole for support. The others had to negotiate dripping rain water and little puddles because of the inadequate tarpaulin cover. Were it a windy morning, we would probably have been drenched. But everybody agreed that for a mild shower, the mandap was a good stop-gap option -- better than the China Hut.

Vijay Bhai and Arora exchange notes

Despite the dark and dank conditions, excitement in the air was palpable because of India’s dramatic win last night in the ICC Champions Trophy final. Almost everyone had the same story on their lips. Seeing the match slip away from India’s hands, they had switched off the TV post-midnight and retired to bed, convinced that England would lift the trophy in the 20-over truncated match at Birmingham.
“But I was so restless that I could not sleep a wink,” narrated Vijay Bhai, the Garden’s most ardent cricket aficionado. “At 1.00 a.m., I put on the TV again.” That was the time when Ved Prakash Grover also got up and “on an impulse” switched on the TV. So did Ram Shankar Shukla. Srichand Arora was the only one to have watched the entire match uninterrupted and could provide a blow-by-blow account this morning of how, in the death overs, the tide turned in India’s favour and England were to lose by 5 runs in a nail biting finish.
The most amazing part was that these elderly cricket fanatics -- having stayed awake for the prize distribution ceremony till well past 2.00 a.m. -- could still keep their appointment in the Garden today.
Jagmohan Papneja:
It was a narrow and sensational win. The Indian team deserved to win, especially after having won all the matches of the tournament very convincingly. Well done Team India!