Insider Joke

Ram Shankar Shukla

Ram Shankar Shukla came in today sounding exactly like Amitabh Bachchan. Tall as he is, this elderly gent (also from U.P.) had contracted a nasty cold and sore throat which turned his voice into a deep baritone – much like that of the movie megastar. While we consoled him with flattering words, suggesting that his was a voice actors would die for and that he should better become a dubbing artiste now, Shukla was brought firmly to terra firma the moment Shekhawat entered the Garden.
Addressing him as ‘Qutub Minar-ji’, Shekhawat wanted to know what he had done during the weekend. Shukla could just about open his mouth when Shekhawat sprang back, clapping in glee. “Bus, bus… you don’t have to say any more. I have understood. You must have gone to one of your gurukuls. How is Shilpi Devi?” Seeing Shekhawat so delighted, Shukla sportingly played along.
Now, this is somewhat an insider joke that has become progressively public.

Nahid Khan brings blessings from Ajmer Sharif Dargah

Shukla happens to run a chain of coaching institutes around Mumbai for under-privileged students, which he describes as “gurukuls”. But Shekhawat insists on calling them “ashrams” – as in Asaram Bapu’s ashram. To drive home his point, he’d deliberately mention the name of the infamous female aide of the self-styled godman charged with a sex scandal. So much so that when he spotted a broken ladies’ hairclip lying near Shukla’s feet during the exercises, Shekhawat just could not hold himself. Shukla knew what was coming and nervously eyed the hairclip, refusing to pick it up or kick it away. Shekhwat interrupted the exercises, picked up the hairclip with great flourish and to everybody’s amusement, tried to “return Shilpi Devi’s belonging” to Shukla. The latter simply backed away, raising both his hands as high as he could, as though fearing the clip would bite him any moment.
Nahid Khan was also there this morning, looking tired and pale from a trip to Ajmer. Nevertheless, she conducted the exercises and in the end, distributed rewdi and chana from the shrine of 12th century sufi saint, Moinuddin Chisti.