Navratri 2013

Durga, the Mother Goddess

Today being the end of Pitra Paksh – a day for appeasing the spirits of ancestors – many gave the morning exercises a miss. Even Ved Prakash Grover, the most regular among all members, did not turn up. Like others, he too had organised a puja at home and in keeping with family tradition and customs, shall perform shraadh during the day.
Today also happened to be the eve of Navratri – the ‘festival of nine nights’ when the Mother Goddess is invoked with an array of rituals and ceremony, folk dance and cultural programs.

Santosh Tyagi regales with her bagful of jokes

The garden across the road is hosting a grand Durga Puja celebration by local Bengalis, which will soon turn into a carnival of community feasting and entertainment shows, stretching up to Dussehra on October 14.
The festive feel was yet to sink in though. Shekhawat did his bit at lifting the mood by loudly keeping count of those who turned up for exercising. He is peculiarly fixated on the male-female ratio during the exercises, deriving enormous pleasure whenever the men outnumbered women.

Prakash Motwani

At one point when the number was evenly poised at five, he suggested closing the gate of the garden, when in came Arun Patil. Shekhawat hopped around triumphantly clapping his hands like a mechanical toy as Razia Khan reprimanded Arun for showing up today, when in came Khatoon Baig to neutralize all the excitement.
And there was Jagmohan Papneja describing the semi-sitting poses of Kissa Kursi Ka exercise as “Indian (toilet)” and “Western (toilet)”…! And during the Lion and Lioness exercise, the growls were termed as “dogs barking”. And Monthi Serrao demonstrated how dogs pant with tongues hanging out, which was instantly dismissed as an “yeda exercise”. And Santosh Tyagi, with a new collection of jokes, kept the stream of laughter flowing till the end.
Meanwhile, news has come in of Prakash Motwani being still under the weather. He has not recovered from the violent asthmatic attack he suffered last February and the extended monsoon has had a severe toll on his health. To make matters worse, he cannot rest at home during the day because renovation work is on. The worst part is no doctor has been able to arrest his loss of weight. He stands today at under-50 kilos – weak and frail, looking way, way older than his years.
Jagmohan Papneja:
Jai Mata Di to all on the eve of Navratri. Let the blessings of Maa Durga shower upon you. I wish you all good health and happy moments.