Late-coming Penalty

Qadir Bano

“Penalty!” Nahid Khan exclaimed in her drill sergeant voice.
Qadir Bano shuffled self-consciously before taking her place for the exercises. She has been a habitual late-comer and knew well that Nahid’s stern remark was directed at her. But being a painfully shy person, she pretended not to hear. She wouldn't get into a confrontation with anybody even if her life depended on it.
So Arora spelt it out for her: “Whoever comes late in future, will have to treat everybody in the circle to sweets. If you are to be late tomorrow also, be sure to bring 30 pedas!” Qadir shook her head obediently.
Next was Arora’s old friend, Bihari Milwani. Arora straightaway demanded 40 luddoos and as expected, he agreed with a smile.

Srichand Arora conducts today's exercises

Then came Bhaswati Bose’s turn. Arora thought for a while, but Qadir had turned surprisingly vociferous by then and insisted that the penalty be raised to 50 because Bhaswati had come later than all other late comers. “Okay, you bring 50 samosas tomorrow,” Arora directed.
Completely taken off-guard and with no clue about what was going on, Bhaswati’s instinctive reaction was, “Why 50? I cannot eat more than two samosas!”
Now pedas were covered, and luddoos and samosas… What next?

Monthi Serrao

Arora quickly realized he was squeezing himself into an inextricable situation and turned to correcting people on the way they exercised. Willy-nilly he had to target Nafisa Sayyad who has a hilarious track record for defying Arora. When told to look up, she’d look down; when she is supposed to turn left, she’d do the opposite; when told to inhale deeply she’d simply walk away… And sure enough, when Arora’s back was turned, she passed a cheeky remark: “He should first take care of himself before telling others how to exercise. Look at the sep of his belly!”
Arora heard her. Monthi Serrao showed up at that moment and on public demand, Arora had to deal with her late-coming first. “What will you bring tomorrow?” he blurted out. Not knowing the reason for this odd question, Monthi grinned from ear to ear: “Tomorrow? I’ll bring the receipt book!”
Now, what can you say to this? Arora gave up. And that brought an end to the late-coming penalty.
Harish Wadhwa:
A befitting answer by Monthi-ji to bring the penalty business to rest. I am sure anyone would be rendered speechless by such a witty statement.
Jagmohan Papneja:
In the photograph showing four members exercising, a lady in the background sitting on a bench is also captured. She is wearing a burqa and hiding her face -- thus making identification very difficult. Can you recognize her the next time?