Antsy-Pantsy

Birthday greetings for Sitaram Hivarkar

How does it feel when everyone around keeps reaching down to scratch themselves? Or maybe, stand on one foot and use the other to rub their ankles? Or lift their clothes knee-high for a quick smack on the shin? Or make a sudden dash to the toilet across the Garden…With black ants swarming all over the place, this is a common sight during our exercises.
Surely, it can never be a nice feeling to have something crawl up your legs without permission. But then, it is not always a case of ‘ants in the pants’. The sight of one person performing a contortionist act is enough to trigger similar action in ten others. The very act is contagious. And then you realise it is all in your mind – unless of course, you have an Archimedes moment like Khatoon Baig had this morning and squealed, “Mooooongi” – as though she had never seen an ant before.
Ants are intelligent beings. And this has nothing to do with their emerging over-ground when they sense monsoon is approaching. They actually recognize which legs to climb up and which ones to avoid.

Extended celebrations on Ramila's new car

For instance, they’d never venture up hairy ones wearing shorts since they know they would stand exposed and be swatted in an instant. They operate under cover. Call it survival instinct, but when Mallika Kagzi made two quick trips to the toilet, literally running all the way, it wasn't funny. “Your blood must be very sweet,” Srichand Arora consoled her. Within moments, Nahid Khan was seen doing a P.T.Usha to dust her clothes in the toilet. Meanwhile the men shamelessly kept scratching themselves all over.
Sitaram Hivarkar offered a welcome respite after the exercises when he celebrated his birthday today with samosas and pedas. He has just completed a platinum jubilee and must figure among the senior-most in the Club. Besides, he is one of its founders. Some members suggested that we formally felicitate him – perhaps by hosting a party or presenting him with a memento. Everybody agreed that any ‘honour’ for this Grand Old Man of the Club would be inadequate.
Ramila Mistry was also there distributing pedas among those who had missed the celebration yesterday upon her buying a car (see post). Although it was more of an unfinished business, the feeling of shared joy and pride was still in evidence.
Jagmohan Papneja:
Wishing you, Sitaram-ji a remarkable and memorable birthday.