Impending Gloom

Srichand Arora

For the fourth consecutive morning, we did our exercises under dense cloud cover with intermittent rain. But today, there was a sense of foreboding also. Maybe, it had something to do with the news of 200 men, women and children lying buried in a landslide near Pune. Or perhaps, it was the dreadful darkness that had enveloped us since daybreak in the Garden. Somebody remarked that we were witnessing “night in day”. But everybody knew that there would be a heavy downpour any moment.
In this air of impending gloom, we were informed of the bereavement in Srichand Arora’s family. He has lost his brother-in-law (wife’s brother) yesterday. Apparently, the ailing man had stopped eating, but only last week-end, there was a family re-union to celebrate his marriage anniversary. “Everything went off well and we even thought that he was on the road to recovery,” Arora narrated on phone. “But God had other plans. Today, my brother-in-law is no more.”
We can only commiserate with the family in their hour of grief and pray that the Aroras are able to bear the loss with strength and fortitude.

Everyone pools in for the gift

Our condolences go out to them. May the soul of their dear departed rest in peace.
There was also talk of taking a gift along for the Eid party being hosted by Yusuf Rassiwala on August 3 (ref: yesterday’s post). Nahid Khan was of the opinion that this is strictly not necessary. But others like Santosh Tyagi and Monthi Serrao felt that it would look odd for the entire Club to land empty-handed for the party. At the behest of Angad Singh, it was decided to pool in some cash (voluntarily) and purchase something “as a token of our love and respect” towards Yusuf. Sunita Jajodia and Arun Patil also put in their contribution.
Later, Mumtaz Jahan was to show up and advise us that in all fairness we should dip into the Club’s kitty and pay for the gift rather than charge individual members. “After all, Yusuf-bhai has invited the full Club,” she pointed out. This too made sense. So now the Club's committee members would sit together tomorrow morning and take a call.
Harish Wadhwa:
My deepest condolence to Arora-ji's family for losing a loved one. This is something that puts you into a thinking mode as to how cruel life can often be. May God give peace to the departed soul and courage to the family to bear the loss.