Black Tongue

Ram Shankar Shukla is fed lozenges

Hari Singh Shekhawat’s famed black tongue came into full play this morning. From the start of the exercises, Sunita Jajodia had been warning him not to bring up anybody’s name during the Kissa Kursi Ka or Lion-Lioness Laughter rounds. “Every time you take someone’s name on that tongue, the person falls ill,” Sunita reminded him.
“Nothing like that,” Shekhawat dismissed her. “Look, Nahid Khan has fallen ill today. Have I ever mentioned her name?”
“But you have been shouting Razia-Razia and she has stopped coming,” Sunita argued.
“Razia has gone to Poona,” Shekhawat retorted. “How am I responsible for that?”
Ram Shankar Shukla became the scapegoat today when Shekhawat hailed him during the Kissa Kursi Ka exercise: “Jai Gurukul, wherever you are, baith jaao!”

Shekhawat: Loss of words

Shukla burst out laughing, only to have Sunita charging at Shekhawat: “Now watch out, you have mentioned his name and he will not come on Monday.”
“No-no-no, I’ll come on Monday,” Shukla assured everybody.
He had spoken too soon. Within minutes, his condition deteriorated so badly that standing, arms outstretched like Jesus Christ and with the railings of the China Hut behind him for support, Shukla started slipping down. Quickly a chair was brought out, but it was too late.

Arora calls on Arun Patil in hospital (ref post of Aug 21) today

He lost consciousness and his body caved in over those trying to support him.
Everybody was confused. Santosh Tyagi lifted one of his legs and Bhaswati Bose picked up another. The idea was to make Shukla lie down and Ruksana Khan even rolled out a mat from somewhere. But he was too heavy to be shifted in that half-sitting position. The ladies frantically fanned him with their dupattas and caps and someone managed to remove Shukla’s t-shirt. It was soaking wet.
Luckily, at this point he regained consciousness, though briefly. Somehow he was made to sit on the chair and lozenges slipped into his mouth. A bottle of water was kept ready. Calls were made to nearby doctors – whoever knew anybody. The entire Garden had gathered around. Bihari Milawani drove in in his red car and ultimately, it was he who took Shukla home. All this while, Shekhawat stood sheepishly at a distance, not uttering a word – his face a portrait of utter disbelief and bewilderment.
Harish Wadhwa:
* Let us keep the superstitions at bay. What is worth commending is how the members quickly got their act together to help our dear Shukla-ji. God bless him with good health. Thanks to Bihari-ji for his generosity to help. This shows that people are generally good at heart and willing to help a fellow colleague when needed. Kudos to all of them. May God bless you all.
* Dear Arun, you too get well soon. May you recover quickly with God's grace.