Who’s the ‘Boss’?

What makes Arun Patil so angry?

Arun Patil was furious today. Coming in early this morning, he spotted scraps of waste paper, plastic and half-eaten food littered around the Garden – obviously, remnants from yesterday. When the watchman feigned ignorance, he waited for the exercises to get over and then gave Jagmohan Papneja a piece of his mind.
“What is all this?” he demanded. “This is an eyesore. And then we talk about cleanliness drive. Why don’t you put up notices everywhere telling people to keep the Garden clean? I am prepared to pay for them. People can’t scatter rubbish here and get away with it. They should be punished.

Mallika Kagzi

We must fine them. This is our Garden and we must ensure that it is kept clean.” Papneja is not only the secretary of Big Laaf, he is also the nominated representative of Celebration Club, which is entrusted with the maintenance of the Garden. But more than that, what raised many eyebrows is the manner Arun has of late, been throwing his weight around. In the absence of big daddies like Shekhawat, Srichand Arora and Yusuf Rassiwala, he is the one pulling up members for turning up late, not exercising properly, talking too much and so on.
But then, he is not the only ‘disciplinarian’ trying to appropriate authority. Nahid Khan never misses an opportunity to tick off anyone while conducting the exercises and nowadays, this goes well beyond her clarion call, “Idhaaar!”

Ruksana Khan is back from Surat

Khatoon Baig decides whether the exercises are going too fast or too slow and if some number must be repeated for her benefit. Even Mallika Kagzi has become assertive enough to fault Bijoy Gupta on his loin roar and reminded him today that he better do it properly. Gupta was simply dumbstruck. (Incidentally, he is the 'original' contender for Shekhawat's post!)
This may well be a temporary phenomenon -- till such time the biggies return. But to anyone perceptive enough, the subtle power play is getting hilarious by the day. Everybody wants to be the boss. And in all this madness, Ruksana Khan was to show up today loaded with two cardboard boxes – one with cake biscuits and the other with nankhatai. Whether those were to mark her return from Surat, or if they were a belated birthday treat or Diwali celebration… nobody knows for sure. No question was asked and no explanation given. We just ate and went home.
Razia Khan:
Tumse juda huey thhe yeh kalhi ki baat hai,/Mehsoos ho raha hai zamaana guzar gaya.
Aap sabke bagair zindagi mein kuch kami toh nahi,/ Magar aap sabke bagair dil udaas rehta hai.

--sher dedicated to Big Laaf

Jagmohan Papneja:
मौजूदगी जरुरी नहीं, जरुरी तप एहसास हैं / हम कहीं दूर नहीं, आपके आस-पास हैं!
देखिये तो ज़रा अपने मन की आँखों से हमें / हम तो हर कदम पर आपके साथ-साथ हैं!

--this sher dedicated to Razia-ji.