One-day 'King'

Gupta surrenders to Sunita and makes peace with her

Srichand Arora is away at a health retreat near Pune, practicing naturopathy. Harish Wadhwa is in Jaipur. Harbans Kaur has left for Ludhiana to attend the last rites of her sister. Monthi Serrao is nursing a nasty bout of flu. Santosh Tyagi is also homebound, still battling BP problems. And Hari Singh Shekhawat is on a runaround of Mumbai's pathological labs with his wife, who is suffering from a kidney ailment.
In the absence of so many people, Bijoy Gupta gallantly appropriated the position of ‘club chairman’ for the day. As followers of the blog would know, this has been his long-cherished dream and he even took Shekhawat’s place in the circle next to the ladies this morning. And like the metaphorical ‘one-day king’, Gupta began to throw his little weight around for all it was worth.
But not for long. He got away with pulling up Razia Khan for not saluting -- or at least, wishing him properly when she came.

Karuna Waghmare distributes sweets to
celebrate her admission in the Club

He even reprimanded Mallika Kagzi for not being attentive enough during the exercises. But when he hauled up Sunita Jajodia and Mumtaz Jahan for talking on and on, he got it back.
“We are talking important things,” Mumtaz retorted.
“Then go home and talk,” Gupta growled. “Out here, you have come to exercise only, not talk.”
“What happens when you talk?” Sunita charged.
“I am chairman,” Gupta asserted. “I can do what I like.”
“Then don’t you dare go away in the middle of the exercises,” Sunita threatened. “I shall be watching you!”
Sure enough, just after the laughter round, Gupta tried to slip away and Sunita went hammer and tongs after him. “Nothing doing, you cannot run away like this,” she shouted. “Come back!”
Stranded midway, Gupta realized he had bitten off more than he could chew. His friends had warned him earlier not to mess with Sunita as it would be to his own peril. He did not pay heed then. Now, he was being both punished and humiliated in public by her, all because he had harboured ambitions of becoming the 'club chairman'.
Discretion got the better of valour as Gupta made peace by shaking hands with Sunita at the end of the exercises.
Kiran Prakash:
This drama of 'chairmanship' with the so-called humiliation of Bijoy Gupta is going on for more than two months. But the way he has taken it sportingly, is worth appreciating. A very large heart is needed to face the verbal bombing from all quarters and yet, keep smiling. It is he who has kept the issue alive for our entertainment. He deserves a pat on his back.
Lt Col Angad Singh (retd):
Gupta-ji is perhaps not aware of women's empowerment. Even if he is, he momentarily overlooked it and made best use of the old story of Bachha Saqqa who became king for a day and issued his own currency. Gupta -ji enjoyed the whole episode sportingly with a big heart. Hats off, Gupta-ji! At the same time, it is disheartening to know that a number of stalwarts are not in good health. We pray for their speedy recovery.