Mythical Maidens

Shekhawat keeps his only saali entertained during exercises

Shekhawat loves to live in a world of myth and mischief. We understand that and thus no offence is taken every time he lets his imagination run wild and speaks of make-believe females, chudails (in his village) and of course, four saalis (sisters-in-law). Such flights of fancy only reveal an adorable sense of naiveté, even artlessness, rare in a 74-year-old.
Today, he came up with a new one. Out of the blue, he declared that his heart has broken into four pieces. Far from drawing sympathy, the announcement met with a volley of laughter, the instant inference being that each piece has been claimed by one of the four saalis. Nobody bothered to enquire, let alone console him.
Fact is Shekhawat is a terribly worried man. He maintains a jovial front, but deep inside he sorely misses his four saalis flanking him during the exercises.

Maitra suggests SOS treatment for the trip

The eldest of them broke her hipbone and has been rendered bedridden. The next one broke her carpals and has also stopped coming to the Garden. The third one is a terror. Shekhawat likens her to a cow “who kicks back each time someone approaches to feed her chara”.
That leaves him with one saali only and he isn’t sure how long she would last. So he is toying with the idea of cultivating “substitute saalis” as a backup and had even identified one – just that she couldn’t care two hoots about the Club. He is therefore left with no option but to entertain his only "loyal saali" and put in a good word for her, much to everybody’s amusement.
Yet, this is the same man who does not lose sight of his responsibilities, now that he has a gang of 25 under his care for the Gangtok-Darjeeling trip next week. No sooner did he learn that Siba Prasad Maitra was director of GlaxoSmithKline Pharma for 14 years than Shekhawat buttonholed him for advice on must-carry medicines on the trip – for indigestion, vomiting, gas, giddiness etc. “Likho, likho… in capital letters,” he kept insisting, till Maitra offered to prepare a more exhaustive list of all conceivable ailments and their cure by tomorrow morning.
Shekhawat is yet to learn that Kiran Prakash also comes with a pharma background.
Siba Prasad Maitra:
I am extremely happy to see the day-to-day coverage of our morning activity at the Garden. Kindly note I was with Glaxo, but not as a Director. In fact, I was Director with JB Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals, manufacturer of Metrogyl, Rantac etc. Today's blog needs the correction. Thanks for the excellent effort.
Big Laaf: The error is regretted.
Bihari Milwani:
Dear Mr Shekhawat, please remember your old prescription: "Char Botal Vodka" will take care of all your ailments and there will be no need of any medicine prescribed by SP or KP.