Being Missed

Siba Prasad Maitra joins the jokes' session

After a dismal week of heavy rains and low turnout, we saw sunshine today morning. Instead of exercising inside or around the China Hut, we went to our old stomping ground in the middle of the Garden. Attendance swelled to a happy 20-odd, with many like Mumtaz Jahan, Gita Latte and Siba Prasad Maitra showing up after extended spells of absence.
Santosh Tyagi, fresh from prolonged illness, revived the jokes’ session, if only for old times’ sake.

Shekhawat

She narrated her favorite about Lord Shiva eating Maggi noodles with his trident (supposedly taken to be a fork), only to have Maitra chipping in with a side-splitting interpretation of ‘Maxi-Mum’ and ‘Mini-Mum’.
Much as such light-hearted banter helps in spreading good cheer, one inescapable fact is the state of tentativeness we are currently caught in. It would appear as though something major is in the offing but we need to wait for it (like Godot?). Fact is, the continued absence of regulars like Sitaram Hivarkar, Bijoy Gupta, Kiran Prakash and Bihari Milwani has created a sense of vacuum and hence, growing anticipation. Also, Eid-ul Zuha is round the corner and that has robbed us of another sizable number of regulars. Above all, the Peter Pan of the Club is still missing.
Hari Singh Shekhawat was supposed to be back on September 23, till somebody said it would be 26th, if not 25th … In fact, every morning we are given a new date of his return from Rajasthan. Even now, nobody is quite sure. But everybody agrees that till he returns, the state of ennui will continue in the Club. For no one else is capable of uplifting the spirits the way Shekhawat does with his madcap antics and no-holds-barred clowning. If truth be told, he is the magnet that draws many fun-loving members to the Garden every morning.
Lt Col Angad Singh (retd) from Mohali:
It is strange that some of the regular members have become not-so-regular. Is it forced absence or lethargy? Mr Shekhawat might have got entangled by his new-new saalis in Rajasthan. Hope he is not hooked on there for too long. Old saalis must take note and get him back to the Garden.
Kiran Prakash:
Happy to see the blog back in its usual form.