The Initiation

Nirmala Yadav clicks a selfie

As members of Big Laaf we have our moments in the Garden every morning. But how many of us remember the day we first walked into the Club? The so-called ‘initiation’ is pretty much routine and typically unremarkable, almost common for everybody and yet, makes for interesting reading.
Take the example of Nirmala Yadav today.
Like many others in the Garden, this sprightly young lady was taking her rounds on the walking track, occasionally casting sidelong glances towards us in amusement.

Prabha Kapoor treats us to savories

Suddenly she cut across the lawn to have a word with Mallika Kagzi. The next thing we learn is that she is Mallika’s long-lost sister. “She is my younger sister,” Mallika announced midway through the exercises. “God knows how many children like her my mother had given birth to before disappearing. They are all showing up now.”
Then turning to the new lady, Mallika got into in a mock conversation: The last I saw you, you were a tiny baby.

Geeta Latte is the 'surrogate' Chinese teacher

Where were you so for long? On the contrary I’ve been searching for you everywhere… Any idea where our mother is? Now you must never leave me… We laughed, knowing well the two were fibbing; but that generated enough warmth to accept the stranger as one of our own.
Even then, we did not know her name. Later, when she introduced herself as “Nirmala, Nirmala Yadav”, Srichand Arora joked whether she could be related to Lalu Prasad Yadav. And then Arun Patil took over, tracing the genealogy of all Yadavs on the planet, including those like her from Pune. But she was more interested in knowing for how long we exercise every morning because Mallika had warned her: “Just wait for the Chinese exercises. You cannot go till they rip the skin off your body!”
In all this, the mystery behind the disappearance of the Chinese girls has been unraveled. Since November 24, the day Shekhawat had taken off on the South India tour, Geeta Latte has been our surrogate teacher and there, Shekhawat has been mischievously checking on the phone, making peculiar Chinese noises like “Neeaow”, “Chichi”, “Melody”, “Shey-shey”… Now we understand that before leaving, he had instructed the Chinese girls not to get anywhere close to the Garden before December 4 – the day he would return. Sadly, Geeta has confirmed this after speaking to the Chinese girls.
Nirmala Yadav:
Thank you all!