Creatures of Habit

Bhaswati Bose provides today's dose of jokes

Habits die hard. Bhaswati Bose can never be on time for the exercises, no matter what. Khatoon Baig shows up invariably when the fourth laughter exercise is under way. Arun Patil is always punctual, come what may. Shekhawat is in the Garden before 6:00 a.m. every day, a clear one- and- half hours before the exercises are scheduled...
That’s not all. The position we take around the exercise circle is also dictated by habit. Bijoy Gupta must necessarily stand on Shekhawat’s right and face the gate if he has to exercise.

Managing Committee in a huddle

No other place will do. Yusuf Rassiwala finds comfort being sandwiched between Kiran Prakash and Mohd Nasir Putani Shah. Likewise, the position of every lady member in the Club is already pre-set and nobody in his right mind would ever dare alter that.
Then there are the quaint warm-up rituals we follow every morning without being aware. Some like Bose Babu must huff and puff with his breathing exercises before stepping into the circle. A few like Rukhsana Khan, Siba Prasad Maitra and Kajal Babani need to religiously circumambulate the Garden while others would straightaway make a beeline to the public toilet, before getting down to business.
There’s also Mallika Kagzi and Nahid Khan, who cannot do without a compulsory pit stop in the China Hut. One elderly lady would pick up her cap, hold it in both hands (like it was a person’s head) and rebuke it for 10 seconds before putting it on. Nowadays though, she has stopped.
Call these kinks, aberrations, deviant behavior… whatever, but they establish one thing. We have all become slaves of habit in the Garden. Outside, during the day, we may not be as programmed and predictable in our behavior. In fact, even when the exercises are over, we would continue acting like junkies hooked to our daily fix of faffing about on the benches and laughing at jokes narrated before leaving the Garden. A morning without this customary ritual would render the day incomplete.
Siba Prasad Maitra:
I got the message. I will try to be there straight from gate-to-garden for the exercises. But I might be late at times. Hope you all will excuse.
Bihari Milwani (from San Francisco):
Siba Prasad Sahib, please do not lose your identity just to prove the blog wrong. Keep up (with your walking) and highlight your identity!
Karun H.Sharma:
It was interesting and frightening to know from Mrs Bose that there are some unwritten rules in the Club and it seems she controls these unwritten rules. Ragging has already started and this is different. I am enjoying it.