‘Dry Day’

Mallika clings on to Kajal on her lap... in the hope of 'party'

The world may relate to a ‘dry day’ in a certain way. But to us in the Garden, barring Shekhawat, this would mean having to go home without the customary snacks and/ or tea after the exercises. So accustomed have we become to the morning treats that today, when there was no generous soul to feed us, it seemed as though calamity had struck.
“We have tasted blood,” concluded Banoo Apa, drawing an analogy with the maneaters of the wild. The prospect of having to return home, cold and hungry was a terrible misfortune we were just about to handle.
Usually hosts of the treats turn up late, loaded with the goodies.

Rukhsana Khan

So like every other day, all eyes in the exercise circle were on the late-comers and whether they were coming empty-handed or not. And when the last of the late-comers, Dilip Babani (otherwise regarded

Shekhawat (r) gets cracking on subscription drive

as the harbinger of ‘good news’) turned up with nothing to declare, all our hopes crashed.
“No samosa today,” was Mallika Kagzi’s cryptic message, which was instantly relayed round the circle. She had deliberately planted herself at a vantage point that allowed her an unhindered view of all movements at the Garden gate.
A few minutes earlier, Kajal Babani had walked in carrying a large, white polythene bag. That however, turned out to be a sort of decoy, thereby raising some embarrassing questions from her frustrated gal pals. Kajal handled that well. Still, Mallika wasn’t giving up as she held Kajal in a feeble bear hug on her lap and demanded a party for the act!
Meanwhile, Rukhsana Khan tried to salvage the situation by negotiating a “samosa and chai party” from Arun Patil, provided we were prepared to hang around till the stuff came. But it was already getting late by then. And Arun himself was on his way out of the Gate.
“I swear, he had just promised to treat us,” Rukhsana squealed, before she too came to terms with reality. It was a dry day, after all.
Anonymous:
It was a dry day because none of us carried an umbrella. Otherwise Lord Varun would have definitely showered his blessings, drenching all of us.
Anonymous adds:
Why is there no photo of any guy in today's blog? Is it because of the dry day?
Lt Col Angad Singh (retd):
Roz ka aana-jana kho deta hai izzat. Let there be some dry days also. It is only then that the enjoyment of the eats would come!