After Effect

Soldiering on: Going through the drill under a blazing sun

After the dismal showing yesterday, things got marginally better in the Garden this morning. Attendance during the exercises was still in single digit, partly due to the after-effects of the Shab-e-Barat celebrations last night. But Banoo Apa was there. And true to her magnanimity and affectionate nature, she had brought us platefuls of poha and pudding from home, drawing everyone into the festive fold. “It was our big night yesterday,” she reminded us.
Earlier on, Dilip and Kajal Babani celebrated their wedding anniversary with a round of fresh sandwiches and cake rolls. They were justifiably upset after yesterday’s fiasco (see post) and hadn’t quite forgiven us for “deserting” them for the Baahubali movie. But that did not get in the way of the mutual regard and fondness we share with them. Happily, they were chaperoned by Kajal’s mom – incidentally, “Mummy” to all of us in the Club.
Yesterday’s movie however, continued to weigh heavily on everyone (including those who have not watched Baahubali) as conversation veered around its spectacular action scenes all morning. Shekhawat, for one, refused to come to terms with characters performing

Dilip-Kajal Babani's anniversary treat

Banoo Apa's Shab-e-Barat treat

super-human feats like uprooting massive stone pillars and stopping charging elephants in their tracks. “What was the need of so much mara-mari... de maar, de-maar? Was all that really necessary?”
What kept him amused though was the off-screen spectacle of Bijoy Gupta snoring in the auditorium right through the film. “How can anyone sleep with so much noise of maar-dhaad on the screen!” Shekhawat exclaimed. “But this man, from the moment he occupied his seat, simply dozed off. After a point, I could not hold myself any longer and shook him awake. Gupta-ji opened his eyes and simply walked out of the hall. After some time I went out to search for him. By then he had disappeared!”
There was still no sign of Gupta this morning.