Shooting the Breeze

BREATH OF FRESH AIR: Back to exercising in the open

It was a cool and breezy morning. Mercifully, there was no party today. We got some relief from the rains as well. If the met guys are to be believed, a dry spell has set in, which would continue into the first week of August. Little wonder the grass in the Garden had been cropped and we happily vacated the China Hut to exercise in the open.
With normalcy thus returning and not much to do, the mind turned into a ‘picnic workshop’ – the destination this time being Khandala. How and when was this settled is uncertain because till yesterday, Dilip Babani was talking about Lonavala. “Khandala is different from Lonavala,” Shekhawat insisted as he went around asking, “Aati hai Khandala?”
Taken aback, some ladies wanted to know what was there in Khandala.

Shanti Singh (in yellow) is curious about Khandala

“What will we do in Khandala?” Shanti Singh demanded.
Shekhawat was only waiting for this question. Instantly he broke into a jig, singing lustily “Ghoomenge phirenge. Naachenge-gaayenge, Aish karenge, Aur kya?”
Shekhawat is back to his exuberant self, jumping about and playing the fool. There is a marked improvement in his health from the time he was down in the dumps (ref post of June 26) when it had taken

Bhaswati Bose narrates Ghalib joke

the intervention of Siba Prasad Maitra to put him on the rails.
Now again, it has taken Maitra to prevail upon Shekhawat not to risk going on the Bangkok tour (ref post of July 26). “Should god-forbid anything untoward happen, everybody will curse you,” Maitra reasoned. “The entire tour will be ruined.” For once, Shekhawat listened.
Meanwhile, here is an allegorical account on Bengali-Hindi sent by Banoo Apa which had us giggling no end: “A Bengali babu once went to Mirza Ghalib to learn shayari. Ghalib asked the man to repeat after him: ‘Na Gila karte hai, Na Shikwa karte hai.../ Tum Salaamat Raho is Duniya mein/ Yahi Dua karte hai!’ The Bengali babu repeated: ‘Na Geela korta hai, Na Sookha korta hai.../ Tum Saala Mat Raho is Duniya mein, Yehi Dua korta hai’!" Ghalib fainted!

Dilip Babani:
Shekhawat-ji will organise a picnic to Khandala very soon.

Lt Col Angad Singh (retd):
Nice to know that our dear Shekhawat is back and is as fit as a fiddle. I wish him good health and an enjoyable time.