Deluge Again

The spectacle on the way to the Garden this morning

Just as we thought that we were done with the monsoon this year, it has struck yet again with a vengeance. Yesterday morning when we assembled at the Garden, it was partly overcast and quite pleasant -- even breezy. No sooner had we finished with the exercises than dark, thunderclouds moved in and it began to rain camels and elephants. It rained all day, it rained all night. And it continued to rain in the morning today.
End result: We were only two in the China Hut before the exercises were due to start. Strangely, no one else was visible in the Garden, which had turned into large swathes of crystal clear water. Not even the resident crows and canines were visible. The condition was however, still better than the approach roads which were flooded like crazy with swirling drain water and muck, bringing vehicular traffic to a standstill.
While Shekhawat was debating aloud whether to call off the exercises, Dilip Babani walked in, soon to be followed by Kiran Prakash.

Today's bravehearts: (l to r) Shekhawat, Kiran Prakash, Dilip and Kajal Babani

Later, Kajal Babani turned up, as though she had lost her way. The presence of these ‘bravehearts’ saved the day.
In situations of low turnout, a major worry has been that of who would conduct the main exercises. As of now Nahid Khan, Arun Patil and Razia Khan have been handling this responsibility by turns with a fair degree of competence. There has never been a problem with this arrangement, except for that rare occasion when all three suddenly do the vanishing act.
Today was one such day. But then, this was not the first occasion for them to disappear together. With the rains playing havoc every other day, a similar crisis had arisen last Wednesday (ref post of September 13) when Kiran Prakash, very graciously volunteered to take charge. He began rather tentatively, but in the end pulled it off with remarkable ease and confidence. All of us heaved a sigh of relief.
By stepping in today and doing a repeat performance, Kiran Prakash was to prove that last time around, it was not a one-off show. More importantly, he is doing this when everybody else in the group is much senior to him in the Club and have been doing the same exercises for many more years. Surely, there is a lesson to be learnt in this.

Lt Col Angad Singh (retd):
There are subtle changes in the seasons all over the world. India is no exception. In Punjab there was hardly any rain during the rainy season this year. Saavan ka mahina was almost a dry month. But Bhadon was wet. There were floods all over. Rain water entered houses in places like Chandigarh and Mohali. Cars were floating on the roads as though in a river. We have ignored nature's warnings and now we have to pay for our misdeeds. Unless we rectify our mistakes, we have to be prepared to bear unprecedented rains and floods.