Nose Dive

'Band of Boys' having a blast

Since the start of Ramzaan last Thursday, attendance in the Garden has nose-dived, predictably. On one particular day last week, we were no more than just three for the exercises.
But today, thankfully, we were a happy 10 – which included Yusuf Rassiwala and Naseer Putani Shah. Significantly, it was entirely an all-men’s group, but for Bhaswati Bose. By and large, the ladies seem to have decided

Role Model: Kiran Prakash

to stay away en masse from the Garden.
In all this, Kiran Prakash came in for high praise. “Just imagine,” bellowed Bijoy Gupta. “This man drives all the way down from Malad just to be with us every morning. He has not missed the exercises a single day. What’s more, he is always here before time. And we, who stay adjacent to the Garden, are never punctual and quite often do not show up at all!”
Everybody agreed that Kiran Prakash,

R.I.P. Ram Shankar Shukla

in his own quiet way, has set an example for us to emulate. “It is from people like him that the Club draws its strength,” Gupta observed.
Some even suggested that Kiran Prakash should ideally return to his old flat in Lokhadwala as it would save him the rigors of daily commute from Malad.
Meanwhile, news comes in on the demise of Ram Shankar Shukla. It is more than a year since he had stopped coming to the Garden. He celebrated his 81st birthday with us on May 30, 2016 (see post) and after that, has been quite erratic for the exercises. At times, he would lose his way back home, mysteriously showing up at some bank or post office. It was then that we detected signs of dementia and one day, when he lost consciousness while exercising, we stopped insisting that he come to the Garden every day. Before long, his family informed that he had moved to Kanpur to be with his daughter. Still, we kept in touch with his son off and on and would inquire about Shukla-ji's welfare every time.
Now we are told that he is no more. He passed away two months back – peacefully. May his soul rest in peace.