Three Men and a Crow

'It's the time to exercise!'

That was all the attendance we could get for the exercises today: Three mad men and one wet crow.
The crow was the first to arrive – flapping its wings furiously as it settled on a rod lining the China Hut. Drenched to the bones, it kept cawing incessantly from its perch, calling all ‘faithfuls’ to join in. Once the exercises began, it flew away.
The low turnout today was completely expected. It had rained all night and there was no sign of any let up in the morning. Dark thunderclouds hung heavy, the roads were flooded, the Garden was near deserted and earthworms had surfaced mysteriously inside the China Hut. It was darkness at dawn.
The good part was that Shekhawat did not abandon the exercises (as he had done a few days

The three exercise junkies seeking divine solace

back due to a virtual no-show). He however, wanted a short-cut by doing away with the tai-chi round, but on Kiran Prakash’s insistence, he relented. We went through the entire routine A to Z, rather than waste the morning.
But then, things would only get worse from here. The monsoon would intensify in the next few days with the met people predicting ‘heavy to very heavy rains’. Additionally, the World Cup football is on with all the best and not-to-be-missed matches scheduled between 11:30 p.m. and 1:30 a.m. Indian time. Anybody staying up so late in the night would be an idiot to show up in the Garden early morning.
In that sense, we are struck by a double whammy!

Bhaswati Bose:
Mr Milwani has made a PERFECT prediction (see Comments June 23). He is more accurate than the Met Department.

Bihari Milwani:
Crow expected that today also there will be a party. Unfortunately he had to be disappointed!

Lt Col Angad Singh (retd):
When the crow caws, it means more rain. This indirectly implies less people will budge out of their beds. Enjoy the morning rim jhim.

Anonymous:
How come Gandhi-ji did not come when his three lieutenants were there? Or had he come disguised as a crow?