Festering Issue

Shekhawat requests members to be on time for exercises

Shekhawat today gave a gentle rap on the knuckles of those not punctual and who have been irregular for the exercises. “Try to wake up early,” he urged. “It is very shameful when we have to start our exercises every day with barely four or five in attendance.”
This has long been a festering issue that has led to a dramatic drop in attendance in the past few weeks. Among those who somehow make an appearance, an overwhelming majority are late comers.
Today, for instance, out of the 17 who were present at the wrap-up, nine landed more than half an hour late. (One turned up barely five minutes before closing time!) And this

Movie poster

is not an exceptional situation. It happens every day.
“It is high time we start inducting new members,” said Bijoy Gupta, pulling up Shekhawat early morning. “What kind of a chairman are you? Everybody takes you for granted. Make me the chairman and see how I discipline the late-comers. None of them seem interested in exercising.”
Gupta was only echoing the sentiments of old timers like Yusuf Rassiwala, Angad Singh, Rukhsana Khan and Nahid Khan. From time to time they have voiced their concern over the sorry state of affairs and the need to arrest our dwindling numbers.
“There was a time when we were never less than 40,” Zarina Khan remarked yesterday. “I know this for a fact because that was the number of food packets I used to prepare on my birthday. This time around, everybody is advising me not to exceed 20. What has happened to our members?”
The unspoken truth is that things have reached a point of no return. Should someone be singled out for late-coming, there is always another offender who has been let off, even welcomed. And we cannot risk pulling up all the latecomers because they constitute over a 75 per cent majority of members – a perfect recipe for the Club breaking up.
Meanwhile, on a happier note, movie lovers Shekhawat, Bijoy and Pushpa Gupta, Bhaswati Bose, Naheed Siddiqui, etc. have made a noon-show appointment with Gully Boy at PVR Andheri Cineplex. Starring Raveer Singh and Alia Bhatt, this coming-of age entertainer on street rappers has been getting rave reviews since its release.