Split Personalities

Yusuf Rassiwala (c) reminds us of the symposium tomorrow

The morning heat is relentless

Whatever anyone might say about the health benefits of exercising every morning, there remains one undeniable fact: We have all developed a mental disorder -- schizophrenia. We are not what we appear to be. During those 60-odd minutes in the Garden, we lose touch with reality. The way we think, feel and behave is in sharp contrast to our real selves. And this has been happening for the past 15 years or so.
Nobody exemplifies this split personality better than Shekhawat, arguably the oldest member of the Club. This man is completely unrecognisable at home. Stern and aloof, he plays his role as the family patriarch (in fact, he is great-great-grandfather) to the hilt – a far cry from the jack-in-the-box prankster we have known him as.
His bosom pal, Bijoy Gupta is no different. From the jocular, motor-mouth in half pants we encounter every morning in the Garden, he turns into a serious, immaculately dressed, even intimidating man of few words when he meets you at home. It would seem as if you are meeting another person – his twin brother probably.
But then, it must be said that these Jekyll and Hyde ‘switch-on switch-offs’ are forced by circumstances. Everyone is a parent or grandparent, an elder who must not only command respect but also set an example at home. Banoo Apa or Nahid Khan cannot afford to engage in the same level of leg-pulling and jokes at home when there are grandchildren

Naheed Siddiqui

looking up to them.
Likewise, Zarina Khan or Fahmida Khan may take liberties with her friends, but within the family, she must remain restrained. This is only natural. We cannot expect Rukhsana Khan to curse her folks with getting bald and losing their teeth, the way she does with us. She must perforce be at her best behaviour at home, like the rest of us.
It is only at the Garden that we are able to let our hair down and the world be damned. This is the least we owe ourselves.
Post Script: This post was prompted by Naheed Siddiqui, who suddenly stopped the exercises today and went around saying 'Clunk', 'Clunk', 'Clunk'... Turns out she was asking if someone would give her company for the Hindi film, Kalank. Point is, would Naheed Siddiqui behave like this at any place outside the Garden?

Lt Col Angad Singh (rtd)
The real life is one where your own real self is relieved without hindrance. When we come to the Garden for exercise, there are two aims in view. Firstly, relax and enjoy. We all members are free to indulge in activities which we have been enjoying for over a long period. We talk sense or nonsense without hesitation but within certain decency. Secondly, we do the exercises which keep us fit and agile. Whenever, I have been in the garden it is the best time of the day which I have been enjoying all these years. In the home or in the presence of small children your outlook and behaviour is totally different. This is because of being an elder - patriarchal/matriarchal. If you behave in the same manner at home as in the garden you will be labelled a sync and the day is not far off when one is likely to be termed a psychic! Choice is yours.