Peculiar Dilemma

The exercises today, out in the open

Now that we are almost done with festivals and the monsoon is as good as gone, attendance for the exercises is beginning to look up. This has given rise to a peculiar situation. We need to decide whether to continue exercising in the China Hut or else,

Nahid Khan

go out in the open and work up a sweat as we had been doing for years.
Yesterday, we were confronted with this dilemma, when attendance hit double digit even before the start of the exercises. By the time we were half-way through, the China Hut was choc-a-block with heaving bodies as members tried hard to stretch their limbs without touching one another.
That was when we realised it was time to vacate the place.

Banoo Apa (back to camera) treats us to barfis

The weather had cleared out and we would no longer be constrained by space in the open lawn. But this morning, Nahid Khan put her foot down, protesting over having to move out. “It is too hot outside,” she claimed. “I need the fan to exercise.”
Indeed, it was quite sunny today. On being told that the fresh air and heat were perfect for exercising – the very purpose of our leaving home and being in the Garden – Nahid’s argument was that even gyms had AC. And she was only asking for a fan. She finally came around when told that fans were banned for a reason in the gyms of army and police officers and that ACs are installed in commercial gyms, mainly to attract customers.
But our dilemma is no way resolved. There are many like Nahid who have got so accustomed to exercising in the cool confines of the China Hut that returning to nature is not acceptable. That the China Hut was merely a temporary refuge from the rains escapes them. The choice is between creature comfort and a rewarding morning workout.

Lt Col Angad Singh (rtd):
Exercising under the large blue umbrella created by the Almighty is best. It gives you fresh oxygen, cover as per availability and sweating is desirable to remove all the toxins of the body. Keep enjoying and laughing.

Bihari Milwani:
The solution lies in sincerely doing Surya Namaskar. We must pray to the sun god to provide us some cool breeze.