Time to Say ‘GOOD BYE’

This blog is leading nowhere. In the last four months – since the ‘phased’ lifting of the lockdown – we have been meeting regularly every morning in the Garden

to revive our exercise routine. But things are no longer the same. There has been no birthday party, no picnic, no annual function, no celebration… nothing of any note. For a laughter club of repute we do not even have a ‘laughter exercise’. 

A bigger casualty has been our daily turnout. Corona has put the fear of god in many of us. We are now no more than 10 showing up for the exercises – that too on a good day. A majority of our members continue to be homebound, mortally afraid of venturing out. And for all good reasons. 

This situation is unlikely to change any time soon given the widespread ‘hesitancy’ in taking the vaccine. The general attitude is to wait and watch. There have also been disturbing reports of newer strains/ variants of the virus erupting everywhere and the very real danger of reinfection and a fresh outbreak of the pandemic. In the circumstances, it would be pointless keeping this blog alive any longer. 

On the positive side though, an active WhatsApp group has come up, keeping members abreast with the latest developments in the Club. Those interested in these updates may connect with the platform. This blog, in the meantime, is being put to rest.

Kiran Prakash: This is sad. But given the circumstances, as explained, it is the right thing to do. The blog has closed only after achieving certain milestone which not many blogs have achieved in the world. 3080 days of continuously writing the blog is no small feat and the blog monster deserves praise and admiration from all members, their relatives, friends and many more from across the globe who have been following this blog. People like I used to wait for the blog to appear every afternoon and sometimes even bothered the blog monster if it was getting delayed. I was, to some extent addicted to the blog. It will continue to remind us of the wonderful days we had together in the garden. Thanks, once again, Blog Monster from all of us at BIG LAAF. 🙏🏼🙏🏼 

Blog Monster: Those were very kind and generous words, Mr Kiran Prakash. Thank you very much for your support and encouragement at all times. But then, like many good things, this blog too had to end -- regrettably.

Bihari Milwani: Did anyone notice that the date of closure of blog is a wonderful coincidence? 21 - to- 21 (spelling error intended).

Karun Sharma: It was always a pleasure to be with the Big Laaf blog. It will  now be difficult to imagine the club without its blog. But since the pandemic situation demanded that everyone stayed within the house, our blog had to remain closed. And yet, leaving and living without the blog is not a loving suggestion. Vaccination is for human beings and the blog will be there automatically and smilingly.

Garden Reopens

But for the watchman, not a soul could be seen in the Garden today morning 

After 80 days, the Garden opened its gates this morning, but with no promise or pretense of things ever getting back to normal.
A circular pasted on the Notice Board reinforced all the restrictions of lockdown and more: one, NO group activity allowed; two, NO sitting on the benches or in the China Hut; three, Shekhawat, Bijoy Gupta, Angad Singh, Zarina Khan and others above the age of 65, strictly NOT allowed; four, anybody without mask or face cover, NOT allowed; and five, those with comorbidity, pregnant women and kids below 10 years of age also NOT allowed.
Translated, this means 90 per cent of our members shall continue to be imprisoned at home and the remaining 10 per cent will have to religiously practice untouchability while in the Garden. So forget exercises, having tea together, pulling one another’s legs, gossiping and bit**ing and all the joy and laughter we shared every morning. Will those golden days return in our lifetime? It is anybody’s guess. Till then, the blog goes into hibernation again.

Bihari Milwani:
There is always a silver lining to a dark night. We will definitely get our golden days back. The noted astrologer Bejan Daruwalla, who passed away on 29th May 2020, had predicted (incidentally, that was his last prediction) that the world is suffering because Saturn is overlooking the world and causing problems. After Saturn changes its course in the last week of May, all the problems will disappear. Let us wish and trust that his prediction comes true.

Karun Sharma:
Thanks for showing the face of blog we love and always cherish. Of course, things would become normal but God knows when this would be normal. As humans, we better not to take over the authority of interfering in the timing of events. It was interesting to know that only 10% of us are below 65 years who are allowed to visit. Would those be Nand Ram, Sayeeda, Bhaswati, Geeta and Pushpa? Am I leaving anyone?

Blog Monster: You are leaving out Yusuf-bhai, Siba Prasad Maitra, Fahmida Khan, Lakshmi Hadimani and many other youngsters who are visiting the Garden regularly, in spite of the morning rains.

Karun Sharma:
Dear Blog Master, this was to know the people who are below 65 years. I remember to have participated in 70th birthday of Yusuf-bhai.

Suspended

We are in a state of suspended animation. The blog will return
once the Club resumes normal activity. Till then, STAY SAFE.

Club Closed!

Gupta wants to know why he is prevented from entering the Garden 

Our worst fear came true this morning (ref yesterday’s post). A huge lock hung ominously on the Garden gate, barring entry ‘till further notice’.
This leaves us with no place to exercise together and effectively, the Club having to close down all operations for an indefinite period.
Shekhawat and Bijoy Gupta were particularly upset by this development even as they had been forewarned last evening (on their visit to the Garden) about this precautionary measure to stem the spread of the corona virus.
Shekhawat wanted to know why the same precautionary measure did not apply to the nearby Garden No 2 where footfall has always been much higher than ours. Gupta rued over “having no place to go for time pass” now that

Shekhawat with his mask

the Garden is closed.
Funnily, Gupta put the blame squarely on Shekhawat. “You are the only person in the Garden to wear a face mask,” he charged. “This way you have been attracting attention to yourself and giving the impression that you are sick. People are saying that a sick man is roaming loose and spreading the virus in the Garden.”
Others present, including Karun Sharma, Rufina Khan (who had come with her daughter) and Nand Ram were however, supportive of the Garden shutting down as a “necessary though unfortunate step” in view of the raging pandemic.
According to news reports, there have been 143 confirmed cases of infection across the country, 39 of them from Maharashtra. Of the three fatalities reported so far, one is from Mumbai.
In the absence of any clear indication of when the Garden would re-open, the general attitude was to ‘wait and watch’ how the situation unfolds from now on. In a best case scenario, we should count ourselves lucky if life returns to normal in the next three months.
Till then, Yusuf Rassiwala has advised that “we confine ourselves indoors and exercise at home”. There is always the telephone and Whatsapp, Twitter, Facebook, etc. to connect with one another during these trying times. Most important, STAY SAFE. And DON'T WORRY. BE HAPPY and REMAIN HEALTHY.

Indefinite Shutdown?

Uncertain Future: Members on a loose end this morning 

The Club is faced with a very real possibility of having to suspend all activities while the corona crisis persists. It is only a matter of time

Santosh Tyagi

before the Garden is shut down in order to prevent the spread of the virus.
Apparently all public parks and gardens in the locality, except for the neighbouring Garden No 2, have already been closed by the municipal authorities. Someone, it seems, had come last night to “check if all was well in this Garden”, informed the watchman today.
Many feel that the measure is to dissuade senior citizens, who frequent the Garden most, to leave their homes lest they catch the bug.

The Health Centre in the
Garden is already shut

They happen to be most susceptible to infection due to low body resistance/ immunity.
Santosh Tyagi has been told by her family to avoid going to the Garden for some time, till the situation eases. It was just the other day that she had resumed her exercise routine after several months. But then, Santosh suffers from high BP and

Lt Col Angad Singh (rtd)

severe blood sugar issues.
Likewise, Lt Col Angad Singh (rtd) has been advised to stay away from the Garden for the time being. Today he showed up at the gate while we were exercising, only to retrace his steps quickly. “What else could I do?” complained the 86-year-old on phone. “I must listen to my children.”
Rukhsana Khan has also been forbidden by her children to take public transport (she stays in Goregaon) in order to reach the Garden early morning. There are many others under similar instructions from home, just that they are not willing to talk about it.
Effectively, attendance has plummeted drastically of late, leaving us with barely a dozen to carry on with the exercises. Nahid Khan, Banoo Apa, Zarina Khan, Naheed Siddiqui, Razia Khan… are some of the key absentees these days. And among those who are still making it, a majority are bound to also drop out in the next few days. We can do little but to wait and watch.