Bee In His Bonnet

Hari Narayani (in pic) completes 79 years on this planet. Arguably the oldest member of the Club, he turned up as usual this morning in his trademark safari suit, carrying the weight of his years lightly with a ramrod straight gait – just that he had, once again, a bone to pick. “You people have changed my sex on my birthday,” he alleged, waving some stapled sheets of paper.
Taken aback, we blinked at one another, only to realize that the papers he was waving happened to be the latest ‘membership list’ of the Club. “My name has been entered as Smt in this list,” he complained. “Do I look like a woman to any of you?”
Well, this is our Hari-bhai – always complaining, protesting, criticizing, grumbling, nitpicking, whining… At the same time, he is a man known for a terrific sense of humour with one-liners that would leave anybody in splits (should you ignore the expletives). His collection of lurid jokes would turn a foul-mouthed lorry driver pink in the face.
The issue of his name figuring in our 'membership list' had become a bee in his bonnet for quite some time. Nobody has ever denied him membership. And yet, he fell out with Shekhawat over this, believing that there is a sinister conspiracy to keep him out of the Club. Eventually, he had to apologise.
The good thing about all this is that Hari-bhai rarely takes a break these days. He says he comes to the Club for his own sake and not because he is afraid of losing his membership. Yet again, when he could not get a copy of the revised 'membership list’ last week, he raked up the conspiracy theory. Now that he has procured a zerox copy, he is convinced that we are conspiring to rob him of his masculinity!
Love him or hate him, you cannot ignore our Hari-bhai.
Renu Babani says:
At least he keeps everyone entertained, and makes it an enjoyable morning. By the away the previous post, Tian in Wonderland shows how much fun we can have!
--Renu