"Precious" Women

Shekhawat-ji (below, right) came covered from top to toe. Monthy-ji had similarly a warm muffler wrapped around her head. Sunitha-ji was in her off-white cardigan. Mrs Shekhawat was in a striking red shawl. Geeta-ji came dressed in a smart grey trouser-jacket suit. Ramila Mistry was in her sporty black-and-white woolies…
It was unusually chilly for Mumbai at this time of the year. As northerly winds blew steadily across, taking the temperature down to 20 degrees Celsius, many members were not taking their chances this morning. Most men were of course, securely cocooned in the warmth of their beds, giving the Garden a go-by for the week-end. Barely half-a-dozen of them turned up.
Seeing the women outnumbering the men, Razia Khan did a head count midway through the exercises. “A dozen precious women…” she declared. Whatever be her reason for using that adjective, Yusuf-bhai got his chance at taking a dig on her sense of valuation. But eventually Hari Naraiyani (left) had to have his say as always. “Bakri ka bhav bakrey se zyada hota hai,” he muttered.
Funny man, this Hari-bhai is. He came up with a peculiar theory that women who do not have any work at home are able to come to the Garden in the morning. “If these women had to cook dinner, feed their husbands and go to bed after washing the utensils late at night, do you think they’d be able to make it so early in the morning in this cold?” he asked incredulously.
His reasoning for the numerical superiority of women is of course, strictly his personal opinion. But what goes without saying is that our female contingent is collectively far more self-disciplined, enthusiastic and fun-loving than all the men combined. Their sisterhood is stronger, more abiding and visible even to a casual passerby. No wonder they are all anxious to mark their presence in the Garden, religiously, every morning.
Men need to learn from them.

Renu Babani says:
Yes, hats off to us women! We do our work and ensure we reach the Garden in the morning for our exercise. Everyone has a fixed routine in the mornings too and abide by it as well. However, the challenge is getting up from that cozy warm bed and venturing out in the wee hours of the cold dark mornings. So keep it up and let's meet every morning and enjoy our time together!
--Renu

Harish Wadhwa says:
Blog Monster! I sincerely object to your (personal) point of view that the female contingent is collectively far more self-disciplined, enthusiastic and fun-loving than all the men combined. This is an insult to the poor and helpless mard jaat. We have to brave a lot more challenges during the day and don't grumble at all:
a) Being the guinea pig for breakfast/lunch/dinner while our wives experiment and then having to appreciate it (let the truth be a secret!). Some bechare husbands like Kishor-bhai don't even get that once in a while !
b) Reading a newspaper to know the pulse of the nation.
c) Sleep to keep the wife's nagging and fights away.
d) Getting up late intentionally so that the wife can do her routine work without disturbance.
e) Go to work so that the wife can have free time to watch television, gossip with friends and take a nap during the afternoons and evenings.
The list is endless. So please don't play down the might of the husband/male fraternity. They make it to the Garden despite all the emotional atyachaar.
I support Hari-bhai for his candid point of view. I forgot point (f) which is to write lies to keep the wife happy -- like I have done above.
--Harish

Big Laaf replies:
Thank you, Harish. But none of your points disprove that the women are "far more self-disciplined, enthusiastic and fun-loving" than the men. Just relax!