In Slo-Mo

Now we know why Sunita Jajodia gets restless when Yusuf Rassiwala takes charge of the exercises. Imagine the latter being sent to nab Osama bin Laden at Abbottabad. He would descend from his helicopter, get into bin Laden’s bedroom and as is his nature, greet him with a “Good Morning” first, or “Jai Ho Pandurang Baba”. Then he would amble across the room, change position and enquire about his health. Probably thereafter would he open fire.
Yusuf-bhai’s unhurried style of conducting the exercises resulted in overshooting our time by 17 clear minutes today. Many of us like it this way. But Sunita had already walked out. Shekhawat kept holding his tummy, wanting to rush home and visit the toilet. Even an otherwise patient Tara Chand Seth kept calling out to Yusuf-bhai to quicken the pace. “Bahut der lagaa di,” he went on grumbling.
But certain things were beyond anybody’s control. For instance, a pesky bumble bee (or was it a big fly?) kept bothering Mumtaz Jahan, making her shriek twice and hit out aimlessly in the air with her handbag. It was a comical sight. Finally, the lady thought it prudent to cross over to where the men were standing, believing she would be better protected there. The bee did not follow her, much to everybody’s disappointment.
Today happened to be G.R.Garg’s (above, left) birthday and it was nice of him to usher in the celebrations with us in the Garden. He had brought along a box of chocolates with him. We could only thank him for the treat and wish him many years of good health and happiness.
It was also Tara Chand’s (right) day to say his goodbye before taking a flight to Delhi in the afternoon. At his age, he is one of the rare few who feels confident enough to undertake the journey all by himself. He says he needs to spend time at his “other home”, but will be back soon (which could mean easily six months) in Mumbai. Till then, he will be following us closely on this blog.