Aah… What Bliss!

Last night’s unseasonal down-pour had brought down the temperature drastically this morning. Dark clouds hovered in the horizon as a cool breeze blew across the Garden. There was no stickiness, no breath-lessness, no dripping sweat, no hand towels on display, no ants on the ground… After weeks of putting up with intolerable heat and humidity, today was sheer bliss. As Dilip Babani put it, we were experiencing Lonavala in Mumbai.
The mood during the exercises also changed dramatically as everybody was back to their prankish behaviour – what with keeping count of ‘lions’ and ‘lionesses’ among the late arrivals, the witty add-ons to the lyrics of songs playing on the music system, loose comments flying thick and fast, supplemented by sharp repartees – mostly from Srichand Arora and Nahid Khan.
Pratap Bhatt (left) joined in the merriment (so what if the ladies were not exactly keen on calling him a ‘lion’!) with a box of chocolates his daughter had brought from Australia. He has been undergoing treatment over the past eight months for a hole in his lung and is under strict medical advice not to exert himself in any manner. But he assures us that he will make it to THE party on June 11 without fail.
Suddenly Neelam Garg (below) was spotted running full-clip towards us. Arora suspended the exercises to enquire if she was feeling alright. She explained she had just survived an “incident” near Green Acres. On her way to the Garden, she was accosted by two rogues on a motorbike, presumably chain snatchers. They kept accusing her in foul language for staring at them pointedly and braked close to her. When the pillion rider got down and advanced towards her threateningly, Neelam jumped over a hedge and into the Green Acres compound, instantly alerting the watchmen around. Before they could rush in, the goons were gone.
Neelam’s presence of mind, on not getting into a direct confrontation, is indeed praiseworthy. But it was enough to rattle the bravest among us. The only person who looked on amused was Arora’s new ‘friend’, Girdharilal (above). Earlier in the morning, the poor fellow made the mistake of asking Arora the time and in reply was told to throw his watch into the nearby nullah. That’s how they became friends and he got invited to our circle today.