Day 370

Age, they say, is a number. No matter how old you get, the younger you think, the younger you are. For those of us who have forgotten to grow up, this suits us perfectly – but for a few minor issues. Like getting mixed up on names and faces. Or turning the house upside down looking for your spectacles, only to discover you’ve been wearing them all the while. Or leaving your umbrella behind in an auto-rickshaw and walking away… Or better still, walking away leaving your car door unlocked. That is when you realize age is catching up.
At the Garden, instances of forgetfulness are increasingly showing up, with hilarious consequences. Losing track of the sequence of exercises is only too common. For example, Sitaram Hivarkar is prone to skipping exercises, when not repeating them, and has to be prompted back on course. Nahid Khan (above) gets regularly distracted by the ladies’ chatter (despite her strident calls of "Idhaaaar!") and then forgets all she had been doing. At times, instead of Silent Laughter, someone might abruptly let out a loud “Ha Ha Ha Ha” and look around foolishly. Santosh Tyagi (right) easily forgets the jokes she had narrated a day earlier, but they bear repetition because by then, everybody else would have also forgotten them. Today, during the “Ram Ram Bol” chorus (ahead of exercises) Bose became so absent-minded that he conveniently forgot to say “Keshav Madhav Hari Hari Bol”, until reminded by Srichand Arora .
Yesterday, Bapu Rane presented a classic example of forgetfulness when he lost count of the number of times he was making everybody do the Slow and Fast Laughter exercise. He went on and on and on… till Arora pulled him up, adding, “Ginti bhoolney ka matlab, ekdam bbudha ho gaya tu”. Instantly, Nahid Khan piped in on Rane's behalf: “Bbudha hoga tera baap!” Arora was left dumbstruck.
Says RENU BABANI:
It doesn't matter whether we are forgetful or not; all of us are in this together. So, actually it doesn't bother anyone and has been accepted as part of life too. The main point is that we have fun whenever we meet and make the most of each morning. To us every day is a new day, bringing with it laughter, merriment and a beautiful morning. We have one another to tease, exchange useless banter and just be ourselves. I think we are lucky and blessed to have such a group. To outsiders we may seem a bit crazy, but who cares? Let's live our lives to the fullest and teach others how to do it as well!