“Shut Up!”

Khatoon Baig (left) was at her irritable best. A mild-mannered person, she is not easily given to provocation, let alone an emotional outburst. But today she was rather late and had come hurrying in… only to find just half-a-dozen people around – all males. No other woman had turned up till then.
Sensing her discomfiture, Yusuf Rassiwala (right) suggested she rest for a while on the bench till another female showed up. But Khatoon had already joined the exercises and was getting increasingly irritated at being repeatedly singled out by Yusuf. “They are my saathis,” she explained, pointing at the men around. “I am fine with them.”
But Yusuf was extra patronising. “No, you can take it easy," he persisted. "Let another lady come in and then you may join the exercises.”
Suddenly, Khatoon lost her temper. “Shut up!” she exploded, wagging her finger.
Silence descended. Nobody had ever seen the lady flare up like this. Yusuf was also silent as he continued with the exercises till one by one, other ladies came in and normalcy was restored. By then, Khatoon had also loosened up and tried to engage Yusuf in small talk. But Yusuf had not forgotten, nor forgiven. “Aap ne mujhe ‘Shut up’ bola,” he rubbed it in.
Trouble was, apart from Khatoon, there was no one Yusuf could take liberties with today. Shekhawat had gone to Colaba for his medical test and the other punching bag, Srichand Arora was off-colour as a relative had passed away and he too was to leave, for Chembur. That made Khatoon a convenient target for leg-pulling.
On a happier note, here’s a snapshot (above) of Renu and Kishor Babani holidaying in Thailand. They got us worried after reports of political rallies in Bangkok have been pouring in since Friday. But from this picture, they both appear to be having a ball at Patayya... oops Patawwa!
Harish Wadhwa:
* Hathon-mein-hath wala pic, haan... Kya baat hai! Kishor-da and Renu-ji, have a good time. But I wish you took an authentic pic with tourists on Patawwa beach...