Golden Glitter

Many jaws dropped this morning the moment Mrs Mohankanwar Shekhawat found a golden chain lying in the Garden lawn. “That’s my chain!” exclaimed Santosh Tyagi, both hands instinctively rising to her neck. Realising that her chain was secure in its place, she heaved a sigh of relief.
The chain passed from hand to hand, each person examining it for its worth. The men somehow, did not want to have anything to do with it (left pic). The ladies though debated on whether it should be deposited with the watchman or must they report it to the police. Or if they would rather wait for someone to come searching… until Monthi Serrao arrived and with all the authority at her command, declared: “All that glitters is not gold!”
Still the glitter was good enough to ensure a ‘golden’ morning one hour. Santosh was happily there, having recovered from another bout of flu and fever. There was also good news of Bapu Rane (right pic) recovering from treatment of an ulcerous growth in his stomach. He has been in great distress over the past couple of weeks. Like Santosh, he was at the Garden last evening and had informed that his stomach problem was under control. But a few tests still remain to be done.
The best news though was the return of Nazma Sayyad (pic below). For the past three months, she had been largely bed-ridden with an agonising arthritic condition, arising mainly out of being over-weight. After a weight loss programme, she was “glad to report shedding five-and-half kilos” with still more to go in the next few weeks. In her happiness, she thanked everyone for praying for her and treated us all to barfis.
Later, she went on to discuss the details of her weight-loss programme, revealing that it had cost Rs40,000 for a ten-kilo loss. This immediately got some people calculating. “It means Rs4,000 per kilo,” concluded Vandana Kankanwar aloud. “What happens if you want to lose more kilos?” “Another Rs40,000 for another ten kilos,” Nazma replied.
Sandhya Narang, who was listening quietly, gasped. “My God, if I have to pay 40,000 to lose only 10 kilos, I will certainly die of depression!” she blurted out, suddenly throwing us off-guard. We never knew that this otherwise reserved lady had such a terrific sense of humour!
Jagmohan Papneja:
Health is real wealth and not pieces of gold or a chain. Laughter exercises would show the way. Do it regularly.
Kishor Babani:
This evening a lady was searching something desperately in the Garden. The watchman informed me that she has lost her chain. Since I read your blog at 4.15 p.m. I informed her that one of the Laughing Club member has found the chain. I gave her the mobile number of Mr Shekhawat and told her to check with him.
Harish Wadhwa:
Welcome back, Nazma-ji. Nice to see you back in the Garden. It is rightly said: "Jaan-hai (good health) toh jahan hai (paradise)!"