Normalcy Returns

Revdis from Col Johar

With the return of the second and final batch from Kerala (see yesterday’s post), we were back to our normal strength at the Garden. Arun Patil, Khatoon Baig, Mumtaz Jahan and several others reported for the exercises today, taking the attendance to a healthy 20-plus. Everybody dutifully mouthed the same lines, “We enjoyed a lot”. And with the music box playing on once again in the middle, it was business as usual.
An old friend, Col Jaswinder Johar (a retired army man based in Meerut) dropped by with a box of fresh, crunchy revdis. He has developed a special fascination for our Club and makes sure to visit us every time he is in Mumbai. The best part is that he is more regular than most of us are for the exercises -- even as it means traveling all the way from Juhu to keep his appointment at the Garden every morning.

Arora displays photos of the Kerala trip on his tablet 

One man was however, conspicuous by his absence. Hari Singh Shekhawat had returned the day-before from Kerala and yesterday morning, he was away at the military hospital in Colaba for his eye checkup. He was turned back because his appointment was for today. (He needs to get his cataract operation done.) So this morning, without showing his face at the Garden, he rushed to Colaba once again to see the eye doctor. Once he gets back to his regular routine, the ‘official’ story on Kerala will unfold. For Shekhawat does not know how to withhold information.
Meanwhile, we had to make do with a visual presentation Srichand Arora made on his tablet computer. Beautiful as those images were, the pictures clicked were almost entirely indoor shots (of the houseboat, dining room, etc.) suggesting nothing about Kerala. We will have to wait for photographs of the various scenic spots in Kochi, Aleppey, Kumarakom, Periyar and Munnar the group had visited. Till those pictures come in, a slideshow cannot be mounted.