Time Hangs Heavy

Barely a dozen showed up today

The peculiar thing about the daily turnout is that with less people, our exercises tend to take longer. When more people turn up, time just flies by. And so, with almost all the regulars now away to Kerala, the same set of exercises that used to be wrapped up in less than an hour, today seemed to go on and on... and on endlessly. Time simply hung heavily on us.
Not that we did not have our bright moments. With Razia Khan in the middle, Jagmohan Papneja was repeatedly prodded to assume the role of a prompter. He sounded totally out of character when made to mouth “Kissa Kursi Ka, Doosra Padav”, “Nach Baliye, Teesra Padav”, “Shekhawat Ready?!?” And there we had Geeta Sardhana wanting a ‘running commentary’ on how far the train to Kerala had reached, till Srichand Arora suddenly called long-distance from the Netravati Express to inform that he had no clue where he was, but there were still two hours to go before reaching Mangalore.

Harish Wadhwa (file photo)

Soon Shekhawat's voice piped up to inform that everyone was having a gala time "with a lot of lungi wallahs" in the train!
In all this, there is a spot of bad news we have been withholding. Last Friday, our friend Harish Wadhwa met with an accident in his hotel room at Ranchi. He slipped in the bathroom and fractured his collar bone. It has split into two. He was brought all trussed up to Mumbai on Saturday evening, but could be attended to only yesterday at Kokilaben Hospital. After an excruciatingly painful procedure, the bones have been set in place – but both his arms are tied up now by a sling and he is still in agony. Let alone pick up the phone, the simple act of sitting upright in bed is traumatic in his present state.
While our hearts are with him and we all wish him speedy recovery, this is to request all not, rpt NOT to make courtesy visits or calls which might require Harish to exert himself. He has specifically asked this of us. At the Garden today, Papneja enjoined us to raise a silent prayer for his quick relief and recuperation.
Srichand Arora:
Harish, my dear, we all are worried about your health. Take care properly and we all are there for you in case needed. See you soon. God bless you. (February 8, 2014 at 2:47 PM)
Renu Babani:
God speed, Mr Harish. With everyone's prayers and moral support here's wishing you a speedy recovery.
Jagmohan Papneja:
It is noted that the specialist (doctor) has carried out the required procedure on Harish-ji for surgical realignment of collar bones and reset them to heal. Our prayers are sure to put Harish-ji back in action very soon. God bless.