Damp Squib

An over-exuberant Shekhawat in full flow

While the main reason for the Club to meet every morning is spending a happy hour together, having a blast, there are many among us who would have nothing of it. The exercises are only an excuse. But for those no-nonsense types, the exercises are the raison d’etre and sole purpose for their entering the Garden. Left to themselves, they would lay down a code of conduct for all members and enforce it military style.
Not that we care. Relegated to the sidelines, these people are hardly noticed no matter how much they might mutter to themselves every time someone cracks a joke or takes a playful dig at others. Hari Singh Shekhawat, for one, is just plain indifferent. He is the coolest dude around, irrepressible as a jack-in-the-box and forever ready to break into his gallop dance on the slightest pretext. For instance, during the exercises today, he self-mockingly lip-synced to Saigal’s ‘Jab dil hi toot gaya...’ and pranced about till Srichand Arora had to tick him off abruptly.

Geeta Sardhana distributes Sai Baba prasad

Arora in fact, was once a strict disciplinarian, but over time, has mellowed considerably. Arun Patil was another damp squib and even pulled up ladies for talking too much. Sunita Jajodia was yet another, but her favorite target was Yusuf Rassiwala for ‘wasting time’ during exercises. Santosh Tyagi also did not tolerate ‘delays’. Sitaram Hivarkar came across as a stern headmaster… All of them have mercifully come around now. But there are still a few wet blankets left who are rigid in their own small ways and refuse to be ‘corrupted’ by the majority.
Incidentally, an apology is in order. Amid all the excitement yesterday over announcing the Pehchaan Kaun-9 results, we had overlooked Geeta Sardhana distributing prasad from a Sai Baba temple. We make up for this lapse by publishing her photograph alongside. Our apologies, once again, for not mentioning her in yesterday’s post.
Jagmohan Papneja:
Pay no attention to what others say and continue with your actions and/or exercising with purpose and passion.