Garden in Neglect

Arora gets Nahid Khan to sign the joint petition

Srichand Arora today launched a well orchestrated campaign, drawing attention to the sorry state of affairs in the upkeep of our Garden. A joint petition, signed by members of the Club (and a few regulars of the walking track) urged the Celebration Club management to initiate measures for restoring the green cover on the ground, removing all litter, leveling potholes and repairing / replacing all broken benches in the Garden.
“Not only do we often have to encounter garbage littered everywhere, the ground is uneven with large bald patches, wild grass that require to be trimmed, sharp stones jutting about and potholes all around,” the petition pointed out. “These are potential hazards and can lead to serious accidents, should anyone trip and fall, or even sprain an ankle. As senior citizens visiting the garden every morning to exercise, we would request leveling of the ground -- perhaps with a layer of fresh earth and some timely attention from the gardener.”

FULLY INKED: Proof of casting vote?

The funny part was nobody was quite prepared for this unprecedented joint-petition and every time Arora approached someone for his/ her “autograph”, he had to explain himself repeatedly. Eventually what worked was when he explained that this was his new ploy to appropriate the person’s property. “By putting your signature on this paper, you would be writing off your house, car and other assets in my name,” he said earnestly. Only Nahid Khan could retort in the same vein: “This is like one pauper looting another pauper!” But at the end of one hour, Arora managed to rustle around 50 signatures on the petition.
Meanwhile, in a rare expression of self-pride, members displayed their inked finger as proof of having cast their vote yesterday. But it was not without some glitches – the most common being husband and wife registered against different addresses in Lokhandwala and Millat Nagar. Arora was shown as a 26-year-old in the voters’ list. Eventually though, everyone could exercise their franchise. And that is what matters.