Paid Off

Harish Wadhwa

It pays to complain in the blog. Or so would Harish Wadhwa say after he commented yesterday (see post) asking some good soul to take responsibility for members like him who are “starved of the goodies” distributed in the Garden in their absence. “Come on, I deserve to get something nice to eat once in a while,” he pleaded.
The appeal obviously struck a sympathetic chord in Monthi Serrao who saved a few chikkis for Harish after distributing the rest among those who attended today’s exercises. The crunchy sweets were gifted by her daughter from a trip to Lonavala recently.
Actually, Monthi had kept aside some pieces for Srichand Arora as well, but Harish could not resist the temptation to consume the whole lot at one go.

Monthi Serrao distributes Lonavala chikkis

Arora had to leave midway through the exercises following an emergency call and consequently missed out on the chikkis. His loss was Harish’s gain – a double reward effectively for not showing up.
So from now onwards, habitual absentees will have a new stick to beat the Club with. March and April are unusually ‘dry months’ as there are virtually no birthday celebrations at this time of the year. The current drop in attendance therefore, does not come as any surprise. What does come as a surprise though (even for the absentees) are the impromptu, unscheduled treats – as Khatoon Baig and Kiran Makhria gave in the last couple of days. Had the absentees known about these in advance they would inevitably have flocked to the Garden in full strength.
Now Harish Wadhwa has made life easy for them. They need not come to the Garden at all and yet be able to claim their ‘just desserts’. Knowing some members, this sense of entitlement can lead to hilarious spin-offs.
Harish Wadhwa:
Nice to see that someone had read my comment, though it was written in light vein. Thanks Monthi-ji, for the lovely chikkis which a wonderful soul got me. Unfortunately, I could not eat them as the lot was soon stolen by the kids at home, leaving me high and dry again. Well, I cannot complain for sure. It is rightly said: 'Dane dane pe likha hai, khane wale ka naam!' (By the way, why am I looking so aggressive? Hum aise toh nahin!)
Jagmohan Papneja:
Yusuf-bhai's presence in the Garden nowadays brings smiles in every face. His absence will surely disappoint everyone. So he should join us regularly to feel the warmth of our company.