Mid-Summer Exodus

The Club still has a decent complement

Razia Khan, Mallika Kagzi and Ruksana Khan have disappeared since Saturday – one to Pune, another to Surat and the third to nobody-knows-where. Srichand Arora and wife Kiran had taken off for Germany yesterday. The day-after tomorrow, the Bose couple would have gone -- to Turkey and thereafter, Spain. The same day, June 25, Monthi Serrao would be headed towards Mangalore. Teja Singh Bhambra too is due to leave, for Faridabad…
That so many people from the Club are decamping around the same time has taken us all by surprise. An exodus of this nature is understandable in September-October during Dussehra-Diwali or at the vacation time of schools in March-April. But in the middle of summer, to be absconding en-masse is unprecedented. “I will be in and out, because of the many meetings I need to attend,” Jagmohan Papneja threatened, aggravating the situation.

Shekhawat displays his Navy photos

“I too will be away, at Meera Tower,” retorted Santosh Tyagi, indicating she would stay put at home.
Flabbergasted, Shekhawat wondered if anybody at all will be left in the Club. “We might as well suspend the exercises,” he declared. “Those who want to come early morning shall take a stroll around the Garden and return home. What else to do?”
Shekhawat’s apprehensions are not altogether misplaced. As it is, attendance drops to rock bottom when the monsoon catches up. June-July is a particularly bad period when roads leading to the Garden turn treacherous with puddles and slush all around because of the rains. That apart, the holy month of Ramzan starts on June 30. The ritual fasting every day would automatically exclude our Muslim members from the exercises for the whole of July – barring of course, Nahid Khan and perhaps, Khatoon Baig.
But then, true to his nature, Shekhawat refused to be bogged down by such concerns right now. Instead, he fished out from somewhere a set of ancient photographs from his Indian Navy days and displayed them with pride. Those were snapshots of ‘Shekhawat in uniform’, ‘Shekhawat at his work table’, ‘Shekhawat getting sloshed in a bar counter’, ‘Shekhawat at sea on INS Kavery’ and so on. Lovely pics those were. We’ll figure out a way to feature them in this blog.
Jagmohan Papneja:
I am sure that the exercises will never be suspended in any eventuality. Health conscious members who stay put at home will ensure that the show must go on.
Srichand Arora from Germany:
Correct, Papneja-ji. I agree with you. Health-conscious people of our group will never avoid the daily laughter-exercise routine.
Harish Wadhwa:
Nice to hear from you, Gurudev from Germany. Hope you are having a good time. Missing you on chai.