Poll Holiday

Pushpa and Bijoy Gupta

Today being a ‘public holiday’ because of the assembly polls, the Garden wore a festive look since early morning. People, not seen for long, showed up in colorful holiday gear enroute to the polling booths close by. A nattily dressed Bijoy Gupta appeared with his wife and they took part in the exercises together. Jagmohan Papneja arrived a little late, but he had an inked finger to show for what had delayed him today.
But much of the activity was concentrated around Monthi Serrao and Bhaswati Bose who were wrapping up the bookings for the Darjeeling-Gangtok trip today (ref: yesterday’s post). Apparently they had exceeded their limit of enlisting 20 persons and were seen refusing members and their money with the assurance they would be accommodated on a “second trip”.

Taking stock of the Darjeeling-Gangtok group composition

When that would be is anybody’s guess.
Meanwhile, what became the cause of much laughter and ribaldry was that Shekhawat happens to be the only male from the Club in the confirmed list of 20. None of the regular ‘picnickers’ like Yusuf Rassiwala, Srichand Arora and Arun Patil are going this time. While some seniors politely described this as an “all-ladies’ picnic”, Nahid Khan could not help remarking that it will be “mauja-hi-mauja” for Shekhawat. “No wonder he claims to hold a license to fool around,” commented Arora. Others expressed concern over Shekhawat’s wife who will have to hold him on a tight leash right through the trip.
When Shekhawat was informed on phone about his unusual “stroke of luck”, he burst out laughing uncontrollably. “I just can’t believe it,” he exclaimed. “You mean I will be the only gents among 19 gopis?!!” What remained unsaid was that he cannot wait for the next six months to pass.
Jagmohan Papneja:
A great wind is blowing for Shekawat-ji. This will give him a better imagination before the trip and headache thereafter. One should remember that the drum sounds better at a distance.