Flowers and Fury

Mohar Singh

Ved Prakash Grover

Dark, wet morning. Single-digit attendance. Shekhawat peered out of the China Hut to study the steady downpour. “What beautiful weather!” he concluded. “Just perfect for taking out the bottle.”
“Oh, you drink also!” exclaimed an idiot from another section of the China Hut.
“Arrey, I am fauji aadmi, drinking is in my blood.”
“I had wine once, but nothing happened to me,” the idiot boasted. It continued to rain and Shekhawat waxed eloquent on the blessings of booze when his train of thoughts was suddenly interrupted by fireworks between Ved Prakash Grover and Mohar Singh (of all the people). The idiot, who was till then talking to Shekhawat, had quietly slipped out in the rain and was seen plucking flowers.
Grover screamed: “Usko roko! How many times has he been told not to pluck flowers. But he does not listen.”
Idiot could not be bothered as Mohar Singh took up for him. “What is your problem?” he said turning to Grover.

Slanging match between Bhaswati Bose and the rest

“He is only taking some flowers for puja. Everybody does this.”
“But this is not allowed,” Grover countered.
“Then you should stop everybody. Don’t pick on him.”
“Are you mad or what? How can you side with that man? I was the one to stop another man by complaining to the watchman.”
“Because you have no other work,” Mohar Singh retorted.
Grover got all the more furious and as the fight escalated, everybody watched in silence. Not one person among us mediated. Only towards the end, did Arora call a friend of Idiot and instructed him to warn “that man in Hindi” not to pluck flowers again. He said he would do so in English.
The tense atmosphere was finally eased when Bhaswati Bose made an appearance to complain she was not given her ‘birthday calendar’ (on July 19). “Nobody even wished me,” she said at the top of her voice. “Why this discrimination? Forget wishing, unless I get my calendar, I will not give any birthday treat.” The angrier she got, the more others teased her – much to everybody’s amusement. In all this sound and fury, peace was restored for the day.
Kiran Prakash:
If she wants members to wish her, she should ensure that her birthday does not fall on a Sunday. Just to caution her, it will again fall on a Sunday in 2020 and 2026. Anyway, a belated Happy Birthday Bhaswati-ji. Her clubbing the treat with her birthday calendar seems to be justified.
Bihari Milwani:
I wonder how anybody can be born on a Sunday when everything is closed. 19th July was a Sunday. Anyway, many many (belated) Happy Returns of the Day. Please accept my best wishes.