A Miracle!

Shekhawat finalises seating plan in the picnic bus

Hari Singh Shekhawat has pulled off a miracle. From a distressful situation yesterday morning (see post), he has managed to more than double the picnic contingent, far outstripping the required minimum of 30 persons. On last count this morning, he listed 41 paid-up confirmations for the 49-seater bus headed to the Royal Hills Resort on August 22, 2015.
Not everybody was happy though. A former member (who opted out of the picnic because carpenters are to invade her house) created quite a stir by claiming that Shekhawat knocked on some doors last evening to collect money for the picnic – the suggestion being that he was some kind of an extortionist who had held a gun to people’s heads to extract cash.
Shekhawat heard this, but did not respond. He was preoccupied on a fast developing problem with several belligerent ladies demanding they be allotted the front seats in the bus – their argument being that they were the first to pay for the picnic.

Kiran Arora

In their wisdom, the ones who paid last must be made to sit at the rear end of the bus.
Caught in a tricky situation, Shekhawat produced a ‘seating plan’ that he knew would make no sense to anybody, least of all to him. He soon junked the sheet of paper, declaring that seats would be allotted on a first-come first-serve basis. Within moments, he realized he would be faced with an unmanageable free-for-all among the ladies and promptly changed it to “sitting according to date of birth”.
Somehow, this sounded more logical and fair, and was immediately accepted – nobody realizing that married couples would be grievously affected. For example, a January-born like Dilip Babani would be seated within kissing distance of the bus driver while his wife, Kajal Babani, a December-born would be condemned to the rearest or rear end of the bus for no fault of her.
Meanwhile, here’s some fabulous news from the Arora household. The knee surgery Kiran Arora underwent on August 11 has been a super success and she can now move around home with a walker. “She is 100 per cent out of pain,” reported Srichand Arora, her doting hubby. “The stitches are a bother though, but those would come off on the 22nd. After that, maybe from next week, I would be able to resume my morning routine at the Garden.”
Kiran Prakash:
All is well that ends well. Shekhawat has proved that in organising picnics he can never go wrong. He is a master strategist. Is he now going to use his 'gun' and extract money from 8 more people? That will certainly get him some more discount at Royal Hills.
Bihari Milwani:
Now that his mission of filling seats is almost complete, Shekhawat should notify that the front 8 seats are 'premium seats'. Whoever pays 10% premium will get to occupy one -- again, on a first-come first-serve basis.
Lt Col Angad Singh (retd) from Mohali:
Shekhawat has once again proved he has a solution for every tricky situation in a picnic. It speaks well of his organising abilities. It is also heartening to know that Kiran Arora has new knees and will now be in a position to put her knee jerks to good use. Srichand Arora, be careful!