Hammer & Tongs

Shekhawat is overjoyed as Razia Khan and Arun Patil fight tooth and nail

Arun Patil landed in the Garden today with a new prosthetic leg and even before he could settle down, the bugle of revolt was sounded. Razia Khan went hammer and tongs at him, questioning his authority to curtail her freedom. “Who are you to tell me what I should do or not do!” she demanded repeatedly, with tacit support from Shekhawat.
Not one to be cowed down, Arun tore into the duo accusing them of disrupting the exercises and fouling the atmosphere in the Club. “There is something called discipline, do you agree or not?” he shouted, much to the amusement of Bihari Milwani, Angad Singh and others present.
Arun was away for one week or so and in his absence, everybody seemed to be having a gala time. It was typically a case of the cat being away and the mice going berserk. Shekhawat, in particular, appeared most jubilant as there was nobody to ‘tokam toki’ (needle) him.

Qadeer Bano

Razia Khan

All that has suddenly come to a halt as people are now expected to behave themselves.
But then, it was not Razia who was the first to protest. Shekhawat had been grumbling for long, though grudgingly and it was only when an otherwise quiet Qadeer Bano raised her voice that things tumbled out in the open. She had objected to a minor slight during the exercises and Arun, instead of addressing her concern, issued a blanket order directing that everybody seated on the benches would be excluded from the exercises from Monday!
Arun did not stop there. He raked up other irregularities like late coming, ambling on the walking track, talking and disturbing the exercises, etc. “What rubbish!” Razia bellowed. “I will do what I please, let’s see you stop me. Why should I obey you? Who are you???”
Shekhawat jumped about with glee. Others chuckled. Before long Razia and Arun dissolved into laughter and everyone dispersed with a smile on their lips.

Lt Col Angad Singh (retd):
Arun Patil's 'tokum toki' is his takia kalam. It should be taken with a pinch of salt -- forgiven and forgotten. Do not take these pranks seriously.