After Exercises…

An impromptu game of pass the ball

There was a time, not so long ago, when the post-exercise session in the Garden was as important as the exercises – if not more. Many, in fact, marked their presence every morning just to be part of the activities after the exercises. Those were days when nobody cared much about things like attendance and punctuality.
Not so, now. And consequently, all the old post-exercise activities have come to a gradual halt. We report for the exercises on time, go through the motions from start-to-finish and after relaxing for a while on the benches, disperse for the day. This has been our routine, of late.
Thus, it came as a major surprise when a few members this morning got into an impromptu game of pass-the-ball after the exercises. It did not last too long. But for the time it lasted, it was exciting to watch Karun Sharma, along with Yusuf Rassiwala, Bhaswati Bose and Kiran Prakash kicking

Banoo Apa treats us all to mango milk shake today 

the hell out of a small yellow ball, just like kids. To be able to do so in the sweltering heat revealed not only their eagerness to return to their childhood, but more importantly, their amazing fitness levels.
This was a marked departure from the post-exercise sessions in the past when narrating stale jokes (usually from the net or read from a slip of paper) was a prime activity.
Once in a while, some kind soul would give a treat/ party and people cropped up from nowhere. Mercifully, this practice was suspended following a ban on eatables and beverages in the Garden.
Then there were those odd occasions when we experimented with some new-fangled workout, or perhaps rehearsed for a stage show, or had a ‘committee meeting’ after the exercises. But by and large, this was the time reserved for shooting the breeze and indulging in some ‘time-pass’ gossip.
Compared to all that, a brief game of football (however small the ball!) is any day welcome after the morning exercises.

Karun Sharma:
* It was refreshing to be playful and energyful. Bhaswati was the first to kick the yellow ball and increase the blood flow in us. Rightly, such small activities must be encouraged to bring back the childlike freshness on our faces. This could work as a good facial too.
* Banoo Apa is like a mother who treats us to a lot of tasty surprises. May God give her lots of happiness and good health.