Name Calling

Identity Crisis: Invoking mythology early morning

Shekhawat is fond of addressing people with bizarre nicknames – "Godhri ka Lal", "Gurukul", "Tokam Toki"… But today, surprisingly, he found himself at the receiving end with an odd sobriquet thrust upon him – "Yudhishtir".
This follows Fahmida Khan’s observation yesterday (see post) about the five Pandavs exercising in the Garden with one woman. “Whatever be the situation, no matter who comes and goes, the five Pandavs will always be there for the exercises every morning,” she remarked.
The Mahabharat identifies the five Pandavas as Yudhishtir, Bhim, Arjun, Nakul and Sahadev. And it was without much difficulty that the five regulars were allotted a name each. Shekhawat, being the eldest among them, became Yudhishtir thus.
But Bijoy Gupta found it totally undeserving for Shekhawat -- more so, because Yudhishtir is regarded as the epitome of truth and honesty. “Wah!” he exclaimed sarcastically.

Happy Birthday Mallika Kagzi

“What good deed have you ever done in life to earn the title of Yudhishtir?”
Shekhawat had no answer. “Shut up,” he rebuked Gupta, who, by then, had become "Bhim" because of his stout physique and boxing background. “You are not even Bhim, you are Chhota Bhim (after the popular tele-serial for kids)!”
Not to be cowed down, Gupta laughingly accused Shekhawat of doing “gandi-gandi exercise” and quoted a certain gentleman (not a member) in the Garden as witness. “He cannot lie,” Gupta riled Shekhawat. “You may call yourself Yudhishtir, but this much I know, he is more honest and truthful than you.”
Shekhawat deflected from the subject as he spotted Naseer Putani Shah coming and promptly christened him "Duryodhan". Before long, Bihari Milwani turned up and Kiran Prakash had a ready name for him -- "Karan".
The latter was to turn out our conscience keeper as he reminded us that today happens to be Mallika Kagzi’s birthday. She is a former president of the Club and under her stewardship we were able to overcome some grave challenges threatening the very existence of our Club. More importantly, we have shared many happy moments in her company which shall remain forever embedded in our collective memory.
We wish Mallika all happiness, good health and long life on the occasion of her birthday.

Lt Col Angad Singh (rtd):
Mallika Kagzi has been a wonderful President. The Club had indeed gone through quite a difficult time, but she steered us through cheerfully. I wish her a very happy birthday and a long, happy, healthy and enjoyable life.

Dilip Babani:
Happy Birthday, Mallika-ji. May God bless you.