Insanely Funny!

Bijoy Gupta (l) pulls up Shekhawat (r) on the bullet story

Not a day passes in the Garden without Bijoy Gupta pulling a fast one on his buddy, Shekhawat. It could be over anything – from what Shekhawat imbibes to stay “strong”, to the phone calls he receives, to who he meets after the exercises, to wetting Bihari Milwani's car seat… The stories are never repeated. And they are always insanely funny.
Today he got the opportunity to upbraid Shekhawat in front of Kiran Prakash’s wife, Anjana. She was around

Banoo Apa treats us to light
snacks after exercises

on a courtesy visit when Shekhawat committed the blunder of boasting in Gupta’s presence of having a bullet lodged in his back from his Navy days. He was clearly delusional and eager to make an impression – of macho valour – in front of an unsuspecting lady.
Gupta pondered over it for a while and politely praised Shekhawat for remaining so brave and youthful to this day. Later, he went hammer and tongs after him. “Only a bewakoof would take a bullet on his back,” Gupta thundered.

Anjana Prakash (c) pays us a courtesy visit

“A hero will always take a bullet on his chest, even if he were to die. And you are boasting of taking it on your back? You were running away like a silly coward and got hit in the back!”
Just yesterday, Gupta came up with another yarn. He said he woke up with a jolt from a dream on Shekhawat hosting a party at High Point Restaurant. (A day earlier, Shekhawat had promised to treat the Club for breakfast, lunch and dinner.) Gupta recalled having a blast – everyone eating to their heart’s full, etc. etc.
“We really had a great time,” he said about the dream. “And then came the time for payment. Guess what? Shekhawat was nowhere to be seen. He had hosted the treat, invited all of us personally and when it was time to paying the bill, he disappeared. I do not know how the issue was resolved because I woke up instantly. I could not imagine there can be a human being like him!”
The best part is Shekhawat does not take offence at the jokes on him and like the rest of us, even laughs heartily at them.

Dilip Babani:
A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ARUN BHAI. MAY GOD BLESS YOU.