Janamashtami 2018

Pushpa Gupta (c) with gopis at a Janmashtami celebration last night

After recording the wettest August in a decade, the monsoon appears to be finally receding. It remained cloudy though, for the better part of the morning. The occasional appearance of the sun was apparently to prepare us for hot and clammy days ahead.
Today being a Monday was another reason for a low turnout during the exercises.

Sri Krishna

People take time to get out of the hangover of a busy weekend. That apart, many members had Janamashtami celebrations at home (or were visiting temples) late

After the exercises this morning

last night and could not make it to the Garden this morning. Consequently, the mood today was generally low and lacklustre. Bijoy Gupta, Shekhawat and Anjana Prakash, among others were conspicuous by their absence.
Shekhawat’s absence, in particular, raised many eyebrows. As his operation is a good two weeks away (ref post of September 1), he had shown up at the Garden on Saturday. Today, it seems, he was headed towards Thane early morning to meet a practitioner of alternative healing.
Shekhawat has enormous faith in this ‘doctor’ as he treats patients by simply pressing their nerves. He does not prescribe medicines. Shekhawat says that should this healer be able to make a difference, he would rather abandon the surgery scheduled on September 17 at the naval hospital. This is a big risk, best avoided.

Bihari Milwani:
Looking at the first picture, I can understand why Shekhawat-ji did not come today. He must be playing Raas Leela with the gopis.