Wet Wednesday

Shekhawat leads the prayers in the China Hut

Mumbai is not yet done with the monsoon this year. At 5:00 in the morning, the heavens opened up. And it continued to pour heavily for the next two hours, thereby causing in a severe dip in attendance.
We were just three in the China Hut at the start of the exercises. Slowly, one after another, people trickled in, Shekhawat among them. He had kept his word (yesterday’s post).
“I said I’d be in the Garden early morning,” he declared with an air of triumph. “The operation is over and there was no reason for me to hang around in the hospital. I will go next on October 3 to get the stitches cut and a final dressing. Till then, I am not supposed to exercise, but I shall be coming to the Garden every morning without fail to check on you.”
Much as this ‘fauji bravado’ raised many eyebrows, nobody wanted to dishearten Shekhawat. Only Nahid Khan had a word of caution, advising him not to take chances at his age especially during the rains when the roads are slippery.

Bijoy Gupta (l) has loads of questions for his friend

“You ought to be taking rest at home,” she counseled. “How could your family let you loose in this weather?”
But Shekhawat was undeterred. He held a mini durbar after the exercises, detailing plans of going to his village (in Rajasthan) next month and leading an entourage of 15 old ladies to Ayodhya, Mathura, Vrindavan, etc. He would return in the first week of November and resume his exercises only thereafter.
Clearly, Shekhawat was trying to make light of his operation as though it was no big deal. He explained that the infection and pus formation on his chest were due to the sutures (after his cardiac by-pass) that did not dissolve and were not removed either. Day-before-yesterday, the raw sore was cleaned up in 45 minutes and now he is fighting fit. There was no skin grafting.
Bijoy Gupta however, had a load of questions for his friend: “Is it true that you had made a pass at a young nurse in the hospital and the doctors chased you out yesterday?” “Why is it that you are suddenly looking so youthful and handsome?” “Can’t I get the same operation done on myself?” “I also want to look young and sexy...”
Unprintable as they were, Shekhawat’s replies may best be left to imagination.

Karun Sharma:
Shekhawat's smile broadened when he saw his buddy coming in. He was quite restrained today as taking breath even could stretch his wounds. We must mentally prepare ourselves for such discomfort as this could happen to any of us, anytime.

Bihari Milwani:
Why did Shekhawat not exercise today? Was it because none of his saalis were there?

Lt Col Angad Singh (rtd):
It is good that Shekhawat is back as a cheerful person. We all wish him good health. At the same time, he must understand that he cannot fight age. He ought to be careful now. It does not pay to be foolhardy.