Bad Scene

Eyes glazed, Fahmida reclines on a chair

There is something in the air that has been causing widespread distress in the Club. Zarina Khan could not attend our Christmas celebration in the Garden (ref post of December 25) because of a sudden spike in her BP level. She kept retching continuously and has been bedridden since. In spite of medication, her BP remains precariously high.
Apart from BP, there are instances of fluctuating sugar levels, bouts of breathlessness, body ache, giddiness and persistent headache affecting every other member of the Club.
Yesterday Nahid Khan could not come for the exercises because of “bhayankar chakkar” – a severe attack of dizziness and nausea. She believes it was vertigo.

Zarina Khan

But medical tests have revealed nothing.
Today, Fahmida Khan fainted just as we were dispersing for home. One moment she was merrily chatting with us in the China Hut and the next, she slid off her chair and was flat on the ground, eyes rolling over menacingly.
Her body stiffened and she began making snorting sounds like one short of breath.
Nahid Khan rushed to her aid and offered her water to drink. Yusuf Rassiwala gave her a lozenge. Fahmida spluttered momentarily and became unconscious again. Clearly, she was going through waves of blackouts.

SECRET SANTAS: Yusuf R(ext l) and Shekhawat (2nd from rt) 

But the bigger problem was to lift her from the cold floor on to a chair.
Fahmida had turned incredibly heavy (and stiff) by then. Somehow, we managed to get her to recline over two chairs and before long, she came around. She wanted to go home. Yusuf R advised that she rest for a while, but she was adamant.

Bihari Milwani shows video of what
Razia Khan missed on Christmas Day

Eventually, she had to be escorted home, Nahid Khan holding her firmly right up to her doorstep.
In retrospect, it would seem that this was the price for all the fun and games we have been having since December 22 (see post). Yusuf R did a post-mortem earlier in the morning of our Christmas celebration the day-before, heaping praise on all participants and especially, Santa Claus – better known as Kiran Prakash.
What was not mentioned though were the real Santa Clauses of the Club. Yes, there were two of them, Yusuf R himself and Shekhawat. They were the ones who had borne the expenses of the entire event and their contribution was acknowledged by a round of applause by all present. In fact, part of the Juhu Beach outing last Sunday was also sponsored by them. And yet, there was money left over to be returned.
Reluctantly, the two accepted the balance amount, thanking everyone once again for their participation.