Jolly Train

Shekhawat with his little green whistle

Shekhawat’s ‘jolly train’ is slowly, but surely gaining momentum. From a time when he was its sole passenger, engine driver, linesman and guard all rolled into one, he has successfully managed to enlist all members, including his sworn critic Bijoy Gupta, as his passengers. His persistence has paid off.
Today, in what was supposed to be an assertion of his authority, he piloted the Jaipur Express with a little green plastic whistle, while the rest of us followed him round and round the exercise

Razia Khan hands a white flower
 on Shekhawat's behalf

circle like Mary’s little lambs.
Silly as it may all seem, this drill, which marks the end of our half-hour freehand exercises has run into severe criticism from time to time. Many consider it an unnecessary distraction – effectively trivialising the very purpose of our daily regimen – and have refused to join Shekhawat in the ‘farce’. But that has scarcely bothered him.
Gupta has even called Shekhawat names and warned people from getting into a train headed to the junkyard/ cremation ground/ jail/ hospital and from which they were to “surely catch a contagious disease”. On the other hand, Shekhawat has managed to entice more 'followers' by offering a choice of destinations (Kota Junction being an alternative stop) and getting Rukhsana Khan to offer ‘garam garam chai-pakore’ to all passengers enroute.
Clearly, these measures have worked. Today, Shekhawat’s train is regarded as not only a welcome diversion from the drudgery of the exercises, but also a legitimate excuse for entertainment. As one who is so emotionally invested in this drill, getting all members on board his train is a huge feather in Shekhawat’s cap.
So today, as he went ‘prrrt-prrrt’ with that little green whistle, we applauded him. We obediently fell in line and followed him round and round the circle while Razia Khan kept count. Only thereafter, did Shekhawat rush out of the Garden on “urgent work”, abandoning the rest of the exercises. The train had meant so much to him!