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| Nasir Putani Shah |
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| Bijoy Gupta and Shekhawat |
So when he showed up last evening at the Garden, many were pleasantly shocked. Shekhawat and Bijoy Gupta were also there and together they hatched a mischievous plan to derive some fun at Nasir’s expense.
At first, they exchanged niceties, inquired about the old man’s health and thereafter, in passing, Shekhawat mentioned how a “Chinese girl” who joined the Club recently, has introduced a new set of tai chi exercises that keeps us on our toes all morning.
Gupta added spice to the story by describing how beautiful the girl was, the skimpy clothes she wore, etc. and what Nasir was missing by not coming to the Garden in the morning.
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| Paying up for the Gir Forest tour |
The truth is that there is no Chinese girl. But Nasir was so convinced by all the tall talk of the duo that he promised to be present for the exercises next day (i.e. today) and feast his eyes on this ethereal beauty from China… coronavirus and all else be damned!
Sure enough, he was there early morning, huffing and puffing, eyes gleaming in anticipation. And sure enough, there was no Chinese girl. Shekhawat, for one, did not expect to see Nasir. Worse, there was no Gupta at that time to bail him out.
Shekhawat instantly tried some damage control and made a pretense of calling the imaginary Chinese girl on his mobile. Then switching off the phone, he declared before everyone that “she” will not be coming today. “It’s your bad luck,” he told Nasir.
By that time Nasir had got the drift of the prank. He did not say anything then as the exercises were on. Later, he complained how he had unwittingly got taken in by the duo and why nobody should ever take them seriously in future.
But then, boys will be boys. Who says with age, they turn into dour, humorless beings?
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