Distressing Signals

Few members turned up for the exercises today

Within one day of becoming a member, Nand Ram did what he was specifically told not to do. He did not turn up for the exercises today.
Nand Ram was not alone though. With winter waning and the mornings turning warm and sweaty, the Garden witnessed a steady drop in attendance. Not even a dozen people showed up. From Yusuf Rassiwala and Bijoy Gupta to Banoo Apa and Razia Khan, all the big dads and dadis of the club were missing from action today.
Razia is of course, indisposed (ref post of February 11) and will take time to fully recover. Meanwhile, Naheed Siddiqui reported ill with high fever and flu.
Banoo Apa’s condition is equally worrisome, if not more, as she nurses a massive swelling in her foot. Between doctor visits over the past three days, blood tests, X-rays and the works, she circulated a photograph of the engorged foot on WhatsApp. It did not look pretty.

Banoo Apa (file photo)

Bijoy Gupta (file photo)

But the biggest shocker was to come from Bijoy Gupta. This morning around 4:00 a.m., he stumbled and fell in his bedroom, hitting his head on the sharp edge of a dressing table. For the next five hours he lay on the floor completely immobilised, writhing in pain, unable to even make a phone call.
“I was trying to find my way to the bathroom in the darkness,” he was to narrate later. “I was not fully awake. All of a sudden, I felt as though somebody had pushed me violently from behind and I collapsed on the floor, hitting the dressing table. I lost control of myself... I couldn't breathe, couldn't shout, couldn't move… I was frozen in pain. For a long time I thought I was gone!”
Pushpa, his wife, attended on him with basic first aid and hot water bottle. But that was clearly not adequate. Fearing a rib fracture, she wanted to call an ambulance and shift him to hospital when he began to show signs of recovery. She administered a strong dose of pain-killers and some home remedies, to which Gupta is responding well.
He is taking his chances till the evening before summoning medical help.

Karun Sharma:
We should have provision for various kinds of leaves. Sick leave entitlement should be maximum. We are at a stage when absence will be more than presence. It may be a good idea to share and ensure healthy living tips on a regular basis.

Siba Prasad Maitra:
This is in reference to the blog post of 11th February '20. I gave an explanation also for returning the prizes. In fact I was travelling and due to busy schedule could not come to ground or explain earlier. I won the prizes last year after competing with our members and you may recall, myself and Pushpa-ji gave small snacks party for the same. But on 10th I heard lot of discussion to bring in new rule to stop anyone winning more prizes, if any one win one prize he should not be allowed to take part in the other events, there should be two prizes for each event and then Mr Shekhawat as chairman mentioned last time some people walked away with multiple cups and medals... members who won the cups became "some people" and then another responsible member mentioned there was cheating last year. On one hand there was a guilty feeling as others have not won and on the other hand word of cheating caused huge humiliation. So I decided to return the cups and medal. If my act has hurt anyone, I am sorry but I feel any person with self respect will do the same thing.