Soldiering On

Despite the drudgery, hostile weather and all good reasons to stay put at home, we are soldiering on at the Garden every morning. The exercises are conducted without fail, right on time, every day, regardless of the circumstances. The one break we remember ever taking was in 2008, during the 26/11 terrorist rampage in the city. The laughter round was suspended for a couple of days, but the exercises were conducted nonetheless.
Today was no different from yesterday, and the day-before… only that we have returned to our earlier stomping ground in the Garden – thanks to Srichand Arora reactivating the music system. (The electrical mains are accessible only from this point.) It is doubtless more sunny here and worse, there are armies of ants all over the place who seem attracted to the legs of lady members only. Our men apparently do not interest them. Gopvinita had a harrowing time warding them off, but with little success.
The ants are indicative of rains round the corner. This consolation, coupled with the soft devotional and semi-classical numbers playing on the music system, lulled the senses into believing that it was time well spent at the Garden after all.
Renu Babani says:
Looks like things are normal at the Garden and no more unexpected outbursts. I have been rather irregular these days owing to late nights; thus unable to get up. Shall try to get back to routine soon, but cannot promise. Mr Shekawat should be back soon and the event coming up at Blue Waters should be fun and things will go smoothly. The humidity and heat tend to get unbearable. So let's hope that we get some relief from this weather and the rains come soon.
--Renu
Srichand Arora says:
Wah! Renu-ji aapki awaaz mein toh bahut DUMMMMMM hai. Upar-wale ne aapki sunn li aur dekho baarish bhi de di. All are relieved of the unbearable heat. And let us hope that God sprays some showers regularly.
--Arora

Saved the Day

On a morning of mass absenteeism, ultimately, it had to be Srichand Arora (left) and Nahid Khan (right) who saved the day. Between them, they conducted the laughing and exercise rounds in relative silence while two-thirds of our members did the disappearing act. Among them, Santosh Tyagi, Razia Khan, Sunita Jajodia, Renu and Kishor Babani, Khatoon Baig, Gopvinita, Bhaswati Bose and Sandhya Narang were conspicuous by their absence. Were it not for Arora and Nahid Khan, chances were the morning would have been wasted for those who turned up.
Significantly, while regular members seem intent upon playing truant, the number of non-members or outsiders has been steadily rising. What appears odd also is that in a predominantly ladies’ club, the men are quite often in a majority. Today, as Mrs Harbans Singh pointed out, the numbers were once again tilted against women, six to seven. And this, despite the no-show by most of the male members.
The good news though is that Razia Khan (left) will be able to travel to Bangalore today as her sister has been showing signs of recovery since yesterday. Her condition in the ICU is said to be “stable, but not out-of-danger”. Razia has pressing engagements in Bangalore that she cannot possibly cancel, but she promises to be back by June 8 or 9.
The bad news this morning, particularly for those who frequent the neighboring Garden No 2, is that Mr Kotwal is no more. He was the manager there – an old hand and quite popular with some of our members. Yesterday, while on duty, he suffered a massive heart attack. He passed away on the spot – at the doorstep of his cabin.

Lasting Impact

Last Saturday’s tamasha (see post) seems to have left a lasting impact on the ladies of the Club. This was evident from the way they were all anxious to fill Monthi Serrao with the details when she reported to the Garden this morning (left) after her 20-day vacation at Mangalore. She had very graciously brought some mysur paaq for us and it would have been only appropriate to enquire about her wellbeing and allow her to narrate how she had enjoyed herself back home. Instead she was bombarded with a blow-by-blow account of all that had transpired with those upstarts of the Yoga Group – to the exclusion of all else that had happened in the past three weeks.
Significantly, some other ladies of the Yoga Group also joined in, mainly to side with us. It was clear that they differed with the views and attitude of their colleagues and from the way things were shaping up at their end, there could be a showdown soon.
Earlier, Razia Khan informed that she might have to cancel her Bangalore trip tomorrow as the condition of her sister has worsened (see post of May 25). At present she is on a ventilator. At the instance of Srichand Arora, we observed a one-minute silence, offering our prayers to the suffering lady.

Surface Tension

Belying all apprehensions, there was no fallout on the fireworks of last Saturday (see post). Everybody was quiet and peaceful, much as the tension in the air was palpable. A line has been drawn between “us” and “them” – the Laughing Club members and those of the Yoga Group. Some people, who belong to both the groups, are however, finding themselves in piquant situation.
Razia Khan is one such. Today, she formally handed over charge for organizing the Blue Waters party to Kishor Babani. She will be away for ten days at Bangalore from the day-after. Kishor-bhai will now have to continue the good work of collecting cash and finalising the restaurant booking for June 11.
Meanwhile, Ram Shankar Shukla (above, in white) celebrated his birthday today after the exercises. The birthday was actually yesterday, but since most members observe Sunday as a holiday, he decided to treat us to laddoos this morning. We wish him a happy and healthy life and many more birthday celebrations with us in the Garden.

PIC OF THE WEEK: 32

Oh boy! What's going on?

"This is how LAUGHTER is done! Let me see ANYONE competes with that."
--Anonymous

"Hands up in the air --
1... 2... 3...
And here we go --
Ho-Ho Ha-Ha..."
No one does it better than I. Anyone better, takes me out for coffee!
--Renu Babani