Travails of Toothlesness - Part Two.

Travails of Toothlesness - Part Two.

I had written the blog series Travails of Toothlesness between August and November 2007. 

I was 58  then and had just last lost all my teeth with the extraction of the last tooth..

Even though I published the blog I was not very happy.

I have redone it and the revised edition of the 2007 Blog is being published now.

Original is retained and the link is

https://velusr.blogspot.com/2007/08/hi-every-body-some-rambling-thoughts-on.html

 Some rambling thoughts on the matter of teeth.

I have been thinking of writing this bit for quite a few days now, but somehow could not get my teeth into it to really start writing, pun intended!

Some people are good at public speaking and making speeches! To a large extent, their good voice contributes to it, along with that if they have a good tone, diction, modulation and delivery, public speaking becomes so much more effective. 

When all these, good voice, good tone, diction, modulation, delivery style get together the person becomes a very good orator and the listeners are held spellbound by the very quality of their sound. 

Of course, you can not talk bunkum and hope to keep the listeners interested or spellbound only because you have a good voice. Good subject and text of the speech are of course important!

It is God's gift. 

Though some claim public speaking can be learned and they have earned a lot of money by publishing books on "HOW TO" series on public speaking.

 As time passes and the person gets older one of the things that happen is his teeth become weak, they develop cavities and in general ache, ( toothache is something people can do without.) start falling or have gone beyond retrieval and have to be pulled out. 

Only old age may not be wholly responsible for the state of affairs as they may be the wages of very poor oral hygiene and trying to keep away from the toothbrush and the toothpaste, in younger days !!!!

 If extraction or falling of teeth happens to be front teeth, the first casualty is looks and the second SPEECH. 

The presence of front teeth is very very essential for pronunciations and articulating certain sounds, specifically associated with words having " S " or SH " in them. 

While speaking, when words with this sound are spoken, they do not come out correct. Escaping air from the gaps in the front teeth imparts a whistling sort of noise to your pronunciation rather than, the correct sound. 

This whistling sound while speaking is very embarrassing. 

Gradually you realise that there are many more such embarrassing moments involving many more sounds in addition to the words "S" and "SH". 

Needless to say with every component of good public speaking, good voice, good tone, good diction, modulation suffers. Your oratory is peppered with that whistling and other funny sounds and that does not impress the audience but becomes a cause of embarrassment for you.

Your excellent oratory is gone forever, along with your teeth.

This is nothing. 

More embarrassment of the worst kind imaginable is in store.

This embarrassment occurs very suddenly and takes you totally by surprise. 

It is the embarrassment of the listener getting some fine saliva spray through the gap left by missing front teeth in his face if you happen to get too close to the listener while earnestly emphasising a very serious point. 

At such moments you wish that the earth opens up and you vanish from the scene. At such times other than mumbling sorry making a hasty retreat.

I have been mortified when I lost some good listeners after they had the "salvia spray treatment". 

Travails of a toothless man.

TRAVAILS OF TOOTHLESSNESS - Part One.

I had written the blog series Travails of Toothlesness between August and November 2007 when I was 58 and had lost all my teeth.

Even though I published the blog I was not very happy.

This is redone and revised edition of the 2007 Blog

TRAVAILS OF TOOTHLESSNESS - Part One.

A man does a lot of foolish things in his younger days as he heads towards old age.

One of them is not following brushing of teeth after every meal or at least brushing one's teeth nicely and thoroughly once every morning.

One of the many foolish things I did was not follow these age-old wise words. 

After crossing the age of 50 odd years I frequently suffered from the most unpleasant malaise-tooth ache. Mere words simply can not express the feeling. One has to experience it to know what it is. 

During the inevitable visit to the Dental Centre a good looking dentist a lady- a fact which failed to cheer-checked me.

She told me that she was sorry my tooth was beyond recovery and had to go. I was sorrier. Wisdom tooth at that. It was extracted. Have been wondering about my reduced wisdom since:-)

Over the period of the next two to three years, my visits to the dentist lady became more frequent. The fact that she was very good looking had nothing to do with these visits. 

After every such visit, she said she was sorry and I lost another tooth.

Over the next few years, the lady dentist who had taken out quite a few teeth was posted out to be replaced by another equally personable lady dentist.

After lots of visits, the new dentist had also become very familiar with the geography of my teeth. She knew how many were removed, how many had cavities, how many were loose. After saying sorry about not being able to save it she also took out a few. 

By the time I was 58, during one of the visits she said "Sir, all the remaining teeth are also in bad shape. It would be better if we take out all and go in for dentures"

She also recommended pulling out all teeth in as few sittings as possible. 

The top as well as bottom, front & back, left and right in all, there were 13 teeth left. 

These were taken out over the next two to three months. 

Thus spread over a period of about eight years or so I had become a toothless man! 

In a way, it is a very good thing that the process of becoming toothless is spread over such a long time.

You see with every tooth you lose, there is a void, an empty space created in the mouth. The flesh of the cheek sinks in a little bit to fill that void. 

You get used to this little depression in your face over a period of a couple of months before you lose your next tooth. 

With each new extraction, another small depression is created and you get used to this little additional depression in your face over a period of a couple of months before you lose your next teeth. 

As cheeks move in to fill the void created by every extraction and you keep losing more and more teeth, the contours of your face are changing. 

The final change in the face and how you look takes place with the removal of the last tooth.

When this happens lower jaw moves much closer to the upper jaw due to the gap created due to the missing of all of THIRTY TWO teeth !!I

Your whole face changes. By and large, it assumes a 'collapsed look'. 

As the process of losing teeth is spread over a long period, the sight of a " collapsed" face does not come as a shock as you have been getting accustomed to the gradually collapsing face over a long period of time !I 

I have seen time delayed exposure photos of seed germinating, sprouting, growing to a little plant and to a big tree all within a few seconds on National Geographic Channel. 

I just wonder if anyone takes such portrait photos of a person with full 32 healthy teeth and the toothless state, I am sure it will look as astonishing as the photos of a seed turning into a big tree !!!!

Morning walk Vignettes - Good Morning the world.

 Morning walk Vignettes - Good Morning the world.

Bogeinvielle Beauties. Road divider plantations. My morning walk route. Consider myself lucky to view such beauties every morning!

Ernest request - Nagpur Municipal Corporation.

 Ernest request - Nagpur Municipal Corporation.

 This is an earnest request toNMC officials to re-educate their safaiwala saff about the ill effects of the burning of Garbage. Please let us stop this unhealthy habit.

What a wonderful evening!

 Veteran's evening at Vayusena Nagar.

In continuation of the Golden Jubilee year of 1971 war celebrations, AF veterans of Nagpur were invited by Air Officer Commanding-In-Chief and officers of Hq Maintenance Command for dinner at Officers Mess Vayusena Nagar, Nagpur.

It was almost after a gap of almost two years that we were visiting the officer's mess. Very happy. It felt like a homecoming. 

Infact Priti mentioned to her friend "अगदी माहेरी आल्या सारख वाटत". In English it means,

'feels like coming back to mother's home'. (a matter of great happiness for Indian ladies) 

At Officer's Mess, Veterans were individually received by senior officers of the command. At no stage during the entire evening, we felt neglected. 

The officer's mess was beautifully decorated with fairy lights and coloured lighting.

Brightly illuminated entry gate .

Colourfuly lit Officers Mess Building

Beautifully lit fountain and Offciers Mess gate.

Foyer had a grand looking huge rangoli. Passage pillars again had fairy lights. The crowning touch was interspersed between the pillars were waterfilled basins with layers of colourful flowers with a lighted lamp in the centre. unfortunately missed clicking one of these 

beauties :-(

All this was a testimony to great amount of planning and hard work put in by the ladies and the officers.   

Sitting arrangements were made in the lawn. Next to the stage was IAF band in attendance.  

Entertainment programme was well thought out with right balance between, IAF video, music, songs and IAF knowledge based quiz. The duration of the entertainment programme was very intelligently and thoughtfully decided. Young Sqn Ldr, a lady officer did an excellent job and carried out the job of MC with great aplomb. Unfortunately, I forget her name. My apologies.

Thoughtful of the average age of veterans soup was served by 2100 h.  By 2130 or so dinner was served in the dining hall. The first helping was buffet style thereafter we were served at the table. 

The menu was excellent and the food preparation was superb and very tasty. 

 

Dinner time.

Throughout the party, A O C in C, SAASO, SMSO and other senior officers were circulating amongst the guests. Each and every guest was well looked after throughout the party. This included even the dinner. The hosts themselves sat for dinner only after ensuring that each and every veteran was having his dinner. 

It was one of the rarest of the rare occasion I have seen while in my long retired life that the veterans were looked after so well throughout the evening. 

Not for one moment any of the veterans felt bored or neglected. 

The secret, I feel was excellent planning and time management.

About planning. 

Complete evening rolled on, right from reception to entertainment to dinner to bidding farewell went very smoothly and seamlessly like a very well oiled machine. No wonder! After all, it was a party at HQ Maintenance Command of the IAF!! 

 About time management. 

No planned item of the evening was either too short nor too long. It was short and sweet. Ideally suited for the veterans many of whom go to sleep fairly early or get tired too easily.

 

It was one of the best parties I have attended as a veteran at Officers Mess Vayusena Nagar. Hugely enjoyed the evening.

Big thanks to AOC IN C and Officers of HQ Maintenance Command.

Cycling - Morning Walk Vignettes.

Last week during my morning walk, an elderly gentleman on a cycle overtook me, I happen to have a look at the monogram on the rear mudguard of his cycle.

Logo on the rear mudguard of cycle.

I wanted to stop him and confirm my suspicion about the logo. However, with age processing speeds of my hard discs have become quite slow. By the time my brain processed the significance of visual input of the logo, the gentleman had gone beyond hailing distance. 

I kept him within my visual range.

Luckily he stopped to collect milk from one of the milk booths on my morning walk route. I was happy to be able to catch up with him. I was very happy that my suspicion about the logo had proved correct. I had thought the logo was that of Hercules Cycle and indeed it was a Hercules Cycle albeit a ladies Hercules cycle.  It was almost 50 years since I had laid eyes on Hercules brand of the cycle.

Took his permission and shot a few photos of his cycle. The owner is also seen in the top photo.

Hercules Ladies Cycle

Hercules Cycle

The sight of this cycle took me down memory lane by almost seventy years when as an eight-year-old I had learned cycling on our Hercules Cycle. In fact, Hercules was imported from England and it was the ONLY brand of cycle available in India.

My height was less. I could not reach the pedals sitting on the seat. I did what every smaller kid did those days. I learned to ride the cycle कैंची मारून (Scissor-style). As grew older and my height increased started cycling properly, seating on the seat! 

I think today's generation may not have any idea about कैंची मारून (Scissor-style) cycling, for them, this is what it looked like.

कैंची मारून (Scissor-style) cycling. 

This is not me :-)

Image courtesy internet.

My tryst with the cycle continued even as a Pilot Officer of the Indian Air Force at Poona, changed to Pune in 1978 when we pilot Officers had to cycle from No 2 Officers Mess to the Squadron for work. 

Along the way around the fifties, Atlas, a made in India cycle was introduced. Later in the late fifties, Hero cycles entered Indian Market. Gradually Hercules Cycles were seen less and less. Eventually, Hercules Cycles totally vanished not to be seen in the Indian market. 

It was almost after half a century that I had laid eyes upon a Hercules cycle and was happy for it.

Nagpur - Some thig good happening - Morning Walk Vignettes.

 As I had written earlier,

Quite a lot of my blogs are under the heading "Morning walk vignettes" because I like writing about good, bad, interesting or indifferent things I see along the route of the walk. 

I had written about very well maintained and beautiful looking road divider plantations in one of my blogs. The link to that blog is https://velusr.blogspot.com/2021/10/to-whomsoever-it-concerns-thanks-ton.html

A sore point has been an extremely sorry state of footpaths all along my morning walk route. As is my habit I had also written about that. Link : https://velusr.blogspot.com/2021/08/appeal-please-make-footpath-usable.html  

In August footpath looked like this

For the last few days, I noticed that concerned authorities have undertaken work to make the footpaths usable. 

This is what has happened to the footpath in the last 3-4 days. 

Workers have done an excellent job of cutting the weeds and wild plants from the footpath. They have also done well by removing all the cut vegetation from the site and cleaning up the whole area.

I am very happy that something good like visually delightful - beautifully trimmed road divider plantations and clean footpaths are happening in Nagpur.

Good show Nagpur Metro.

 

Metro always thinking of commuters.

In the initial construction secondary entrance was such that it did not offer protection from slanted rain or rain during strong winds.

Staircase open from both sides.

This has now been put right.

Staircase sides are now covered.

Well done Majhi Metro.

I personally think that "Majhi" is the correct spelling of माझी rather than "Mazi" which is currently being used. Of course when typed both these read माझी

बिट्या - कण्हेरि च्या बिया - Part II .

 बिट्या - कण्हेरि च्या बिया - Part II .Thevetia peruviana Seeds. - Morning walk vignettes.

 Quite a lot of my blogs are under the heading "Morning walk vignettes" because I like writing about good, bad, interesting or indifferent things I see along the route of the walk. 

Introduction to  बिट्या was covered in "बिट्या - कण्हेरि च्या बिया - Part I" to read it click here .

I had mentioned game of bittya was played by boys as well as girls.  here is how the girls played it.

Girls 

Girls played indoors on nicely swept smooth and level floors. 

Girls used to get together decide on the number of bittya to play with about a maximum of 10 or less.

All girls sat forming a rough circle. One of the girls, generally the girl in whose house the game was being held, started the play.

In the first move, Bittyas were thrown within the circle. 

A beginner did not know that this throw was of vital importance. The throw had to be such that bittya were not too scattered nor were they too close to each other. How important is this throw was soon learned by the beginner as she progressed in the game. Finally, it dawns on every girl that this first throw at the beginning of every round was important and your chances of a win or loss depended on how you throw them. The skill of a good throw came only with the experience of a few years of playing

In the first round, after the initial throw, one bitty was tossed up and while it was in the air the player had to pick up one bitty and catch the thrown up bitty before it fell to the ground. If the tossed up bitty fell to the ground before you have cleanly picked up 1 bitty from the ground or if you caught the tossed up bitty but failed to pick up 1 bitty cleanly from the ground you were out. If you cleanly picked up 1 bitty and also caught the tossed up bitty, you continue to play. The process of tossing up the bitty and collecting one bitty continued till all 10 bitties were picked up. If you successfully collect all the 10 bittys one by one, you progressed to the second round. 

In the second round after the initial throw, the game progresses exactly like the first round. The only difference is that in the second round instead of cleanly picking up 1 bitty you had to pick up 2 bittys. Again if you do not pick up 2 bittys cleanly and move or touch any other bitty you were out. If all goes well and you pick all 10 bittys were picked up.

I the same manner game continues with picking up 3 bittys in the third round. In this round, three bittys are picked up in the first three throws and the remaining 1 bitty in the fourth, ie last throw.

In the 4th round, 4 bittys have to be picked up in the first 2 throws and the remaining 2 bittys in the last throw. The game continues with picking up an increasing number of bittys till in the last round all the 10 bittys have to be picked up.  

If you successfully complete all the rounds and in the last round collect all the 10 bittys, amid cheers of fellow players, have won the game. 

Normally with the number of bittys as large as 10, generally no one won. The most popular figure for the game was around 5 or max 6. 

As the game progresses the importance of the initial throw dawns on a player after the second round. If they were too far apart collecting more than 2 bittys became difficult before the tossed up thrown bitty was on the way down and you had to catch it, 

Reaching and finishing the game by collecting all 10 bitties while abiding by all the restrictions was very very very difficult. Normally with the number of bittys as large as 10, generally no one won. Players rotated pretty fast and that is what kept the game extremely interesting and enjoyable.

I am sure even now the girls in far-flung rural areas play the game of bitty as an enjoyable pastime. 

TO WHOMSOEVER IT CONCERNS - THANKS A TON. Morning walk vignettes.

TO WHOMSOEVER IT CONCERNS - THANKS A TON. 

Morning walk vignettes.  

Quite a lot of my blogs are under the heading "Morning walk vignettes", because I like writing about good, bad, interesting or indifferent things I see along the route of the walk. 

It is always a pleasure to go for a vigorous walk in the early morning hours of dawn, just before and around sunrise timings. 

Nowadays pleasure of the morning walk has increased many folds due to the beautifully trimmed and thick growth of the road divider plantations on state highway 340 originating from hingna "T" point heading towards Dighori and further south of Nagpur.   

A visual delight - beautifully trimmed road divider plantation.

A visual delight - beautifully trimmed road divider plantation.

Due to heavy rains bougainvillaea plants on road dividers along the metro line from hingna "T" point to Subash Nagar Metro Station had grown to huge size and were spilling almost half to quarter of the road. It is nice and heartening to see that concerned authorities took prompt and timely action to trim the wild growth of bougainvillaea plants. 

Nicely trimmed bougainvillaea plants on road dividers along the metro line from hingna "T" point to Subash Nagar Metro Station 

Nicely trimmed bougainvillaea plants on road dividers along the metro line from hingna "T" point to Subash Nagar Metro Station 

I know now who is responsible for maintaining them. Is it NMC? Is it the Central Public works Department, Is it State Public Works Department or  Is it Nagpur Metro for the road dividers on the roads under the metro line?  

Hence this intriguing title of the blog.

Ignorance of this information is the reason for this enigmatic title of the blog'

 

बिट्या - Part I . Morning walk vignettes.

 बिट्या - Part I . Morning walk vignettes.

 बिट्या - कण्हेरि च्या बिया - Thevetia peruviana Seeds  are called   बिट्या (Bittya)-  

 Quite a lot of my blogs are under the heading "Morning walk vignettes" because I like writing about good, bad, interesting or indifferent things I see along the route of the walk. 

Along the route, there is a पिवळ्या कण्हेरीच  झाड (Thevetia peruviana plant).  

Even though in that locality I had written about and taken photos of various plants in bloom. I was never really interested in this tree as early in the morning the flowers were not fully open, all droopy and sad looking. Never paid it no mind.

Early morning droopy and sad looking flowers and कण्हेरीच  झाड (Thevetia peruviana plant).

This morning as was passing this Kanher plant (कान्हेरीच  झाड) I saw a nice big seed pod of this Kanher (कण्हेर).

Nice big seed pod of Kanher plant (कान्हेरीच  झाड)

My feet got rooted to the spot. I was transported 70 odd years back when I was around 

8 - 10 years old. Looked around on the ground and found a couple of seed pods that had almost shaded the skin. Removed the pod skin, Wiped and cleaned the seeds. 

Lo and behold.

I was holding two nice बिट्या (Bittya) in my hand. Those days and I am sure even these days the Kanher seed are still called बिट्या (Bittya).

बिट्या - (Thevetia peruviana Seeds)

In my childhood days (8 -10 years old), these bittyas had given countless children immense pleasure in rural India by being one of the few things children used to play games with. 

Boys and girls both used these bittyas in their games. 

Game girls played will be in बिट्या - कण्हेरि च्या बिया - Part II.

Boys.

This game was an outdoor game. More often than not under the blazing sun bare feet in the dusty lanes of our neighbourhood.

We Had a group of 4 to 6 friends. Each had a good horde of around 50 plus bittyas.

To start the game a kitty was formed by contribution from each player. It used to be 2- 4 bittya per player. So we had a minimum of 8 or a maximum of 24 bittyas.

Lines were drawn. 

 All the bittyas in the common pool were given to the boy who had to start the game. he had to stand behind one line and toss the bittyas so that all the bittyas were beyond a predetermined distance where the second line was drawn. All other playes would nominate one of the bitties which the player had to hit by his own bitty. Bitty selected as a target was the furthest or most difficult to aim at and hit. 

The player took out his special bitty used as a striker to hit bitty signalled out as a target.. 

This striker bitty was no ordinary bitty. It was the biggest and the heaviest bitty in his collection and hoard of bittya. 

Each player generally had a minimum of at least two or three such "striker bittya". These were treated, looked after and cared for as if these striker bittya were a priceless treasure which at that age they indeed were.

Now standing behind the line, the player took careful aim with his striker bitty and lat go at the target. If he missed, he was given another chance. The number of chances allowed were generally three. If the player missed hitting the target in all three chances, he had to make way for the next player to try his luck. 

If his aim was true and he hit the target he won all the bittys in the pool. Another pool was then formed by contributions as at the beginning of the game. 

After all these years the game does not sound exciting. 

But when we played it as 8 - 10 years old we played it with real passion as if it was a matter of life and death.

We played it with wild abundance as if there was no tomorrow.

 We had no worries then. Lived for the moment. Never thought about tomorrow. We were the happiest kids playing our game of bittyas under the scorching sun, barefoot in the dusty lanes of our village.

Unique worshippers of Nagpur.

Unique worshippers of Nagpur.

India has a tradition of offering flowers among various other things to Gods during every ritual or Puja. 

We did not have a garden in our house from where we could get a supply of flowers for our daily puja. So to get a regular supply of flowers, I remember like a milkman who every morning delivered milk we also had a 'flower man' who delivered a small packet of flowers (फुलांची पुडी). Almost everyone who did not have their own flowers had a 'flower man' to meet their flower requirements for puja.

All along the morning walk route, there are houses. Some consist of four-floor buildings of flats. There are, even today some independent bungalows. Almost each and every house has some sort of garden maintained either by the bungalow owners or ground floor tenants of these flats. Each and every garden has a flower bed and flowering plants/Trees growing along with the boundary wall/fencing. In most of the houses, these flowering plants/trees have grown quite big and their branches spill over a bit outside the boundary wall. When in full bloom these flowers in these houses give pleasure not only to the residents but also to the general public passing along the road.   

Over the years, during my morning walk, I have noticed people who are also on their morning with small bags. Their eyes are constantly roving over the houses along the road. The moment they espy the flowers they make a beeline for the flowering plant. Pluck the flowers put them in their bags, almost stripping the plant of all its flowers, all without the permission of the house/ garden owner. Then they go in search of the next target. 

These gentlemen and ladies appear senior citizens or in their 40ties or 5oties. Either retired or from well to do families. They appear to be affluent enough to afford the few rupees needed to pay for the flowers required for the puja. 

Unique worshippers of Nagpur.

These worshipers of God do not use flowers from their own gardens nor do they buy them from the market but they use flowers purloined from the private gardens of neighbourhood   SO, I decided to call them

Unique worshippers of Nagpur.

  

What drives them to do such a thing has always baffled me.  

Official Apathy - Locked doors of Swami Vivekananda Museum.

 Locked doors of Swami Vivekananda  Museum.

AT

Swami Vivekananda Memorial.

Swami Vivekananda memorial situated at overflow point of Ambazari lake was inaugurated on 1 January 2017.

This magnificent 21 feet tall bronze statue of Swami Vivekanand is installed on a 30-foot pedestal, making for a total height of 51 feet. 

A large hall below the pedestal was to hold Swami Vivekanand Museum depicting the life, achievements and philosophy of Swami Vivekanand by the medium of bass reliefs, paintings and interactive computer stations. 

The complete project was constructed on manmade rock and surrounded by fortified circular walkways around which flows the overflow waters of Ambazarl lake. 

The memorial has become a major attraction of tourists as well as local residents. Especially in the evening with the setting sun as a background, Swami Vivekanand Memorial presents a beautiful unforgettable scene.

Initially, no entry fee was charged. Some time back an entry fee of Rs 10/- per head was introduced.  

Unfortunately, every time I have visited the memorial I have not been able to see the Museum as every time I found that the museum doors were locked.

During the recent visit, I finally accosted the security guard on duty. He informed me that the museum is locked as EVERY thing inside the museum is broken and is not in working condition.

He further informed me that MNC officials are very well aware of it but no action has been taken to put matters right.

After spending crores of taxpayers money in creating the memorial and the museum it is shameful on the part of the concerned officials not to maintain the museum and to deprive the visitors of seeing the museum.  

The apathy and could not care less attitude of the concerned officials is beyond understanding.

Ever seen a car registration number plate in colour GREEN.

 Ever seen a car registration number plate in the colour GREEN.

I  had never seen it. saw it today.

Intrigued by never before seen registration plate in this colour decided to find out.

 A youngster was occupying the driver's seat.

 He informed me that the car was an electric vehicle. 

As per the latest RTO rules, all electrical vehicles were supposed to have a registration number plate of green colour.

 Seems to be one of the latest in RTO reforms.

 Learnt something new today.

A group deserving appreciation.

A group Deserving appreciation.

During my morning walk, I always pass Hingna T point. 

Almost every day I see a group of senior citizens carrying out PT exercises (Physical Training),  the likes of which I did every day during training days and few times in a week as officers while in the air force.  At times  I paused in my walk and observed them for a while.

SORRY! 

(Due to tech hitch video not playing. 

Please use the link below to see the video.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAXSkxtmPFU

One of the senior citizens had assumed the charge. He named the next exercise and started counting from 1 to 10 and then backwards from 10 to1. On each count, the next move of the exercise is executed. 

I have not stayed to see them do the full routine. However, there are times when I am a bit late or when I do an extra round and see them for the second time I have a fair idea that they do these exercises for about 30 to 45 minutes. 

They do one exercise which we never ever did. That is "laughter exercise". On the command, all of them let out a full-throated bellow of 

HA! HA!! HA!!! HEE! HEE!! HEE!!! HO! HO!! HO!!!

In the airforce, we had a lot of fun but just can not imagine us breaking out HA HA HEE HEE HO HO on the PT or parade ground :-)

It is amusing to see them doing the exercises. Where the spine arms and knees are supposed to be ramrod straight, they are bending by various degrees or are not bending to the required angle depending on the general elasticity of their body or degree of arthritis. 

These worthies were not worried about that. They were together with similar-minded friends, in the open air doing exercises in the fresh morning atmosphere.

They were not only defying their infirmities due to their age but also negativity due to the covid pandemic.

They were enjoying life and doing the best they could.

When I had seen them for the first time, spontaneously what I thought was,

  कौतुक करण्या सारखा ग्रुप 

A group deserving appreciation.

("appreciation." closest English word I found to कौतुक)  

 

This Is for our friend - Sqn Ldr (Dr) Ravi Harish Wankhede.

Dear Ravi, 

You have posted quite a few photos and videos of, Metro, Metro and the rainbow, Metro and beautiful colourful skies. 

Here is something in reverse from us 

Harsh Vardhan - As seen from the Metro. 

Harsh Vardhan - As seen from the Metro.  

Harsh Vardhan - As seen from the Metro. 

 

THEN and NOW

 

THEN - 29 May 2017

 

 NOW - 18 August 2021.

  

The Collage..