Midweek Merriment

Bapu Rane (right) walked into the Garden with a spring in his step. From a distance he looked like some master blaster, making wild sweeps in the air from an invisible cricket bat. By the time he took his position in the circle for the exercises, his stance had changed to a butcher executing ferocious chops. “Dho dala!” he declared.
Rane’s sense of jubilation obviously stemmed from India walloping Sri Lanka yesterday to qualify for a berth in the final of the current cricket tri-series in Australia. However, as Tara Chand cautioned, it is still premature to celebrate as India could well be dislodged if Sri Lanka were to defeat the Australians on Friday. A diehard cricketing optimist, Rane continued to display his trademark toothless grin long after the exercises were over.

The return of Renu and Kishor Babani from a whirlwind tour of northern India (left) was another highpoint of the morning. Both appeared cheerful and rejuvenated, even as the former is yet to get rid of an obstinate frog in her throat. While she kept coughing, Kishor happily circulated the photographs from their trip. There was prasad also from the Golden Temple of Amritsar and of course, sweets for the Club which the Babanis religiously bring back every time they have to go out of Mumbai.
But more than all these niceties, the best part was that there was music once again at the Garden. There were the jokes also and the spontaneous outbursts of laughter. And the morning rendezvous at the chai shop, with Kishor playing master of ceremonies as usual. It’s amazing how one couple can make such a big difference to the Club.
Welcome back, Kishor and Renu Babani.
Harish Wadhwa:
Kishor-da, nice to see you back with your daily joke-ka-dose. I was missing both of you at the Garden and chai. Thanks for the holy prasad from the Golden Temple.
Renu Babani's PICSPEAK:
* "Hum Hai Hindustani, jeet jayenge hum!"
* "I better keep mum, because no sooner I open my mouth than the frog in my throat will take its chance!"
[Great to be back after the tour. We received a warm welcome from everyone, making us realise how important each one of us are as a family.]