Hotel Party

The question of celebrating members’ birthdays in hotels/ restaurants was jointly raised by Shekhawat and Arora soon after the exercises (right pic). It was explained that instead of celebrating every other day in the Garden, we might consider having just three parties (once every four months) in a year – but on a fairly lavish scale in a hotel/ restaurant and hosted jointly by those whose birthdays fall within that four-month period. This would not only minimize the frequency of parties but also improve social interaction beyond exercising and the Garden.
The proposal met with all-round approval, but for a couple of dissenting voices. Bapu Rane and Sitaram Hivarkar pointed out that with rising mehngai, lunch even in an ordinary restaurant does not come cheap and could be unaffordable for many. Shekhawat’s assurance that there was no compulsion on anyone did not cut any ice. Arora made a quick calculation for a guest list of about 50 with say, about 10 people footing the bill. “The Blue Waters buffet is around Rs450-odd today,” he informed. “That works out to a neat Rs2250 per head… which I am not in favour of. But if the majority agrees...” Since many members did not mind paying that kind of money once a year, it was decided to put the proposal to vote tomorrow morning. But soon, the ladies came up with a new problem. They said that in four months, they would have forgotten about their birthdays and the whole exercise would be self-defeating. “I say we should celebrate our birthdays the same day,” insisted Geeta Sardhana.
Mrs Harbans Singh (left pic) went a step ahead and declared that distributing food boxes or phapda-jalebi was a "waste of money" and needs to be stopped forthwith. Many agreed with her that “nobody ate that food” and it was ultimately given away to watchmen or dumped in the garbage. But then she had to be told that should anybody be anxious to “waste money” on his/her birthday, the Club cannot have anything to do with it – far less advice against distributing packaged garbage. In the end, Shekhawat’s suggestion held good: “Let's just distribute tofi”!
Renu Babani's PICSPEAK:
* "Hold on everyone, let me speak. Hear me out."
* Always smiling and enjoying the company around...
Harish Wadhwa:
Please keep celebrations simple and low-key. Celebrate as convenient to the birthday man/ woman. If someone wants to make it big, it is his/ her choice. We don't make any judgments based on how big/ lavish or simple the party is.