Rules Revised

The MYSTERY MAN of Pehchaan Kaun

Upon repeated requests from members, the rules for the eighth edition of the Pehchaan Kaun contest (see post of July 14) have been relaxed. To enable easier identification of the person concerned, his original b&w (unedited) photo is featured alongside and everyone may submit as many entries he/she pleases, but only the last and final one will count. The winner will be declared from the all-correct entries (by a draw of lots, if required) 10 days from today, i.e. on August 2, 2013.
These conditions have been arrived at after discussions with all present in the Garden this morning. The idea was to raise the participation and involvement level among members and ensure a degree of fair play.

Today was Tian Serrao's birthday

Clearly, many members were finding it difficult to make an educated guess on the identity of the person in question and some had got to taking wild shots in the dark and regretting later. We have also been witness to hilarious incidents like Srichand Arora lifting the backs of everyone’s shirts (see post of July 17) in the desperate hope of spotting the tell-tale mole that might give away the person’s identity.

Significantly, six responses, one different from the other, have been received in the 10 days since the contest was announced. The funny part is that excepting one, nobody has got it right! The ‘suspects’ named so far are SITARAM HIVARKAR (by Arun Patil), VED PRAKASH GROVER (by Geeta Sardhana), TARA CHAND SETH (by Arora), HARISH WADHWA (by Ramila Mistry), RAM SHANKAR SHUKLA (by Harish) and SRICHAND ARORA (by Sunita Jajodia).

Happy birthday Yusuf-bhai

Hopefully, with this disclosure, some of the confusion has been removed.
Meanwhile, our hopes for luddoos from Ram Shankar Shukla (see yesterday’s post) went up in smoke as the man did not even turn up today. Tara Chand Seth was particularly inconsolable and went on cribbing during the exercises. Luckily Monthi Serrao stepped in with a box of Bengali sweets to celebrate her grandson, Tian’s birthday. Those were the rarest and the very best pieces of soft sandesh not easily available even in Kolkata. Now all of four years, Tian goes to school and for the once skipped his birthday celebration in the Garden.
It was Yusuf Rassiwala’s birthday also today. Like Tian, he too did not show up in the Garden this morning -- presumably because of the Ramzaan rituals at home. But we raised an extra laugh for him also in absentia after the exercises. Here’s wishing them both many happy returns of the day – with all the joy, goodness, love and laughter in the years ahead.
Harish Wadhwa:
* Happy Birthday, Tian. God bless you with a long and happy life. Ask Grandma to reserve a sweet and give it to Harish Uncle whenever she meets him next. Is it not unfair Harish Uncle didn't get his share, just because he wasn't present today?
* Well, for Pehchaan Kaun, I must say the 'mystery man' looks very handsome in this b&w pic. He looks like the famous writer, Munshi Premchand in his youth, but without his signature bush-mush!