Agony After Ecstasy

Impromptu dance performance by Kiran Makharia

A fun-filled morning -- marked by loads of luddoos, laughter and song and dance -- came to an abrupt end with a freak accident. Kiran Makharia, whose birthday it was, slipped and fell at the Garden gate, sustaining grievous injuries and had to be rushed home in a critical condition.
Ramila Mistry also celebrated her birthday today while Sushma Gupta, fresh from a summer trip to the U.S., distributed a boxful of assorted sweets. Ramila was away at Indore when her birthday passed us by on August 6, and she more than made up for her absence with huge chocolate bars this morning. There was also prasad in circulation from the Shirdi Sai Baba temple, courtesy a Sindhi couple who has taken a special liking towards our members.
But then, it had to be Kiran Makharia’s day all the way. She could not be present for yesterday's Independence Day celebrations and had said she would come prepared today with luddoos and some peppy Rajasthani folk and Bengali songs as a special birthday treat for us. However, at the sight of so many people gathered to hear her, she developed cold feet – more so, after elders like Tara Chand and Shekhawat insisted that they had come to hear her and would not budge till she sang a couple of lines at least.

Assorted sweets from Sushma Gupta

Chocolate bars from Ramila Mistry

Finally, she settled for some nimble-footed dance moves with Shekhawat providing the musical score with his coarse, clear-throated, rustic singing.
It was all very spontaneous and entertaining, before disaster struck as Kiran made her way out. She fell with a thud and lay sprawled on the ground, having slipped on the slime that had collected because of the rains. She was in obvious agony and could scarcely move on her own. Some ladies helped her to a chair and it turned out that she had badly twisted her left forearm. It could be a sprain, a fracture, bone dislocation, or… but before anybody could guess, Harish Wadhwa picked up her car keys and with Bhaswati Bose, Harbans Kaur and Monthi Serrao escorting her, drove Kiran home.
More than the pain, it was the shock and sheer helplessness that had rendered her completely disoriented.
Srichand Arora:
Happy Birthday, Kiran-ji. I hope you feel better soon. A special prayer is sent for you that God will make you heart and healthy. Thanks for your delicious luddoos. Also, thanks to Ramila-ji and Sushma-ji for the lovely chocolates and assorted sweets respectively.
Harish Wadhwa:
I wish the last incident of her slipping had not happened. All the fun, luddoos, dances, etc. went for a toss. Anyway, wish you a very Happy Birthday and may you recover fast.