Eid ul-Fitr 2013

Sitaram Hivarkar greets Yusuf Rassiwala

We live in strange times. Just as one community completes a month of rigorous fasting and self-sacrifice, another community takes the plunge into a similar ritual of self-denial and abstinence. The month of Shravan forbids many good things of life, including wholesome food (with garlic and onions) and alcohol. And when these people are done, yet another community would step up and carry the baton forward… and so on, as though spiritual realization would come from all the self-inflicted deprivation and morbidity.
We however, choose to remain happy in the Garden and rejoice at all things positive. Ramzaan is over and we celebrated Eid ul-Fitr with the sighting of Yusuf Rassiwala early morning.

EID GREETINGS TO ALL!

Being jumme-ka-din (Friday), his appearance was all the more ‘auspicious’ – a fact not missed by anyone. So while we put him in the middle today, the exercises had to be interrupted repeatedly with several well-wishers greeting and exchanging bear hugs with him. Sitaram Hivarkar looked unusually pleased as he came grinning the moment he saw Yusuf-bhai from the Gate. Only Srichand Arora appeared disappointed.

Happy Birthday, Hari-bhai

He looked heavenwards, praying that his friend be blessed with the good sense of bringing shir sewain (a traditional Eid delicacy of vermicelli) for us in the Garden. Still, he did join us all, clapping and singing in chorus: “Eid Mubarak-Eid Mubarak, Waah!”
This festive spirit spilled into the post-exercise session with Ved Prakash Grover, for once, posing a ‘hair-splittling’ riddle in the form of a joke and Harbans Kaur getting it bang on. Bhaswati Bose chipped in with a typical Arun Patil-joke on altruism while Arora brought up the rear with a subtle dash of double entendre. Much of this was lost on Kiran Makhria and when she tried to slip away, Monthi Serrao called out, little realizing the humour behind her summons: “Why are you running away like Chennai Express?” A film by that name is this year’s Eid release.
Today happened to be Hari Naraiyani’s birthday also. We haven’t been seeing him in a while as he has stopped coming for the exercises in the Garden – presumably, due to domestic and age-related issues. Wherever he is and in whatever state he might be, this is to say that we do care and are concerned about his welfare. And as always, we all wish him many happy returns of the day!
Jagmohan Papneja:
India is known as a 'country of festivals'. Every region and religion has a festival to celebrate. The festivals reflect the culture and life-style of people and make the country come alive throughout the year. Eid Mubarak to all readers!
Srichand Arora:
Eid Mubarak to all Big Laaf members and our other friends.