Unfinished Business

Geeta Sardana and her rakhi brother Srichand Arora had some unfinished business. Like many others who did not celebrate Raksha Bandhan yesterday (see post), they tied the sacred today with the attendant ceremony of lighting an oil lamp, feeding one another sweets and exchanging vows.
There was also talk of ill-positioned stars, a full moon and malevolent planets… some jiggery-pokery to explain away why the festival was inauspicious yesterday and auspicious today. It made no sense because of the two varieties of luddoos and barfi in circulation and we had a ball!
But the prelude to the ceremony was more fun. For, Geeta came wrapped in a beautiful turquoise sari and upon finding Arora in yesterday’s yellow striped T-shirt and shorts, sent him packing for a shower and change (check Harish Wadhwa’s comments yesterday). Arora’s protestations had fallen into deaf ears, but when he returned we were all dumbstruck. Nobody had seen Arora so smartly turned out in dark trousers, black-checkered shirt tucked in with black sports shoes and the club’s blue baseball cap perfectly matched.
Tara Chand had to take a dig, “Knicker aakhir mein untarwaa-hi lee!” but the rest complimented him for looking a “foreigner”. “Sala, main toh sahab ban gaya,” intoned Yusuf Rassiwala. That was when someone pointed out that Geeta was in last year’s ‘rakhi saree’ (which Geeta conceded). But how dare she get Arora to change the clothes he wore yesterday? the ladies demanded. “That time you jumped up and went away obediently to change,” Harbans Kaur cornered Arora. “Why didn’t you tell your sister then to also go home and change?”
Everybody laughed and the best part was Arora kept cracking jokes at himself. But once the ceremony began, he was a portrait of solemnity and earnestness, befitting the occasion. After tying him the rakhi, Geeta marked a red tika while seeking his blessings and he reciprocated with a gift-wrapped package as a mark of affection. This time nobody laughed.
Srichand Arora:
Hi, we are very close to another milestone. Another 500-odd and viewership would reach 2.5 lakh. Wow!
Jagmohan Papneja:
Arora-ji and Geeta-ji glorify the eternal bond of love shared between a brother and sister. People around watch them make Raksha Bandhan grand festival.
Harish Wadhwa:
Arora-ji, keep the blog hit aside and tell us how it felt coming to the Garden with a shower so early in the morning and sporting such decked up suit for the festival? How was the mithai and luddoos you so generously got, while we looked on open-mouthed? God bless you, you are a true gentleman at heart. Bhai-behen ki jodi hamesha bani rahe! As Papneja-ji rightly said, it was grand indeed.