Maha Thrilled!

Shekhawat's briefing on the Bangkok-Pattawah tour 

Shekhawat is thrilled to bits. Out of the blue, two tour operators have cropped up, offering him competitive rates in the region of Rs25,000 per head for a five-day trip to Bangkok-Pattaya (see post of September 10). The package covers to-and-fro air fare, four-night hotel stay (with breakfast), local travel, the usual sights like Alcazar Show, Coral Island trip, the Gold Buddha of Wat Traimit etc., visa assistance, travel insurance and the works.
The only rider is that this trip has to be scheduled after Diwali and before the Christmas holidays if we are to avail of the ‘off-season package’.
“With this kind of a deal, we are always in season!” exclaimed Yusuf Rassiwala, straightaway booking two tickets. Added Santosh Tyagi: “I am bringing my share of money tomorrow, but you will have to organize my passport in two months. Similar requests followed from Nahid Khan, Lakshmi and others. ”

Harish celebrates his birthday

On a rough count, Shekhawat listed “25 confirmed bookings” which included eight couples. Still, he went around excitedly asking all and sundry to join the tour without caring a whit about the exercises in session. The sight of him repeatedly breaking out to “pataao people for Patawah” (to quote Nahid) became a cause for constant amusement, even as time and again Yusuf sounded a warning: “Let us not invite outsiders, people we do not know or we are not comfortable with...”

Monthi Serrao

But who cared! Watching Shekhawat’s antics and consequent disruptions in the exercises, Arun Patil could not help remarking that it was all a “Patawah ka panga”. But it must also be said that nobody had seen Shekhawat so super-excited and happy in a very long time. His excitement percolated through the group and this euphoria should well take him through whatever discomfort he had been experiencing after his recent heart surgery.
Meanwhile, Harish Wadhwa ushered in his birthday with luddoos a day in advance, in keeping with his promise to Monthi Serrao. She is leaving for Mangalore tonight and clearly, he has taken a leaf out of her book (see post of September 6). Some people manage to extract the best out of others. Monthi is one such person. Her innate goodness has rubbed off on Harish.
We wish Monthi a safe and happy trip to Mangalore and back.
Jagmohan Papneja:
Warm and pleasant wishes to a loving, endearing, dependable, jovial and above all, a caring person like Harish-ji. You are a true friend in every possible way. Have a Happy Birthday.
Harish Wadhwa:
Thank you so much, my dear friends, to make the day special. Especially Papneja-ji for showering such good words for me. Not too sure if I actually deserve them. Thanks once again.