Gudi Padwa 2014

Dilip Babani celebrates with puran-poli on Gudi Padwa

Another auspicious day – Gudi Padwa, the Maharashtrian new year. Legend has it that on this day Lord Brahma had created the universe and all clocks everywhere went tick-tock from that point on. (Don’t ask who invented the clock). The day also marks the coronation of Lord Ram in Ayodhya after completing 14 years in exile and dispatching Ravana to his maker.
The day is associated with many such dramatic events, but for us today, it was a total washout.

HAPPY GUDI PADWA

The only Maharashtrian in the Club, Sitaram Hivarkar was nowhere to be seen. So, all those who woke up early and endured the exercises in the pious hope that Sitaram would appear and reward them with sweets (as in previous years), had to return home disappointed.

Why Hanuman must have been a sardar

The Badmaash Company though got lucky. Dilip Babani took pity on the group at the tea stall and treated everyone to puran poli, the traditional Maharashtrian delicacy served on Gudi Padwa day. Along with hot tea, this was exactly what Lord Brahma and Lord Ram (and all other gods) would have ordered.
Earlier, at the Garden, Yusuf Rassiwala celebrated Gudi Padwa by showing up in a brand new aquamarine T-shirt and Bihari Milwani discarding his white kurta-pajama, sported a striped yellow T-shirt and blue jeans for the first time. Srichand Arora was also in smart blue-and-red festive gear and with jokes flying thick and fast, it was not really such a dull morning at the Garden.
The funniest part was the explanation we got for Lord Ram’s trusted lieutenant, Hanuman not being a Muslim -- as is often speculated. He had to be a "sardar monkey". After all, who else would, for the sake of another’s wife, burn down someone else's house? Hanuman did that. Happy Gudi Padwa, everybody!

Day 1246

Pic of the Week

HAI MERA DIL! Is this how a cat is taught to exercise?

Jagmohan Papneja:
The purity of a person's heart can be quickly measured by how he / she treats cats.
Suvarna Sanyal:
And the purity of a person's soul can be quickly measured by how he / she regards dogs.
Harish Wadhwa:
Cats, dogs or non-animal... Grover sa'ab is kind-hearted towards one and all.

Ullu Party

Nahid Khan

After yesterday's 'penalty' fiasco, Nahid Khan pulled another fast one by announcing (during the exercises) that she would like to throw a lavish party next week, on Tuesday. Always in search of such opportunities, Srichand Arora immediately demanded that it should not be restricted to luddoos and pedas and phaphda-jalebi, but must include much more.
“Whatever you say,” Nahid replied coyly.
Many politely asked what the occasion was, because it cannot be her birthday. Others wondered aloud if it could be one of her children’s or grandchildren’s birthday. “That’s a secret,” Nahid smiled.
But the way she said it made Ved Prakash Grover smell a rat. He quietly observed her and kept exercising while the rest joked that maybe, Nahid had won a lottery or perhaps, landed a cargo of gold bars somewhere on Mumbai’s coastline…

Made fools before our time!

After all, she is not the ‘Don of the Club’ for nothing. There must have been some windfall somewhere.
Then the nickel dropped. “Tuesday is the first of April!” Grover declared, his right hand raised like an umpire declaring Srinivasan out.
Instantly, 18 mouths fell as we all looked at one another foolishly. Nahid had tricked us into being April fools even before April 1. “How was I to know that all of you can be made such big ullus so easily?” she said half apologetically.

Khatoon Baig

“Don’t worry, I shall throw a bigger party on Tuesday,” Santosh Tyagi quickly chipped in, apparently to present a face-saver. But who was to believe her? In fact, who would believe anybody now? Jagmohan Papneja also offered to host a party. And Srichand Arora. And Geeta Sardana. And Razia Khan… All of a sudden, it started raining parties -- all scheduled for Tuesday, April 1.
Among the many ‘generous’ offers, only one bore a ring of truth. Khatoon Baig went around frantically, tapping each person on the shoulder with the assurance that she “genuinely” wants to treat the Club on April 1. “What is the opposite of fool?” she asked quizzically. “I want to give a wise people’s party on April 1.” Time will tell how wise we are – after being bitten once.
Jagmohan Papneja:
Not every flower can represent love; but rose does. Not every tree can thirst; but cactus does. Not everyone can make April Fool on 29th of March; but Nahid-ji could...

Late-coming Penalty

Qadir Bano

“Penalty!” Nahid Khan exclaimed in her drill sergeant voice.
Qadir Bano shuffled self-consciously before taking her place for the exercises. She has been a habitual late-comer and knew well that Nahid’s stern remark was directed at her. But being a painfully shy person, she pretended not to hear. She wouldn't get into a confrontation with anybody even if her life depended on it.
So Arora spelt it out for her: “Whoever comes late in future, will have to treat everybody in the circle to sweets. If you are to be late tomorrow also, be sure to bring 30 pedas!” Qadir shook her head obediently.
Next was Arora’s old friend, Bihari Milwani. Arora straightaway demanded 40 luddoos and as expected, he agreed with a smile.

Srichand Arora conducts today's exercises

Then came Bhaswati Bose’s turn. Arora thought for a while, but Qadir had turned surprisingly vociferous by then and insisted that the penalty be raised to 50 because Bhaswati had come later than all other late comers. “Okay, you bring 50 samosas tomorrow,” Arora directed.
Completely taken off-guard and with no clue about what was going on, Bhaswati’s instinctive reaction was, “Why 50? I cannot eat more than two samosas!”
Now pedas were covered, and luddoos and samosas… What next?

Monthi Serrao

Arora quickly realized he was squeezing himself into an inextricable situation and turned to correcting people on the way they exercised. Willy-nilly he had to target Nafisa Sayyad who has a hilarious track record for defying Arora. When told to look up, she’d look down; when she is supposed to turn left, she’d do the opposite; when told to inhale deeply she’d simply walk away… And sure enough, when Arora’s back was turned, she passed a cheeky remark: “He should first take care of himself before telling others how to exercise. Look at the sep of his belly!”
Arora heard her. Monthi Serrao showed up at that moment and on public demand, Arora had to deal with her late-coming first. “What will you bring tomorrow?” he blurted out. Not knowing the reason for this odd question, Monthi grinned from ear to ear: “Tomorrow? I’ll bring the receipt book!”
Now, what can you say to this? Arora gave up. And that brought an end to the late-coming penalty.
Harish Wadhwa:
A befitting answer by Monthi-ji to bring the penalty business to rest. I am sure anyone would be rendered speechless by such a witty statement.
Jagmohan Papneja:
In the photograph showing four members exercising, a lady in the background sitting on a bench is also captured. She is wearing a burqa and hiding her face -- thus making identification very difficult. Can you recognize her the next time?

Doctors All

Prakash Motwani

Amid all the fun and games in the Club, there are times when we would appear as a bunch of hypochondriacs. Diabetes, BP, backache, viral fever, joints problem, etc. have now become regular buzzwords. We talk of Prakash Motwani who does not know whether it’s his ears or lungs (or both) that’s bothering him (nor do his doctors!) for a year. We also sympathise with Ramila Mistry’s knees. We discuss Hari Naraiyani whose tabiyat is always 'naram'. Today Sunita Jajodia informed that Shekhawat too is unwell in his village in Rajasthan and that his wife’s condition is even worse.

'Doctors' in a huddle?

True, advancing age has a debilitating effect on the body. But there are many like Srichand Arora, Harbans Kaur and Ruksana Khan who are known to stoically grin and bear their pain, no matter how severe it might be. The upshot of this is we have all become repositories of medical knowledge by default which would put many qualified doctors to shame. So the moment someone is struck by an affliction, there would be an avalanche of unsolicited advice from members, each eager to help: Take this tablet, chew on garlic or ginger, apply fomentation, try warm milk with turmeric and gargle, drink three pegs of whiskey neat and don’t feel guilty...

Sunita Jajodia

Some like Jagmohan Papneja would have the names of all specialist doctors on their fingertips. Harish Wadhwa knows the names of medicines and even their spellings. Talk of a cholesterol or heart problem and your best bet should be Sunita. A diabetes or orthopedic issue? Consult Arun Patil. Want to straighten an unscrupulous doctor? Arora has the solution. He is capable of bribing a hospital to extract a ‘fitness certificate’ for someone on a wheelchair with both legs suspended!
This morning, Santosh Tyagi was to come up with the ‘joke of the day’ – though in absentia. Some time back, she created a huge scare when a cursory check-up in the Garden revealed that her BP had shot to an alarming level. Back home, she underwent a battery of tests, including ECG and 2D Echo and with timely medication, she has come out fine and is now back to normal. But Santosh is disappointed. She obviously expected something ‘dramatic’ to emerge from the tests. “What is the point of spending so much money when nothing has come out?” Sunita Jajodia quoted Santosh as saying!
Jagmohan Papneja:
Aging is a biological process and beyond our control. While this puts us at greater risk on health issues, many older adults can be victims of claims that certain supplements can solve their age-related problems.

Reducing Radius

JOKEY WOKEY: Watch out Sitaram wants to hit someone!

With each passing day, the radius of our exercise circle keeps shrinking as there were only three of us to start the exercises this morning and later, Geeta Sardana joined in to inform that ‘Ungli Master’ Mutthuswamy has had to cut off a few of his toes because of an acute diabetes condition and Nahid Khan agreed to conduct the day’s proceedings even as she would rather quietly enjoy the music playing in the middle when Srichand Arora, who is trying to grow a French beard, suddenly caught sight of his dark green T-shirt rapidly going away on the back of a young, shapely woman on the walking track and asked Jagmohan Papneja’s help if he could please procure a similar dark green T-shirt from a market in Malad should he be going that side by bus

Dilip Babani has paid his club subscription

because there was no place for car parking in that area but there was some confusion with Nahid correcting them on the bus number when Mumtaz Jahan showed up in style to place her bag in the middle and perform her own exercise, totally independent of the sequence of exercises in progress, thereby provoking Arora to pull her up for never ever wearing the club cap and defying the club rules but she ignored him and joyfully announced that she would be away in Delhi from tomorrow, which was another way of saying that she couldn’t care a damn about the cap and everybody kept quiet till the exercises got over and after Sitaram Hivarkar conducted the prayers, Bhaswati Bose came up with yet another elephant joke and then Dilip Babani made Monthi Serrao richer by paying in advance his membership renewal fees for the next year only to set tongues wagging over what, if ever, is going to happen to the money being collected, now that all of us are already old and would only be getting older by the day and that we will all die one by one and in the end all the money in the club kitty shall be inherited, most likely by youngest surviving member among us, who will celebrate in the Garden with wild abandon, merrily dancing and clapping to ‘Ho-Ho, Ha-Ha’ while the rest of us would watch silently from above, sucking our stupid thumbs!
Srichand Arora:
This is fantastic. Such a big sentence of more than 400 words and not one full stop! This is really an achievement of our BLOG MONSTER. We, the members of Big Laaf are really proud of you, dear.
Jagmohan Papneja:
Wow, Blog owner, what an outstanding piece of writing! First, may I commend you on your remarkable pursuit and I wish you well on such tremendous writing -- without a single full stop. You are an amazing writer. I love to read your posts.
Harish Wadhwa:
Well, this one is a really complex and big paragraph but beautifully linked with prepositions, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, gerunds... I too am your fan, Blog Monster. (Tussi great ho, par tofa nahin doonga! LOL) But I was reminded of Breathless, in which Shankar Mahadevan sang the song (as if) in one breath. This is a nice sentence personifying the art of good writing and command over the language.

Solar Power

The Solar Photovoltaic Plant in the Garden

Prabhu Nanjiani demonstrates how solar power is generated

Little known to many, we have a small, fully operational solar power station in the Garden that takes care of its lighting and illumination needs, night after night. Tucked away discreetly close to the China Hut, it has the capacity to generate enough electricity to feed the scores of lights lining the garden, two floodlights and even the equipment used by doctors in the health care unit.
“On a good sunny day, the photovoltaic plant has a capacity to generate 4kw of electricity,” said Prabhu Nanjiani, the main architect of the project. “This is more than adequate at meeting the Garden’s daily needs. On a bad day with persistent cloud cover or heavy rainfall leading to a drop in generation capacity, the system switches to the power grid automatically to make up for the shortfall. Our power bills are now a fraction of what we were spending earlier.”
Set up with an investment of Rs10,00,000 (from the Celebration Club), the plant is connected to a strategically aligned solar panel installed on the roof of a cabin. The plant itself is a compact compartment cramped with dangling wires and large cables snaking around an array of red-and-white batteries while a grey inverter keeps blinking silently in one corner. “Within two years, we should recover our costs (by way of savings) and become self-sustaining,” informed Nanjiani, who is an old hand at energy conservation from the days he worked with the Essar group.
Both Nanjiani and Jagmohan Papneja were all praise for the “vision and dynamism” of the Celebration Club management and in particular, secretary Hemant Nair who has made the project possible. “If nothing, this should at least spread awareness on harnessing solar power and the need for energy conservation in our day-to-day lives,” added Nanjiani.
We owe it to this self-effacing environment warrior for cutting our carbon footprint and turning the Garden into a greener and happier place for us to exercise.
Jagmohan Papneja:
With the trend of falling prices of solar panels, this becomes the first choice for alternate energy. Because of its cost- advantage, the disadvantages can be easily overlooked.
Harish Wadhwa:
Good, bold and a welcome initiative for harnessing solar power to light up the Garden. I think it can stay open for a longer time now during the evenings for benefit of all.

Listless Monday

Arora leads the group out of the Garden

Another dull and uneventful Monday morning -- though partly due to Hari Singh Shekhawat’s absence. He has lost his brother. No sooner did he get the news yesterday than he booked the first available flight to Jaipur and together with his wife, had left around noon to attend the cremation.

BEREAVED: Shekhawat

He will be back after a fortnight – after observing the mandatory 13 days of mourning.
Even otherwise, these are bad times for the Club. Several members have reported sick owing to the change of season and sharp fluctuations in morning temperatures. Many are down with viral fever and suffering from breathing problems and chest congestion. These are common issues in Mumbai every year around this time. But since no one is getting any younger and as we become increasingly vulnerable, health concerns can only mount.
The other important reason for the general state of listlessness is that there is nothing major to look forward in the near future. Usually, when there is an event round the corner – some celebration, a picnic, awards... or like last week, the Holi festivity, all members become charged automatically. Everybody gets infused with renewed energy, which shows in the heavy turnout and the overall exuberance during the exercises. As of now, sadly, no such event is in the offing.
Jagmohan Papneja:
I am sorry to note the demise of Shekhawat-ji's brother. He has my deepest sympathies. My thoughts and prayer are with him. God Bless.
Harish Wadhwa:
My deepest condolences for your brother, Shekhawat-ji. May you get strength to bear the loss.

Day 1239

Pic of the Week

CAUGHT IN A CRIMSON STORM... SIX DAYS BACK

Jagmohan Papneja:
The amount of color in the air and to capture a scene like this on camera is incredible!
Dilip Babani:
Lovely photo. Nice fun.
Harish Wadhwa:
Just wondering what Razia-ji has written on her forehead? Someone who seems to have enjoyed Holi the most is Papneja-ji, flanked by some equally enthusiastic women.

Class Monitor?

Santosh Tyagi

Ved Prakash Grover

In a telling throwback to the bad old days of school, an attempt was made today to install a ‘class monitor’ to rein in recalcitrant members (see yesterday’s post) during the exercises. “I propose Ved Prakash Grover’s name as class monitor,” Srichand Arora said this morning. “His job shall be to enforce discipline and take all disobedient members to task… even fining them if necessary.”
Expectedly, Grover tried to deflect the responsibility to “someone else”, although he was not altogether reluctant. Shekhawat became an obvious choice (because of his seniority), but Arora vetoed it down "because Shekhawat and Bhaswati Bose will be the biggest rule breakers” and cannot be relied upon for enforcing discipline.
Meanwhile, Santosh Tyagi’s name came up, but the moment she threatened to “bring a wooden ruler from tomorrow” and hit anybody who talks out of turn, everybody developed cold feet. Who wants to be hit on the bum with a ruler in the evening of their life? That too by a woman, however well-meaning she might be!

Sunita claims her receipt as the first to pay her subscription 

There was also the question of whether we should have one monitor or two – a lady to discipline the female members and a male to discipline the men. Both Grover and Santosh were found eminently suitable because of the love and respect they command and an impeccable record of being the most regular and punctual. But somehow, the general feeling was one monitor was bad enough, so why invite two? Ideally we should go for a toss of a coin to decide between Santosh and Grover. All this while Shekhawat, Razia Khan, Sunita Jajodia and other chronic chatterboxes stayed unusually subdued, watching as mute spectators.
Incidentally Sunita created history of sorts by being the first to pay her membership renewal fees for 2014-15, a clear one week in advance. Not to be left far behind, Arora instantly followed suit. So the collections of subscriptions have begun. But what’s to be noted was the eagerness of all members to pay up without being asked… and that too, in advance for a full year!
This clearly proves one thing: The pride and joy of 'belonging' to the Big Laaf club only grows with time.
Jagmohan Papneja:
I think the logical conclusion is that no matter how intelligent a strategy is, it means nothing if it can't be executed.

SOH in Action

Jagmohan Papneja narrates conversation with English God

What amuses whom and when, nobody can say. Even an everyday situation can take on a humorous colour and suddenly become a major talking point while exercising. Before long, the entire group gets drawn into the discussion and as Srichand Arora and Ved Prakash Grover would say, the ‘exercises be damned’!
Something like this happened today when an obese lady (we’ve been seeing her every day) on the walking track caught the fancy of a few members. The other day, a similar situation arose when a fat man became the butt of some bawdy jokes. He too had been coming to the Garden regularly. But on that particular morning, the ladies simply couldn’t get over the way he struggled to balance his weight and prevent his pants from slipping down while still trying to toddle forward.

Now, what’s so funny about that?
Well, nothing and everything – depending on which side you are. It is not at all funny for those who are on a short fuse – not laughing, not joking, not talking. And for the majority of us who do not require a reason to laugh, anything and everything can be insanely funny. If the roly-polys hadn’t shown up, somebody / something else would have and we’d still find reasons to laugh our guts out. Ask Shekhawat, Sunita Jajodia, Ram Shankar Shukla... Yes, we laugh at ourselves too.
Ultimately, it all boils down to SOH – sense of humour. So long as we are discreet enough not to offend sentiments nor disrupt the flow of exercises, let us celebrate laughter. Why, Jagmohan Papneja today turned a philosophical discussion with an English-speaking god into a major rib-tickler and even an otherwise stern and religious-minded Geeta Sardana burst out laughing. That’s SOH in action!
Jagmohan Papneja:
Everyone is automatically attractive looking funny. Given this scenario, people laugh and as a result, it cures a multitude of life's ills.

Happiness Day

DILIP: "Why did the mouse refuse to marry an elephant?"  

A running insider joke of the Club has been Shekhawat’s clarion call, “Rane, baith jao” (Rane, sit down) just before the Kissa Kursi Ka exercise. With Bapu Rane’s demise last year, the call has assumed an ominous ring. But Shekhawat remains persistent, occasionally substituting Rane for Ramila Mistry or Ruksana Khan or Razia Khan... just about anybody present whose name begins with ‘R’.
Funny thing, the person he mentions would inevitably stop coming to the Garden soon after. It happened with Ramila who was struck by a crippling knee problem. Then Ruksana complained of sudden ankle pain.

Hari Singh Shekhawat

Soon Razia was down with some such ailment. But Shekhawat refuses to admit that he is in any way to blame.
So this morning, when he reported sick, there were no sympathizers. Of course, we all know it is nothing serious and has more to do with the season change. But the news gave the ladies a good reason to jump and shout, “Serves him right!” Arora qualified this unexpected outburst by clarifying, “For so long Shekhawat has been putting everyone down, now it is his turn. He is down with fever."

MONTHI: "What's wrong in asking about Behrambagh?"

Dilip Babani also got to show his wacky side as he narrated a hilarious tale of a mouse rejecting an elephant’s marriage proposal – only to prompt Santosh Tyagi to come up with an equally hilarious elephant and ant courtship joke. Amidst all the laughter, Monthi Serrao committed an unintended gaffe, which only goes to prove what a natural wit she is.
Nahid Khan was being told about Arun Patil calling up and that he was camping in the grand Kaiserbagh Palace in Lucknow for the shooting of Raqs (yesterday's post). Nahid had begun saying that Kaiserbagh was close to her maternal home when Monthi butted in to ask, “Behrambagh?” instantly triggering a round of laughter. Nothing wrong in hearing wrong. Everybody makes mistakes. But the way Monthi put it made everybody crack up immediately. And the more she tried to explain her way out, the more everybody laughed and laughed.
Now, none of this can be deliberate, planned, forced or rehearsed. Everything happens at the spur of the moment. And this exactly is the kind of unalloyed pleasure and joy we derive from the Club every morning. What more can we ask for on World Happiness Day -- today!
Jagmohan Papneja:
There are so many beautiful reasons to be happy. Every day we discover one or the other reason for sharing happiness. This has become part of our life and it will remain so in the Big Laaf club.
Harish Wadhwa:
Laughter, they say, is the best medicine. So get tons of it and feel happy and healthy.

Crossings

Despite bereavement Nahid distributes gajaks

Nahid Khan showed up this morning after a ten-day hiatus. She was away at Lucknow to see her ailing brother and returned with an aggravated BP condition on Sunday. On the very same day, by some strange coincidence, Arun Patil took out his red SUV and hit the road for Lucknow to shoot for Muzaffar Ali’s upcoming movie, Raqs. He won't be back before May.

Arun Patil

Nahid’s brother is no more. Barely two years elder to her, he had been suffering from brain fever and was virtually on his death bed when Nahid went to see him. Within four days of the brother-sister meeting, he breathed his last. “It seemed as though he was waiting to catch sight of me before departing from this world,” Nahid said, strangely, at peace with herself. She even brought Lucknow’s famous gajaks for everyone, in spite of being in mourning.
Arun is providing the special effects for Raqs and will be away for six weeks at a stretch. A period drama with debutantes Imran Abbas Naqvi and Pernia Qureshi sharing the leads, it is being filmed at Lucknow’s historical Kaiserbagh Baradari.

Harbans Kaur

Arun’s job is to recreate the regal splendor in the interiors of the grand, white stone palace built by Wajid Ali Shah in the mid-nineteenth century.
“Since there was no electricity in those days (when the film is set), the challenge for the special effects' team is to provide facilities for concealed illumination,” Arun informed. Amitabh Bachchan and Zarina Wahab play supporting roles in the film which is being bankrolled by an overseas production house.
Then we have Harbans Kaur who surprised us by announcing that she must leave for Ludhiana with her husband today. She has a family home there which needs looking up once in a while. She promises to be back within a fortnight. We wish the couple an enjoyable and safe trip.
Jagmohan Papneja:
Nahid-ji, our deepest sympathies go out to you. May God give you the strength to bear the loss of your brother and may his soul rest in peace.
Harish Wadhwa:
My deepest condolences to Nahid-ji for the loss of her brother. Losing a loved one is indeed painful and I only wish God gives her the strength to overcome this pain.

Holi Hangover

NEW EXERCISE: Ladies are flexing their biceps???

Party hard and sleep harder. This appears to be the motto of most members, if the turnout at the Garden today should provide any proof. Obviously, the excesses of yesterday’s Holi celebration had done them in and many like Srichand Arora, Hari Singh Shekhawat, Harbans Kaur and Bhaswati Bose had chosen to sleep it off rather than attend the exercises this morning.
Those who turned up had either restrained themselves yesterday at letting their hair down or else, did not take part in the revelry at all. They included Sitaram Hivarkar, Ved Prakash Grover, Ram Shankar Shukla and half a dozen others.

Jagmohan recites poetry

To humour them, Jagmohan Papneja came up with a couple of witty poetic renditions which were met with repeated rounds of applause.
Among the members present, many took a dim view of those who over-indulged themselves yesterday and resorted to reckless behavior unbefitting their age. Their crazy antics, presumably under the influence of intoxicants, also drew criticism from various quarters. But the sharpest criticism was directed at the gate crashers who not only monopolized the celebration but vitiated the atmosphere with their loony antics. A suggestion was made that in future a ‘guest fee’ should be charged as a polite deterrent to these unwelcome elements.
In balance though, it must be mentioned that imposing any kind of unreasonable restriction on Holi revelry would destroy the very spirit of festivity. A sense of restraint must come from within, which would foster responsible behavior and eliminate wastage. After all, the expenses for such celebrations are borne out of Club funds, towards which we are collectively and individually accountable.
Jagmohan Papneja:
I believe it is high time to set the record straight. In all fairness to our members, we should welcome non-members selectively to our club functions, provided they pay the guest charges as decided by the members then. This is the practice everywhere.
Srichand Arora:
I agree with Mr Jagmohan Papneja. An undesirable action has to be taken for those who had over-indulged themselves yesterday and resorted to reckless behavior unfitting their age. Their crazy antics, presumably under the influence of intoxicants, also drew criticism from various members of the CLUB. My suggestion is, during any celebration (OF THE CLUB) though all the members are invited unconditionally but a hefty (not small) fee should be charged on all the guests, whether invited or UN-invited. Yes, if a party is hosted by a member, s/he has full liberty to invite any guest. Hope I am very clear in my views.

Holi 2014

IT STARTED LIKE THIS...

...AND ENDED LIKE THIS

HOLI defies description. In the Garden, this joyous celebration of colours, intense emotions and energy collided into an intoxicating mix with bhang, thandai and scrumptious sweets… simply indescribable in words. Funnily, it rained also this morning. We leave you with these vignettes of the surreal visual fiesta.

Big Laaf wishes you a 
HAPPY HOLI!

Jagmohan Papneja:
Like last year, we celebrated Holi with great enthusiasm and gaiety. We applied the color on one another, exchanged greetings and made Holi more memorable. However, some people have the habit of joining our club only on such occasions as a matter of right. There is a feeling that our celebrations cannot be complete without their presence -- as if they are indispensable. Under the circumstances, we have to accept them on a as-is-where-is basis. I would like to convey my colorful message to the colorful members of Big Laaf for a colorful day in a colorful way and pray that the colorful ray may forever stay.

Day 1232

Pic of the Week

A moment worth a million smiles...

Jagmohan Papneja:
Sometimes your happiness is the source of your smile. But in this pic, the smile is a source of joy.

Annual Kanji Fix

TOKEN OF THANKS to Razia

PEHCHAAN KAUN-9 Trophy

WOMAN OF THE YEAR Trophy

We got our annual fix of kanji today. Santosh Tyagi finally agreed to treat us to the sublime, carrot-fermented pink drink that she alone can make. The sun rose earlier than usual.

Santosh Tyagi treats the Club to kanji

Normally, it is still dark when we enter the Garden. But today, it turned day before time. The heavens smiled because Santosh was treating us to kanji.
Santosh was herself in for a surprise. She had been told (as was everybody else) that the Woman of the Year and Pehchaan Kaun trophies (see post of March 12) would be presented to her on Monday – just before the Holi celebration in the Garden. Subsequently, the club management realised that this would be risky as the delicately crafted set of crystal glass trophies could get damaged in the Holi revelry. Unknown to her, the presentation date was advanced to March 15.

Santosh diaplays her trophies with Razia 

So there she was, taken unawares when defending champion Srichand Arora stepped up soon after the exercises and without much ceremony, presented her with the Pehchaan Kaun-9 winner’s trophy. Before the applause could subside, the senior-most lady member present, Khatoon Baig stepped up to present the Woman of the Year trophy.

WINNERS ALL: With kanji trophies

And then, there was the youngest lady member present, Kajal Babani presenting Razia Khan with a smaller trophy as a token of thanks from the Club for her support in the Pehchaan Kaun contest.
The funny part about this all-woman’s show was that it had made some male members (who are anyway in a minority) unhappy – if not jealous. The women stealing a march over them was one thing, but the sight of Santosh Tyagi holding aloft two trophies in both hands was quite another. Many wondered if the time had come for instituting a 'Man of the Year' trophy. Some volunteered to go for a sex change. Arun Patil said this in as many words, eventually settling to come and exercise every morning in a burqa for a full year if that would entitle him to a trophy in 2015!
All this and more as litres of kanji flowed copiously from barrel-like plastic bottles with Arora and Kajal lending a helping hand. Santosh had thoughtfully brought pickled carrots and yellow boondis as add-ons, little knowing that it would all make for such a heady mix that men could consider going for a sex change!
Jagmohan Papneja:
The awards (trophies) reaffirm that with knowledge and determination, one can achieve a goal. This is what Santosh-ji has shown. Congratulations once again for everything!

Made in Heaven

Razia Khan presents a bouquet to the Shekhawat couple

How many of us can claim to have lived through 50 years of happy matrimony? None in the Club, at least. So when Hari Singh Shekhawat made the announcement, inviting everyone to celebrate his 54th wedding anniversary in the Garden, many jaws dropped instantly. In this time and age, is it possible to sustain a marriage for over half a century? And here was this handsome couple untouched by time, unaffected by the world and totally uncorrupted by life... coming forth gloriously, smelling of roses.
Truly, theirs is a match made in heaven!

Santosh blesses the couple

Jagmohan Papneja expressed these sentiments in poetic form, as he addressed the Shekhawats in the China Hut where a lavish spread was laid out for members and guests. But before that, we had our moment in the sun, rejoicing together and congratulating the couple on their special day.

Fehmida feeds Mrs Shekhawat

Shekhawat, looking younger than his years, had come in full-pants and lime yellow T-shirt (with a striking guitar print in front) while his wife was dressed in a pretty Rajasthani lehnga-shirt ensemble. Razia Khan presented a bouquet of flowers, soon to be followed by Santosh Tyagi blessing the couple. And then there were the likes of Fehmida Khan and Swati Punjabi from the yoga group all over the place, making merry.
Shekhawat’s childlike joy was a sight to behold.

Arora enjoys the good food

His naïveté was evident from the fact that till the other day, he wasn’t even sure when exactly he had got married. Based on some vague clues from childhood friends he did a thorough Internet search last month and after suitable cross-checks he could zero in on the exact date.

...and wipes his fingers on Harish

So in effect, this was the first celebration of his anniversary on the correct day and date. With Srichand Arora making all the arrangements and friends and acquaintances dropping by to wish the couple, this became a truly memorable day for all.
In the end, Arora unwittingly paid a compliment for the sumptuous treat when he went around looking to wipe his sticky hands of the samosa and jalebi juice. He saw Harish Wadhwa near the Gate and asked if he washes his pants every day. “Of course,” Harish replied, only to be rewarded with ten sticky fingers leaving oily stains on his grey trousers. That's Srichand Arora’s way of saying “Good food”!
Harish Wadhwa:
* These must be very sweet moments to cherish. A 54th marriage anniversary is deserving of all the warmth. Many, many happy returns of the day to the couple. May God give them the strength to enjoy (or bear?) each other out for many more years.
* Arora-ji aap ki pyaar bhari shararaton se toh hamen khushi hee milti hai. Grover saab ne bhi behti Ganga mein haat dho liye toh kya hua. Pyaar jatane ki koi seema nahin hoti.
* A big laaf is on all the people in pics today and their stuffed mouths speak of the joy they get with such celebrations. Big Laaf zindabad!
Jagmohan Papneja:
Happy Anniversary! And congratulations on the 54th year of marriage. This is no small accomplishment. You are both an inspiration. I wish you joy, laughter, health and contentment.
Raghuveer Shekhawat:
Thanx guys and the pretty ladies out there. So glad that dad is part of the group to create a 'home' away from home -- a 'family' away from family. Commendable. The joy you guys bring to each other's lives is unmatched. To be honest, it is difficult for us kids to recreate such magic. Well, what are friends for???:-)