Return of Native

Welcome back, Arora-sah'b!

Another Indian has returned home. Close on the heels of the Boses’ trip to Europe (ref: post of June 7), Srichand Arora today registered his return from a fortnight-long holiday in Germany and Switzerland. “Anybody who has not seen Europe has not seen anything in life,” he announced while doling out German chocolates.
Quick on the uptake, Monthi Serrao remarked: “So let’s tell Shekhawat to organize a picnic to Europe immediately?”
From a distance, Arun Patil retorted: “Huh, we cannot even organise a trip to Lonavala and you are talking of Europe?”

Cause for panic

Arora’s return came as a welcome diversion for many who were seized by a snake scare in the Garden. Two days back, a so-called “baby cobra” was sighted at the very spot where we were exercising and despite warnings from Sunita Jajodia and Santosh Tyagi, we stayed put. “Do not worry, nothing will happen,” Jagmohan Papneja assured. “This is our area.”
“The snake was only one-foot long,” Geeta Sardana informed.

Exercising in the shadow of fear

“What if it bites?” Sunita challenged, having already shifted her position twice. “The other day a serpent showed up in the toilet of our neighbor and it refused to budge. A snake charmer had to be called to get rid of it.”
“Do you have the snake charmer's number?” asked Santosh. “Send him an SMS.”
In this shadow of fear and foreboding, Arora’s arrival came as a blessing from the blue. The first thing everybody noticed was that he was carrying a decently heavy bag, obviously full of goodies. And the other thing we noticed was that he was wearing trackpants instead of his usual shorts.
“How can shorts possibly change into pants?” Nahid Khan asked innocently, interrupting the exercises. “Do such miracles really happen abroad?”
Luckily for her, Arora wasn’t listening. He spoke at length of the fabulous time he had – the extended daylight hours, the wonderful buses in Frankfurt, abundance of fruits everywhere, the way Germans don’t only drink but also bathe in beer, the ongoing football fever, the habit of going about in bikes… Long after the exercises were over, he had a small group hovering around, eagerly lapping up every word he spoke.
Meanwhile, the Club had mentally given the baby snake a quiet burial.
Jagmohan Papneja:
Arora-ji, thank you for the wonderful gift of chocolates. It was absolutely lovely and enjoyable to eat. It was a good, thoughtful gesture on your part.
Harish Wadhwa:
I second every word of Papneja-ji. The important question is when are you going next, Arora-ji and Bose Dampatti? I suggest that office bearers keep a special tab on the 'return date' of the phoren-returning people. Dates should be announced on the blog at least a week before with a daily countdown. After all, we will all ensure that we welcome them personally.