Spreading Wings

Shekhawat briefs members on his overseas travel plans

Hari Singh Shekhawat today realized that he has so far conducted seven out-of-city excursions from the Club, covering the east, west, north and south of the country. The eastern extremity of course, remains unexplored; but after the Darjeeling-Gangtok trip, scheduled in March-April 2015, he says there would be “nothing more of interest left for us to see in India”. So from now itself, he has got into mobilizing members for an overseas tour.
Significantly, Shekhawat isn’t talking about Bangkok-Pattaya as he used to earlier. “I have been to quite a few other foreign countries when I used to sail for the Navy,” he informed a group of wide-eyed ladies. “I have been to Jakarta, Sumatra, Muscat, Bahrain… I have seen a lot of those places in my time.”
The sudden inspiration to spread his wings beyond the nation’s borders could have possibly come from Bihari Milwani’s daughter, Karishma who is here from the U.S. on her winter vacation (she is doing her Masters in Cyber Security there) and had paid us a courtesy visit at the Garden.

Ruksana bids Khatoon Baig bon voyage

Karishma Milwani flanked by papa and Arora Uncle

Furthermore, Khatoon Baig was saying her goodbyes this morning as she embarks on yet another foreign trip, this time to perform Umrah in Makkah-Madina (Saudi Arabia). Without a fuss, she sought everyone’s wishes for her safe return on January 14, 2015.
Shekhawat’s suggestion for an overseas excursion was more in the nature of testing the waters as he has not even zeroed in on a place on the world map as yet. He asked the ladies to get their passports in order and if necessary, apply for renewal or for fresh travel documents. Somehow, this made a lot of sense to many – particularly Nahid Khan and Ruksana who seemed to be more worried that the 10-year validity of their passports would expire without being put to use even once.
Jagmohan Papneja:
Shekhawat-ji has achieved great success in organizing excursions. His efforts have paid off and he deserves every bit of credit. My best wishes for his plans of an overseas tour. May God always take care of him.