Plain Fluke?

Fehmida Khan... TODAY

Fehmida Khan... THEN

A dead rubber contest came suddenly alive with a last-minute entry. In what was nothing short of a miracle (or was it just plain fluke?), Monthi Serrao correctly identified Fehmida Khan from her b&w photograph as a 16-year-old, thus bringing to an end days of intense speculation and high drama surrounding the latest Pehchaan Kaun (ref post of January 18) guessing game.
Monthi herself was stumped for words when told that she was absolutely spot on and in effect, today’s winner. For a full minute she stared at Fehmida in disbelief, not uttering a word. Hers was the last entry and clearly, she had put up Fehmida’s name to stem the tide going Mallika Kagzi’s way, little expecting that it would land her the coveted PK crystal trophy.

Pre-dawn meet to identify the 'mystery maiden'

The remaining ‘suspects’ were evenly divided between Ruksana Khan and Nahid Khan – even as the latter protested vehemently that she could never look like the “chudail” in the featured photograph!
Clearly PK-11 was the toughest contest so far. It was on the verge of being scrapped/ deferred as no one had got anywhere close to the correct answer till this morning. Everyone seemed to have got waylaid by Mallika (perhaps because of her longish facial features) leading to countless hilarious situations.

Congratulations, Monthi Serrao!

At one point, she got so cheesed off with every second member peering closely at her eyes, neck, lips and nose that she began to actually pitch for herself.

Fehmida caught in a swirl of suspicion

“Look, even I have given my own name,” she lied during an impromptu pre-dawn meet in the China Hut today.
The result however, has not gone down well with a section of the Club. For one, many like Santosh Tyagi just cannot fathom why a Muslim girl should wear a mangal sutra in the photograph – much as Fehmida assured her that she has no problem with it. For another, some like Srichand Arora and Razia Khan argue that they “do not know” about members of the recently integrated yoga group, of which Fehmida is a part. Well, ignorance can never be an excuse. After all, the sole aim and purpose behind instituting the Pehchaan Kaun contest is to ensure that we get to know one another and interact better.
Kiran Prakash:
Congratulations, Monthi!
Razia Khan:
Whatever happened today was absolutely wrong, whether anyone accepts it or not. Earlier it was decided that a person who wants to become a member of Big Laaf should come to the Garden regularly for at least three months. Only then would he/she be accepted as a member. But never mind.
We came to know that 10 new members were included in the Big Laaf family. But who are the 10 new members? How many people know their names?

Razia Khan

Were they introduced to other members? This is not ignorance but lack of information parted to other members. How will one interact with one another unless and until all the new members are introduced with the older ones?
The word "politics" used by Monthi for me hurt very badly. What politics did I do? You all know me since 6-7 years. Have I ever played politics? Now I would like to make a humble request to Arora-ji and Jagmohan-ji that they should call new members and introduce them to all others of the Big Laaf family.
Big Laaf replies:
Razia Khan has raised three valid points, obviously out of a deep sense of hurt. We hold her in very high regard and surely, she deserves an explanation:
(i) Eligibility for membership arises after one month (and not three months) subject to (a) approval of the managing committee and (b) ratification/ no-objection of the general body.
(ii) The new members inducted are from the erstwhile yoga group. This decision was not taken clandestinely or even by the Managing Committee. It was a unanimous decision taken by all members at the last general body meeting on December 13, 2014 (ref post New Merger). Sadly, Razia was absent at that meeting.
(iii) Introduction of "new" members is a good idea, if they are strangers. We don't admit strangers. The yoga group has been with us for almost a decade. Besides, when was the last time any "member" was introduced to us? This could be humiliating to any self-respecting individual who has been known to us for years. Critically, none of these issues would have arisen had Razia also attended the meeting on December 13, 2014.