Navroz Today

Shireen Homavazar (in red) hosts Navroj treat in the Garden

Unknown to us, it was Navroz today -- the Parsi New Year. We do not have a single Parsi among us in the Club; but as with every community celebration, the spirit of merriment associated with a festival permeates the air, automatically turning the mood upbeat for us during the exercises.
Shireen Homavazar, an old friend of the Club and regular at the Garden, hosted a surprise treat to celebrate the occasion – aflatoon, luddoos and marble gulab jamuns.

Kiran Makharia

It was only then that we realized the importance of the day. But as always, for most us, we were not to question why, but to eat and die (of diabetes)!
If that was not enough, there was Tara Chand Seth back from Delhi with a box of (what else?) sweets – large cylindrical confections soaked in ghee. Nobody knew the name of this sinful treat and it did not matter.

Tara Chand returns with good news... and box of sweets

What mattered was the good news Tara Chand was carrying with those tissue-wrapped sweets: “I did not tell you earlier -- the reason for my being away for such a long time. We were busy finalizing the wedding of our grand-daughter. She has found her match now in a doctor and the sweets are in celebration of their engagement. She is also a doctor…”
“So we can expect free treatment?” Yusuf Rassiwala butted in jokingly.
“But you will have to go to Mira Road to get cured,” Tara Chand retorted amid rousing laughter.
The other big reason for rejoicing this morning was the return of Kiran Makharia, another old member who had been away for close to a year. She tried to downplay her absence by explaining that she “just felt lazy” and could not “wake up in time to get to the Garden” when Shekhawat cornered her: “You can find time to go to that garden and the other garden, but not this garden? I get all information sitting here. So don’t come up with lame excuses.”
Kiran promised to be regular henceforth and to mark her return, an extra laugh was raised after the exercises.

Shekhawat's train rolls out of the railway shed (oops!) China Hut after the rains subside.

Col Angad Singh (retd) from Mohali:
The celebration of Parsi New Year confirms the spirit of 'unity amid diversity' among members of different faiths in the Club. We love to be happy in each other's company and at other times of celebrating. Good luck to the Club and its members.