Fight On Food!

Rekha Sial (r) celebrates her birthday with cookies and salties

Rekha Sial, our new member-in-waiting, celebrated her birthday today by treating us to cookies and salties soon after the exercises. The treat came as a wonderful surprise, for three reasons.
First, no one expected her to treat us so generously (and so soon after joining), much as she is one of the most regular in daily attendance and takes her exercises very seriously.

Lakshmi Hadimani

Secondly, it was Lakshmi Hadimani who was supposed to celebrate her birthday today, but the suppliers of the food packets she ordered let her down this morning.

Mallika Kagzi's sister (l) visits us

And thirdly, today’s treat was given in the shadow of a fast escalating bushwar between the Garden management and some late-evening visitors to the China Hut notorious for turning the area into some kind of a café. Evidence of this ongoing strife was visible in the form of a stern notice put up on the Notice Board (ref yesterday’s post) and somehow we are getting caught in the crossfire.
Last evening apparently the revelers were caught red-handed, as usual messing around and littering the place with half-eaten food, paper wrappers and plastic.
“They cited our parties in the morning as an excuse,” reported Mohar Singh, a witness to the raid. “But they were told that nobody had ever complained against us. It was they who were being accused of turning the Garden into a dirty and unhygienic place, for which they could easily be taken to task.”
After a heated argument, it seems a settlement was reached with the Garden management allowing the visitors only packed food boxes -- so long as they were not opened inside the Garden. No mention was made of us though, added Mohar Singh.
Still, Srichand Arora felt that it would be better if a delegation of two or three senior members from Big Laaf called on the Garden management and apprised it of our position. This would clear the air and foster better relations for the future.
Siba Prasad Maitra:
Dear Mr Milwani, Thanks a lot for the beautiful "good wish card" on my wedding anniversary which was handed over to me after our exercise. It is nice of you that you remembered. I don't know how you could get the photo of my wife. I am really touched by such an innovative memento.