New Year Gig

Mumtaz Jahan is back from Dubai with chocolates

So Mumtaz Jahan is back from Dubai with chocolates. And Banoo Apa achieved the impossible simply by sitting on a garden bench. No sooner had she lowered herself at one end of the concrete structure than the portion came crumbling down. But for a nick on an elbow, she escaped unhurt.
Surveying the rubble, Khatoon Baig declared: “Banoo has become over-weight!”
However, the bigger news of the morning was that preparations for ushering in the New Year have begun in right earnest.
A brainchild of Kiran Prakash, the idea is to have a “small celebration” soon after the exercises on January 2 (January 1 being a Sunday) with members staging a variety entertainment programme, to be followed by light refreshments sponsored by the Club. This shall be a first for Big Laaf.
From today’s discussions it emerged that the programme should be wrapped up

Banoo Apa pointing at the damage she has caused to the bench

in half an hour time with each member allotted no more than two to three minutes for a performance.
It would largely comprise songs and dances by the likes of Banoo Apa, Fahmida Khan, Bijoy Gupta and Mumtaz Jahan. Yusuf Rassiwala, who has a penchant for singing Hemant Kumar hits, was specifically told “not to sing sad songs” on that day.
The highlight of the morning would be a special performance by Bunty, a Garden regular and friend of the Club. Now, this young man happens to be a professional singer with a gifted voice and is capable of holding an audience in his thrall for hours on end.
Trouble is he would not be allowed to sing beyond three or four minutes and that too, his turn would come at the end of the programme – only after our members are done.
Something about this does not seem quite right. It begs the question: Why can’t Bunty be allowed to at least open the programme as the first singer of the morning?
Kiran Prakash:
This is because in most programmes, the best performer, speaker or entertainer always comes at the end. That's the kind of respect given to the person. Nevertheless, we will leave it to Bunty himself to choose the slot and duration.
Bihari Milwani:
Bunty should be allowed to sing in the end so that latecomers like me can benefit.