Come Saturday

Birthday Boy Dilip Babani

Come Saturday and it’s party time again.
Last Tuesday, Dilip Babani turned 58 and he celebrated with chocolate wafers in the Garden. It was a prelude to the main birthday

Birthday bite from wife, Kajal

celebration this morning with a far more sumptuous offering – phapda-jalebi, patra, onion bhajiya, til laddu… and tea.
That it also happened to be Makar Sankranti today made the celebration doubly propitious and enjoyable too.
As usual, Dilip organized the eats, which became a cause of disquiet among close friends. Yusuf Rassiwala put it aptly when he said that the least we could have done for the birthday boy today was to procure the food ourselves for a change.
“Every time Dilip

Party spread... preparing the plates

is the one to be running around so that we get to celebrate our birthdays and get the credit,” he noted. “Running around is a thankless job. Why did no one volunteer to do the running around today?”
Not that Dilip is one to complain.

The host with a section of the guests

Always the happy-go-lucky and helpful soul, he was even more cheerful today as he attended to everyone with customary warmth and generosity.

Hot tea to wash it all down

Sadly, we tend to take such goodness for granted, as was evident in a mild altercation that broke out over today's tea.
Now Mallika Kagzi is not under any obligation to bring tea from home every time someone wants to treat the Club. She does it purely out of a sense of love and belonging which cannot be

Fahmida Khan helps out in serving the guests

remunerated by the cash she might be paid to cover basic expenses. But this does not give anybody the license to order her around, pick faults, etc. She does her best to please everybody.

Many happy returns of the day

And yet, many of us are taking her goodness for granted.
So it came as no surprise today when Mallika flared up, putting a particular nitpicker in her place by directing her to organize the tea next time around. “Someone wants less sugar in the tea, someone wants more sugar… What am I to do?” she exclaimed. Instantly all fell silent.
Happy Birthday, once again, Dilip!
Bihari Milwani:
Why is Kajal forgotten? Every time she assembles the eats in plates and arranges the systematically for us to take without difficulty.
Karun Sharma:
Happy Birthday, Dilip. I am so happy to find a jolly person who lovingly displays child in him. We become old because we allow the child in us to disappear. Big Laaf provides us the opportunity to let your inner child play every day.
Today Mallika also revealed the child in her when her effort on tea was not adequately respected. She was child-like in her outburst. Many of us appreciated the innocent hurt child who does not have the patience to tolerate. She also revealed a superb comic sense when I informed her that she got married when she was only 23 days old. Her birthday is on 6th June and wedding anniversary on 29th June. She responded by saying that her son was born on 2nd June -- even before she was born. That is smart thinking!