New Year Blast!

Imagine the legendary K.L.Saigal singing the peppy Chikni Chameli 'item number' in his trademark, slow-paced baritone. Blasphemous as this might sound, it can bring the rafters down in a roar of laughter,

The first exercises of 2017

especially when rendered by Karun Sharma – replete with the nasal drawl, the tell-tale inflexion and unhurried pauses.
Karun was to join Big Laaf today and as per club custom, president Mallika Kagzi performed the ‘coronation ceremony’ by presenting him the club cap.

Karun Sharma's (l) 'coronation'

He reciprocated with that gem of a song, thereby revealing yet another unknown aspect of his many-faceted personality. That he is a qualified chemical engineer, a practicing life coach and a gifted face reader was already known to us. Earlier on, Bhaswati Bose laid the ground for Karun by singing the same Chikni Chameli song the way certain other playback singers would possibly have

Bhaswati Bose regales with impressions

– Lata Mangeshkar (to the tune of Tu jahan jahan rahega, mera saaya), Asha Bhosale (as Zara holle holle chalo morey saajna…), Geeta Dutt (as Waqt ne kiya, kya haseen sitam…) and Mahendra Kapoor

Ushering 2017 with toots

( as Mere desh ki dharti…) She was promptly rewarded by a big hug from Banoo Apa.
But then, the tone of today’s New Year celebration had been set during the exercises itself when we were made to wear colorful conical caps (see pics), effectively making a spectacle of ourselves. It was fun though, watching passersby stop midstride to stare at us open-mouthed. We cut short the exercises (by dropping the tai-chi round) and trooped into the China Hut amid a cacophony of impatient whistles and toots,

Siba Prasad Maitra sings Rabindra Sangeet in Hindi

before Kiran Prakash was to take charge as master of ceremonies -- a role he is fast warming up to.
He introduced our first ‘star performer’ Bijoy Gupta, who instantly launched out on a flight of fancy by narrating a dream of having called on Manisha Kolhe “when her husband was not at home” with hilarious consequences.

Karun does a K.L.Saigal

This was a take-off from the play we had staged during our Annual Day function last year.
The laughter had barely subsided when Santosh Tyagi walked up to make another submission based on the play: “2016 has been a very bad year for me. I am yet to recover the gold chain I had lost. And these two cops are thoroughly useless,” she said pointing at Shekhawat and Yusuf Rassiwala.
Yusuf R had come prepared with a Hemant Kumar song (Na tum hamein jaano…) on popular demand, soon to be followed by Siba Prasad Maitra with an absolutely flawless rendition of a popular Rabindra Sangeet number (Shedin dujone, dulechhinu boney…) in Hindi!

Ringing in the New Year with a merry jig

And before things could turn any more serious, the China Hut erupted to Aaj kal tere mere pyar ke charche… turning the place into a dance floor.

Bijoy Gupta in full flow

Everyone was seen shaking a leg -- from Karun Sharma to Kiran Prakash to Santosh Tyagi to Kajal Babani to Fahmida Khan to Banoo Apa to Zarina Khan… to even Mrs Shekhawat and Khatoon Baig!
The following excerpts from WhatsApp exchanges during the day would give an added sense of the celebration:
Kiran Prakash: Excellent performance by Yusuf-bhai, Gupta-ji, Bhaswati, Karun-ji, Fehmida, Maitra-ji, Santosh-ji and everybody else who danced so well. Special thanks to Dilip-bhai who took the trouble to organise the caps, whistles and snacks. Mallika ke haath mein to jadu hai hi.
Bhaswati Bose: Our thanks to

Section of the audience

Kiran-ji, who anchored the programme so well.
Kiran Prakash: Bhaswati, tum to Chhupe Rustam nikli. Excellent performance.

Yusuf R does a Hemant Kumar

We will have a better sound system for such programmes in future, otherwise we are not able to do justice with performers.
Banoo Apa: I want to express my feelings for today's celebration. God, I enjoyed myself to such an extent that I cannot describe in words. I am thankful to Yusuf-bhai, Dilip, Gupta, Karun-ji but, but, but Bhaswati, you did an excellent job. It does not mean that I don't appreciate others. They were equally good. Thanks Mallika, for the tasty tea. Thanks my photographer bacchi (Geeta Latte). May ALLAH keep his blessings on our group.

PARTY TIME... the first in 2017

Kisi ki nazar na lage, chashme baddoor.
Kajal Babani: It is amazing that we have so many professionals in our group. Thank you, Kiran-ji for the excellent hosting and planning this programme.
Yusuf Rassiwala:

Mallika (r) organises the cups for tea

Kiran-ji, I sincerely appreciate your efforts and keen interest in organising this New Year programme. It is your determination that has enabled everyone to successfully stage the show. At the same time, Kajal and Bhaswati have put their efforts which cannot be overlooked. I wish you all, from my heart, to carry on with this excellent effort in future for the betterment of Big Laaf. Once again, I thank you all very much and wish you a very, very happy and prosperous New Year. Allah bless you all.
Kiran Prakash: Thank you very much Yusuf-bhai for your blessings. We will certainly continue to have different types of activities in the coming months. This will strengthen our bonding and keep us motivated in supporting each other.
Bhaswati Bose: My thanks to everyone who made this day so enjoyable and memorable. God willing, we shall continue to enjoy ourselves in 2017!
Clearly, as Yusuf Rassiwala put it, the New Year has begun with a BANG!
Kiran Prakash:
What a description, Blog Monster! Aapke kalam mein bhi jadu hai. Seems as if I am again watching the entire programme. Today I have experienced that not only our club is flooded with talent, we have an audience too who respect the talent and encourage performers. I am sincerely grateful particularly to Yusuf-bhai and Banoo Apa for their constant encouragement. My dream is to make Big Laaf a place where only positives will be discussed and all will strive for the betterment of one another.
Bihari Milwani:
Next year, we will have a panel of three judges to get a three star rating and may even succeed at getting the programme telecast on some TV channel.
Dilip Babani:
Today's programme was awesome. All members of the Big Laaf family are gems. I was left speechless just watching. We are having some very good and talented members and more than that, we now share a very strong bonding. Great members make great clubs. Our functions are getting bigger and lovelier. The photos in the blog are very nice and the function was written about in a very nice manner.
Geeta Latte:
Wow, what beautiful pictures!!!
Karun Sharma:
Today was a special day in my life as I formally joined a new family -- Big Laaf. This is a family that teaches lots of openness, lots of respect and lots of humour. It is helping me to build a routine which is an extremely powerful gain. I think if K.L. Saigal was asked to sing Chikni Chameli, he would have refused. But I took up the challenge. Thank you, Beautiful Friends.