Valentine’s Day – 2017

Dilip and Kajal: Saying it with roses

Love is in the air – but in a manner only we, in Big Laaf, can appreciate and celebrate. Of course, there were the customary presents of roses – Dilip Babani to Kajal, Shekhawat to all the ladies, starting with Mumtaz Jahan and so on.

Bijoy Gupta (rt) is unstoppable

After all, it was also Mumtaz’s birthday and she celebrated in style with a grand party at the end of the exercises.
But ultimately, it was Bijoy Gupta who hogged the limelight through the morning. Showing up at the Garden after a long furlough, he took Shekhawat off the bat by wanting to know why he wasn’t wearing a rakhi today. “Don’t you know it is Valentine's Day?” Gupta teased Shekhawat. “I do not see any rakhi on your hand.”
Stumped for words, Shekhawat deflected the innuendo (of professing brotherly love) by advising Gupta to go tie a rakhi if he was so keen to. “You may like rakhis. I don’t wear rakhi on Valentine’s Day,” he insisted with macho pride.
But Gupta wasn’t giving up easily.

Mumtaz Jahan celebrates birthday with a big bash

All through the exercises, he kept taking pot shots at his friend. And the moment he saw Shekhawat plonking himself next to a lady on a bench, he shouted: “Look, he is celebrating Valentine’s Day out here in the open.

Shekhawat presents a rose to Mumtaz

This man has no shame. He should be doing all this behind the peepul tree out there!”
Some of us tried provoking him on his Rajasthan trip (yesterday’s post) and even Shekhawat was curious about his encounter with ghosts. Gupta gave nothing away. Suddenly he spotted Naseem Khan and pretended not to recognize her. “But in Rajasthan you looked so dashing and different,” he exulted. “You were dressed like Miss London!”
Ultimately, Kiran Prakash managed to extract some pearls of wisdom on Gupta's pet peeve -- green tea. “What is wrong with normal tea?” Gupta asked. “You have milk, sugar, tea leaves, ginger, cardamom… aah, so refreshing. They say green tea is healthy, you live longer. Just to live a few more days, you spend an entire life in misery drinking green tea. Does it make any sense? After I saw my wife unpacking a box of green tea in that Jodhpur hotel, I began getting sleepless nights.”
Kiran Prakash:
With the Guptas around, we had great fun in Rajasathan. Well organised, well executed trip. While the day went for visits to forts, haveli and boating, the evenings were equally exciting with our own 'talent exhibition sessions'. Those who could not go, missed a lot.
Dilip Babani:
Happy Birthday, Mumtaz-ji. Nice party you gave us on Valentine's Day.