Change of Plan

Briefing for tomorrow's Mahamoorkh Sammelan

The much talked-about Mahamoorkh Sammelan (ref post of February 27) has been rescheduled for tomorrow. It was initially planned as the highpoint of our Holi celebrations on March 13. But due to overall confusion on conducting the programme, its chief advocate Bijoy Gupta today agreed to dissociate it from the Holi festivity.
Clearly, what Gupta had in mind was that certain people in the Club would stand for election and it would be a keen tussle among them at outdoing one another in their claim to be the 'supreme fool'. Then, through a process of elimination (“in Big Boss style”, as Gupta put it), a winner would emerge and he shall be felicitated with pomp and ceremony. In this, Gupta’s role would be no more than that of a facilitator or anchor at best.
Now this has come as a terrible disappointment to us. We had honestly expected Gupta to be not only a contender for the mahamoorkh title, but also the unchallenged winner after making a clean sweep of the votes.

Santosh Tyagi (l) checks if all are well after yesterday's kanji

It was a foregone conclusion, until Gupta spelt out the procedure for election. As Dilip Babani observed: “No matter who stands for election,

Bijoy Gupta

the title of mahamoorkh shall ultimately go to Gupta.” That apart, Gupta is himself doubtful if anybody in the Club would be sporting enough to accept the title in its true spirit.
The trouble is none of us has ever been exposed to a contest of this nature. Or else, a way out of the situation could have been found. Even if Gupta is roped in as a candidate and declared the winner, we would require another person, as witty and popular as Gupta, to be able to anchor the proceedings. After all, much of the fun shall depend upon how the election is conducted.
Moreover, it has become clear that the election of the mahamoorkh cannot be dissociated from the revelry that would follow naturally. So to keep the felicitation ceremony and all the merriment on hold till the Holi festivities could be a dampener. We would rather observe and learn how things pan out and accordingly, plan for the future. In that sense, tomorrow shall be a trial run.
Dilip Babani:
I think there are many mahamoorkhs in our Club. Let us see who becomes the sabhapati of these mahamoorkhs. He will get a prize. All should come and enjoy Gupta's performance tomorrow.
Lt Col Angad Singh (retd):
Mr Bijoy Gupta is a past master in mimicry. Let us see if anyone can surpass him. He is expected to be crowned Mahamoorkh, irrespective of the number of contestants.
Bihari Milwani:
Mahamoorkh means 'woh maharathi joh sabko moorakh bana sake'. None of the contestants has displayed any skill in this regard. Hence all are disqualified.