Holiday Mood

Bangkok banter in the shaded grove

Another pleasant and chilled out morning. Like yesterday, there was no party lined up today. Probably this explained the low turnout at the exercises, which was rather unusual for a week-end.
But a murder of crows made up for this as they partied joyfully in the Garden over what Fahmida Khan described as “boneless meat” wriggling in the grass. Kiran Prakash clicked a graphic picture of this mass annihilation of earthworms.
What struck everyone though was the all-pervasive holiday mood among all present. Nobody was in any hurry today to leave after the exercises.
Whether it could be the weather or tomorrow being a Sunday, the dominant buzz was what lay in store for the group going on the Bangkok Tour.
With almost all the air tickets now booked for the batch of 20, suggestions and advice ((largely unsolicited) started flying thick and fast – from

Nahid Siddiqui

Rukhsana Khan

the foodstuff to be carried in the aircraft to what to shop in Bangkok to what to eat, what to do… and so on.
Somehow, nobody seemed to be as much interested in sight-seeing.
Still, it was fun. And in keeping with this happy holiday atmosphere, even the most reticent among us suddenly became vocal.
For instance, Nahid Siddiqui, arguably the most reserved and soft-spoken of our female members, began commenting during the exercises on the way Rukhsana Khan speaks.
“What power she has in that voice!” Nahid exclaimed. “She must be having at least two eggs every morning before coming to the Garden. Or maybe she has samosas, who knows? How else can she speak in such a loud voice?” The absurdity of the comment notwithstanding, Rukhsana took it as a compliment and let out a full-throated guffaw.

Lt Col Angad Singh (retd):
Nice to know that a Big Laaf group is going to Bangkok. I am sure it will be a good and enjoyable tour. Keep enjoying and laughing.