Still Growing Up

Bijoy Gupta (r) is irrepressible... serenading Bhaswati Bose (l)

Some people never grow up. People in our club cannot grow up. As any follower of this blog would figure out by now, we are all prime victims of arrested growth.
So every time someone announces that he/ she has grown by a year, it calls for a major celebration.

Milwani's special gift

As birthday celebrations go for the month of July, it was Bhaswati Bose’s turn today to get the Club together to eat, drink and make merry till the sun was shining. Luckily, it did not rain this morning. The break from a prolonged wet spell, by itself, merited a celebration.
Bunty was there with his wife, Priya (ref yesterday's post), as were other old friends of the Club -- Vasudev Batheja, Harish Wadhwa and Vijay Bhai.

Gifts galore: Tara Chand is at ext rt and Milwani, in the left

Checking the birthday calendar

88-year-old Tara Chand Seth usually keeps away from the excesses of parties (for reasons of health) but today, he made an exception. It was from his hands that Bhaswati received

Bhaswati (r) plays hostess

her Club calendar amid rousing applause and the usual practice of raising the fourth laugh and singing the birthday song.
Bihari Milwani, as always had come up with something unusual – a beautiful stalk of tiny red

Eat, drink and make merry... as the sun shines

flowers stuck to a bottle, labeled “Shubho Janmadin” (in Bengali script) with Bhaswati’s photo in profile. We can always expect the unexpected from this gentleman.
Bijoy Gupta sprung another surprise when, on the pretext of serenading the 'birthday girl', he belted out a bawdy folk number with suggestive gestures and cheeky one-liners (like “nainon mein bas jaoon”) that left many momentarily red faced. But soon everybody jumped with joy and clapped, knowing well that Gupta alone is capable of pulling off such gimmicks without malice.
In the end, it is sentiments that matter and so long as everyone has a blast, nothing more is needed. Kajal Babani, Geeta Latte, Fahmida Khan and Pushpa Gupta deserve a word of praise for organizing the eats and preparing the plates. And Banoo Apa… what more can be said of the tea she gets every time? She’s the best!

Dilip Babani:
Happy Birthday, Mrs Bose. Very nice party. May God bless you.

Bihari Milwani:
Only old people grow up. We are still young children. We come in time regularly for the laughing exercises, that too in HALF PANTS.

Intekhab Alam Khan:
Many happy returns of the day to you Mrs Bose. Enjoy your day.

Kiran Prakash:
Happy Birthday, Bhaswati. Many happy returns of the day. May God grant you His choicest blessings and you continue to be in the best of health and spirits. Your birthday party was superb.

Geeta Latte:
Many, many happy returns of the day to my sweetest friend💐🎂💐👼

Lt Col Angad Singh (retd):
Many happy returns on your birthday, Bhaswati. It gives me immense pleasure to know that July is full of birthdays. It is the most enjoyable season -- rimjhim barse badalia... Keep laughing and enjoying. This is blissful.

Bhaswati Bose:
Thank you all for your good wishes. Your kind words have doubly made my day. Hope to celebrate many more birthdays with all of you together in the years to come.