Tricky Issue

Festive air in anticipation of tomorrow's Eid party

Banoo Apa today raised a point of order about the Eid party tomorrow. How do we handle gate-crashers – especially those who tend to tag along with Club members and expect to be served with the rest?
Petty as this did sound, it is a tricky issue since most of the uninvited hangers-on happen to be old friends of the Club who we have to encounter every morning in the Garden. We also know many of them personally – as

Banoo Apa

neighbours or part of a larger social circle.
But Banoo Apa had a practical difficulty: “How do you refuse these people who have habitually invited themselves to our parties all along? They have come to believe it is our solemn duty to serve them. It is terribly irritating when such non-members come with a sense of entitlement and urgency, making us look silly.”
It is a fact that we try our best to accommodate everybody in our parties without discriminating between members and non-members. No issue is made of this. And rarely, if ever has anyone been turned away.

Hairsplitting on odds and ends in the China Hut

After all, like all parties everywhere, there is usually something extra to go by and even the garden watchman and juice vendor are taken care of.
The problem at hand, as Banoo Apa put it, is the eventuality of running out of foodstuff – a very real possibility in a mega bash like tomorrow’s. How do you avoid an unseemly argument with an idiot who demands to be served because he had been served in the past? If provision for such ‘extras’ needs to be made, to what extent can we be accommodating?
“Some of these freeloaders can be so over-demanding that they are not satisfied with what they are given,” Banoo Apa said, not naming names. “They pick and choose as a matter of right, and even insist on multiple helpings of something they fancy in particular. If eating in our parties matters so much to them, why don’t they have the decency to…”
Yusuf Rassiwala tried to calm Banoo Apa down, urging her to remain large-hearted in such matters. But he too had to concede that gate-crashers are a menace and that they should have the good sense to realize the limitations of a party host. “Unless they are understanding enough not to impose themselves, there can be no solution to this problem.”
Bihari Milwani:
Those who come in time and do exercises till the end should be issued coupons, which will entitle them to attend the party. Late comers or early goers should be barred.
Karun Sharma:
I do not know who is hosting the party tomorrow. But I can join and contribute as host. This is a unique club where everybody prays to the sun. We shall also celebrate Eid together.