Postponed Again

Kiran Prakash excuses himself from the function, if held on December 23

The Annual Day function scheduled for December 23 has hit another roadblock. Our main organizer, Kiran Prakash will not be in town during that time. He will be away at New Jersey, USA visiting his son’s family and celebrating Christmas holidays with them.
Hugely apologetic, Kiran Prakash informed us of this sudden development today morning. “It was decided last night that I must go,” he said. “I am acutely aware of the responsibilities I have taken up for the Annual Function and much as I would like to be present here on the occasion, I see no way I can. My only option is to hand over charge to anybody who is willing to take it up.”
The announcement was met with understandable shock and bewilderment. All the days spent on rehearsals and various preparations now looked wasted. Some like Yusuf Rassiwala and Razia Khan proposed “simplifying” the organizing part rather than holding it on a “big scale”, so long as we are able to have the function by the year end.
But then, as Geeta Latte pointed out, it would be a compromise and rather unfortunate for an “annual function”. In the circumstances it was decided to give 2017 a pass and push the function to the earliest convenient date in 2018 -- after Kiran

Bose Babu takes leave for a month

Shekhawat stomps out in style

Prakash returns from his U.S. trip. The tentative date, as suggested by Karun Sharma, seems to be January 13, 2018.
Effectively, this would mean that there may well be two Annual Day functions next year. On the other hand, there is now ample time for the preparations and nobody will have to rush through the rehearsals. But then again, January-February is peak marriage season with many of our members already committed to attending weddings with friends and family, some located out of Mumbai.
A divergent view is to push the annual function to March, coinciding with the actual ‘annual day’ marking the founding of the Club. Meanwhile, we might as well have a Sports Day instead of the function, thereby abiding by the December 31 deadline. Incidentally, on March 14, 2018, the Club shall be completing 15 years.
If there is anybody amused by all this confusion, it is Shekhawat. He is convinced that the Annual Function is jinxed because he has been kept out of it and not even “given a role” in Bijoy Gupta’s play. “See, this is what happens when you don’t involve me,” he chuckled and staged a walk-out.

Bihari Milwani:
We have tasted the picnic in foreign country and found it very enjoyable. Can we have the Annual Day of Club on 23rd December in New Jersey?

Siba Prasad Maitra:
I feel we will never get all the members on any particular date. In that case, why can we not continue with 16th December as decided earlier. Mr Bose and myself may not be there, but all other members will be available and the Annual Function also will take place within the calendar year. This is just a suggestion.

Geeta Latte:
Congratulations, Bose Uncle👍!

Kiran Prakash:
Message from my son, Kunal Prakash from the U.S.: "Many thanks to members of Big Laaf for agreeing to postpone!"

DAY 2410

Pic of the Week

FIRST DAY, FIRST ACT: PLAY READING IN PROGRESS

This picture is worth an award. Blood Monster, you are really a perfectionist.--Kiran Prakash

Silence please. Private tuition in progress. Final exams are fast approaching! --Bihari Milwani

Saving a Situation

Four sentinels hold fort: Siba Prasad Maitra recites prayers from his mobile

For the first time, Siba Prasad Maitra led the morning prayers today. There was no other option as most of the members had defected to the ‘rehearsals’ (ref post of November 15) midway through the exercises. Shekhawat tried to save the situation and bumbled through the prayers for a while till Maitra whipped out his mobile and began to recite from the text appearing in some religious website. A small but significant ritual of the morning could thus be concluded.
In moments like this we realize how certain things we take for granted in our daily routine can be actually meaningful in the absence of a critical component. So far, not much importance was attached to the prayers because there was always Arun Patil (or earlier, Sitaram Hivarkar) to take care of them. At times Bhaswati Bose, Kiran Prakash and a few others would chip in. But today, in the absence of any of these people, we suddenly found ourselves at a loose end. Were it not for Maitra’s timely intervention, we would have ended up stuttering and stumbling through

Shanti Singh (wrapped in shawl) narrates her tale of woe

the prayers with only Shekhawat to blame!
But then, we were also to recognize Maitra’s importance in a completely unrelated area. Shanti Singh had reported for the exercises today after being indisposed for over a month. She was even hospitalized (ref post of October 14) in a precarious condition, her body all bloated and yet, the cause of her ailment could not be diagnosed. Maitra paid her a visit in hospital and figured that it was an adverse reaction to the medication prescribed for what began as a tiny pimple in her mouth tissue. Clearly, this was a case of sulfa allergy, a life-threatening condition.
Maitra is not a medical practitioner, nor a qualified doctor. But with his lifelong engagement in the pharma industry, he comes to us with the wisdom of his experience that has proved providential (ask Shekhawat). Maitra does not prescribe medicines, but his advisories have saved many in a critical state (ref post of June 26).
Today, while Shanti Singh thanked Maitra profusely for his timely intervention and narrated her tale of woe to us, Shekhawat looked wildly delighted. “Bilkul mere jaise!” he exclaimed gleefully. “Just as I was… Only he could save me.”
Embarrassed, Maitra walked away with a shrug. He is not one to take credit. All part of a day's work.

Nippy Morning

It was a little nippy in the morning

There was a distinct nip in the air this morning. Gone are the days of heat and humidity, relentless rains, of dampness and dripping sweat. Like many others in the Garden, Shekhawat has started wearing a jacket.

Rakhee Bansi (l) distributes chocolates

Geeta Latte (r) treats us to tea and biscuits

Clearly, winter is fast approaching.
In such weather, nothing could have been any more welcome than the cup of hot tea that Geeta Latte got us this morning. She had also brought us oven-fresh biscuits, as did Fehmida Khan separately. On top, there was Rakhee Bansi treating us to chocolate bars to celebrate her new acquisition – an apartment in the same complex where Bijoy Gupta stays.
These days, half the group breaks away for the ‘rehearsals’ (ref previous post) well before the exercises are over. Of the remaining, half would be preparing for their ‘yoga classes’. What we are thus left with is barely half a dozen miserable souls who have nowhere to go, but to dutifully wrap up the exercises and head home quietly.

Those left behind to wrap up the exercises

Bihari Milwani:
Warning: Winter is coming. Do come properly dressed. No sleeveless tops/ shirts and no half pants.

D-e-f-e-r-r-r-r-... e-d

Rehearsals are on in full swing

The Annual Day function of the Club has been postponed by a week. Instead of December 16, it is now being scheduled for the following Saturday, i.e. December 23, 2017. The timing and venue remain unchanged.
Although no formal announcement has yet been made in this regard, the general opinion around is that holding the function on December 16 would deprive us of the active participation of many members who would be out of town or otherwise unavailable on that date. Most of them would be back within a week.
Significantly, December 23 being the Christmas weekend would not make much of a difference. None of our members (at least, so far) has any plans to take advantage of the holiday on Monday and combine it with Saturday and Sunday for an extended vacation out of Mumbai.
Meanwhile, rehearsals for the function have begun with renewed enthusiasm. One group took up a corner of the China Hut and another, occupied the adjoining shed of the Swasthya Kendra for a play reading session. These enthusiasts had to break out of the exercises 15 minutes before time, thereby missing the second laughter and tai-chi rounds. They would meet again in the evening.
From all appearances they are gung-ho, going full throttle for the Big Day.

Bihari Milwani:
Wow! This year my birthday will be celebrated on a grand scale at no cost to me!!!

Return of Prodigal

Cake slices from Dimapur, Nagaland

Today was Children’s Day. And the 'prodigal child' has returned…
Just kidding!
Geeta Latte, the youngest member of the Club, returned this morning after an extensive tour of the North East and had a box of cake slices to share for it. For a fortnight or so, she had travelled through inhospitable terrain,

Geeta Latte

partly on foot and by motorbike, covering hills and dense jungles ("where there are no motorable roads") into the interiors of Nagaland, Meghalaya and Assam. Along the way, she stayed with the locals in villages in primitive conditions, without electricity, eating their food, drinking from fresh water streams…
“Being so close to nature was an out-of-the-world experience,” she narrated. “The people there are so innocent, so honest and helpful that it is hard to believe such good human beings still exist.

Bihari Milwani takes to the middle: One-two, Ho ja shuru!

It is not as though they don’t have problems; but you'd find them always smiling. It’s unbelievable. They are totally unspoilt by civilization.”
Geeta had tons of stories (with photographic evidence) to illustrate what she felt of those extraordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. She had also made video recordings of her interaction with some of them and has come back so much more wise and stronger in spirit. In short, the trip has been an eye-opener, a learning experience for her.
In the Garden though, it was business as usual – except that Bihari Milwani had to conduct the second laughter round today. He had done so earlier once and it was then that we observed that he had a peculiar way to kick-start every exercise. Departing from the usual prompt of “one-two-three-four”, he has improvised a lovely trigger: “One-two, Ho ja shuru!” and everything else would follow with renewed gusto.
It is amazing how a little tweak in an otherwise boring routine can make all the difference in life.

Bihari Milwani:
It seems that while the Bangkok team had gone by plane to search for Buddha, Geeta had gone on foot on a similar mission. But none could find Buddha. Buddha was stuck up in traffic at Delhi due to smog!

What Next?

Eager-beavers for the Annual Function

Now that the dust has settled over the Bangkok Tour (November 1 to 7), a sense of restlessness is creeping into the Club. Nothing much seems to be happening. Foremost in everybody’s mind is one question: What next?
Currently, three streams of thought can be detected. The first is spearheaded by Kiran Prakash along with Bijoy Gupta, Banoo Apa, Bhaswati Bose and a few others trying to infuse some enthusiasm for the Annual Function, scheduled on December 16. The Bangkok Tour has caused an obvious disruption and they are taking time to regroup for rehearsals.
The second proposal comes from Arun Patil, who reminded us that the Sports Day is long overdue. (The last event was on December 22, 2015.) He suggested that

Arun Patil pitches for the Annual Sports Day

we stick to the same venue, Borivli National Park and be done with it at the earliest because the weather is just perfect – neither hot, nor cold. Moreover, a budget has already been allocated for Sports Day.
But Nahid Siddiqui put her foot down: “I refuse to go there in the middle of a jungle with no place to sit or rest, but for some stones and boulders…” She however, did not mind Arun suggesting a sea beach or park as an alternative venue.
The third idea, championed by Shekhawat, suggests that we set out on a picnic pronto – wherever, however and before the year runs out. The urgency is bolstered by the fact that since the picnic at Saina Resort on November 26, 2016 (see post), we have not ventured out anywhere locally.
“For the whole of 2017 we have not gone anywhere on a picnic,” Shekhawat complained today. “True, there have been outstation trips, to Rajasthan and now, Bangkok, but what about a local picnic? Sochcho, it is going to be one full year and we still cannot decide. I suggest we go to Lonavala.”
After their maiden overseas trip lately, our members are thinking Swiss Alps, not Lonavala. Their expectations have gone up. They have tasted blood!

DAY 2404

Pic of the Week

THE LADIES LOOK HAPPY... BUT WHY ARE THE MEN SO SAD?!?

Men are not sad. They are doing it sincerely. --Karun Sharma

Festive Air

NILOUFER RASSIWALA'S BIG DO: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

Niloufer Rassiwala receives her birthday calendar

A festive air hung over the Garden since morning – a month after Diwali had come and gone. It was Niloufer Rassiwala’s birthday celebration today. We were four days behind schedule, but as they say, it was worth the wait.

Shekhawat pulls off a salute

In true Rassiwala style, a grand party was laid out replete with fine food and great company, not to mention loads of laughter, joy and merriment.
Niloufer had come in dressed in regal crimson and flanked by hubby Yusuf R and daughter-in-law, Salma along with the two tiny tots of the family, Mubaraka and Jameela. They even took part in the exercises and after we had raised the customary fourth laugh and sung the birthday song in her honour, the Club’s calendar was presented to her by Bhaswati Bose amid a round of resounding applause.

Time to party

The funny part was Shekhwat pulling off

Poring over the birthday calendar

an impromptu salute, duly acknowledged by the birthday girl.
Yusuf R had graciously invited some 'personal guests' also to be present on the occasion. Among them were Mohammed Farooq (Banoo Apa’s husband), Rukhsana Khan’s newly-married daughter and of course, Vasudev Bhateja. They are all family to us. With them around and in an atmosphere of easy bonhomie and joie-de-vivre, the celebration could well have gone on and on... forever. The photographs bear testimony to the spirit of this memorable event.

Razia  Khan (r) offers a birthday bite

Karun Sharma (r) recites a ditty

Hosts, the RASSIWALAS 

Karun Sharma:
Delicious snacks and pleasing smiles from Yusuf Rassiwala's family. This is a unique club where birthdays of all members are celebrated with equal enthusiasm and joy.

Lt Col Angad Singh (retd):
Wishing very many happy returns of the day to Niloufer Rassiwala. Be happy and enjoy good health.

Yusuf Rassiwala:
Blog Monster, thank you very much for the write-up and related photographs about me and my family. I am very much obliged. I have no words to express my gratitude. MAY ALLAH BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY.

Dilip Babani:
A belated Happy Birthday, Niloufer-ji!

Silence is Golden

Bijoy Gupta(r) takes a pick of Bangkok Kit-Kat from Nahid Siddiqui

In what has become his trademark humor, Bijoy Gupta set the tone of the morning by questioning everyone for coming to the Garden before him. Turning up late as always, Shekhawat was to chastise him for “not coming on time”, only to be treated to the classic Gupta riposte: “I am on time. Who tells you people to come early?”
That did it. With no reply

Arun Patil: Deafening silence

to this one – but a burst of laughter -- the silence of the exercises was thus broken by routine babbling and sporadic laughter. But Arun ‘Disciplinarian’ Patil was unnaturally quiet today. He did not reprimand anyone or even attempt to pull up Razia Khan, his pet peeve who was conducting the exercises this morning. Shekhawat tried to provoke him by addressing him as “Mr Tokam Toki”, but to no avail.
Clearly, Arun was sulking. “What is the point of telling you people anything

Banoo Apa hugs Khatoon Baig(r)

when my advice is not taken in the right spirit?” he grumbled.
Of all the people, this hurt Razia most. Unable to bear the deafening

Razia Khan

silence of her persecutor, she pleaded desperately: “Arun-bhai, kuchch toh boliye.” Say something. This was worse than tempting the devil. For soon after, when Yusuf Rassiwala took to the middle for the second laughter round, Arun broke his silence. “Better conduct the exercises properly!” he growled.
In all this, we had clean forgotten about Khatoon Baig, who has always been a regular and punctual for the exercises. She met with a minor accident a couple of days back while leaving the Garden after the exercises. She lost her balance and stumbled, falling flat on the ground and hurting herself. There has been no news of her since.
Today she called up to inform that she did not incur any major injury, except for blood clots on her lower leg due to the impact of her fall. With timely intervention of her doctor, the clots have now disappeared and so has the pain.
“I feel fine now,” she said cheerfully. “From tomorrow I shall be at the Garden on time. Actually I could have come earlier, but I am a bit shy about drawing attention to myself. Please forgive me.”

Sweet Treats

Kajal Babani treats us to special biscuits

Bhaswati Bose distributes chocolates

Karun Sharma offers Benares sweets

Suba Prasad Maitra

Morning marked by sweet treats from three members – Karun Sharma, Bhaswati Bose and Kajal Babani. The surprise munificence, more like a windfall, prompted a witty
remark from Siba Prasad Maitra: “Aap log jaatey rahiye aur humko khilatey rahiye” (Keep going and keep feeding us)!
Karun’s mawa-stuffed parwal delicacy from Benares (ref post of November 7) was actually meant for those who were absent the day-before-yesterday and could not partake in the first round of distribution. But so tempting were those sinfully sweet golden offerings that even the earlier recipients pounced upon them greedily, wiping the boxes clean. Thankfully, Karun had brought enough to go by.
The other two treats were from Bangkok – wonderful sugar-coated crackers by Kajal and almond crusted chocolates by Bhaswati. Bihari Milwani had also treated us to chocolates yesterday from the group trip (previous post) to the Thai capital.
Incidentally, Maitra is recovering from a terrible bout of dengue that had kept him bed-ridden for 10 days. He resumed exercises yesterday and it was then that we learnt of his suffering. All along we had foolishly assumed he was out of town on tour.
Much as Maitra makes light of his affliction, insisting that it was detected at the early stages, he looked considerably weak and pulled down. The man, who has brought succor -- with timely medical advice -- to so many of us, should not have suffered like this.

Karun Sharma:
Benaras or Bangkok, Big Laaf deserve sweets, and why not? Maitra-ji rightly said, "Jaate rahiye, khilate rahiye". We are now getting ready for the Saturday treat. I found Yusuf Bhai a little conscious about sweets and avoiding them.

Siba Prasad Maitra:
It was really a great pleasure to receive various kind of sweets, biscuits and chocolates from different members who have just returned from their trips. Thanks to all. Please read my name as 'SIBA PRASAD' and not 'Suba Prasad' in the picture.

Blog Monster: The error is regretted. I stand corrected.

Back from Bangkok

Bihari Milwani (c) gets us rare chocolates 'Made in Bangkok'

The ‘Bangkok Gang’ is back. They returned yesterday actually. And it was this morning that 3 out of 20 of them showed up at the Garden to announce the success of their seven-day trip, beginning October 31-November 1. While Bihari Milwani celebrated with a box of Thai chocolates, Kajal Babani and Bhaswati Bose turned out empty-handed. But they were loaded with lots of stories…
From what we could gather from them, the trip had gone off well. For many in the group, it was a first-time experience travelling in a phoren airline (Bangkok Airways), going through the airport checks, splurging on duty-free goods

Leg Show: Some ladies got the Thai 'foot massage'

and then having to deal in foreign currency, being exposed to alien sights and sounds, trying out unfamiliar food… The group members survived these – no doubt, wiser and self-assured by it all – and now live to tell their tale.
Bhaswati presented a colorful overview of the trip, highlighting

Bhaswati Bose narrates the Bangkok experience

the places of visit, the many tourist attractions and shows, shopping expeditions, dinner cruise and so on. Kajal chipped in with her perspective and experience. No less significant were the hilarious asides on the peculiar quirks and foibles of some group members as well as the incidents, both pleasant and not-so-pleasant that should make the trip memorable.
But in the end, what emerged quite distinctly was that this was more of a shopping trip for the ladies than anything to do with Thai culture, custom or history. The abiding subject of discussion still veers around who bought how many shoes and bags, where the best bargain sales were on and how someone got ripped off or could make a killing on a certain purchase. It may all be in after-thought, but no doubt educative and enlightening.
More importantly the trip has emboldened them to explore new frontiers next time. The world is well within their grasp!

Banoo Apa on WhatsApp:
Hi 'phoren returned'! How are you? Welcome home.

Swapna Roy Chowdhury on WhatsApp:
Very refreshing trip. Enjoyed. Thanks to Bhaswati for the lovely time.

Kartikarani Mani on WhatsApp:
A very nice and memorable trip. Made lots of new friends. Thanks would not be enough for such a good experience. Can't help but thank you so much Bhaswati.

Mohammed Gulzar on WhatsApp:
Bahut bahut shukriya ek bahut achche trip ko organize karne ke liye. Bhaswati-ji, meri family apne dil ki gehraiyon se aapka shukria ada karte hain. Aapke sath meri family bahut secure feel karte hain.

Pramila Singhal on WhatsApp:
Thanks for arranging the lovely trip. You have been so kind and helpful. I love you very much.

Bihari Milwani:
We also had the unique experience of getting a refund of VAT in a foreign country.

Bhaswati Bose:
Thank you everyone for making this trip a success. We got to know some lovely people from outside the club -- the forever happy and smiling Rani, the mature and sober Pramila, sweet Krishna-di from Kolkata and above all, the most accommodating, adjusting and sporting Swapna-di. She was the real voice of reason in our group. We got a lot of positive energy from them. Thanks, once again.

Kiran Prakash:
It's difficult to believe that someone, who till two years ago, was just an ordinary member like most of us, has graduated to not only taking a keen interest in contributing to the Club's Annual Function but also practically, single-handedly and successfully organising domestic and overseas trips. Congratulations Bhaswati. God bless you.

In Anticipation

Karun Sharma had brought us special sweets from Benares

Word about our Annual Function on December 16 has been travelling far and wide. From Delhi, Tara Chand Seth wanted to know yesterday when he should time his visit to Mumbai as it is getting increasingly cold out there. He said his younger brother has also been telling him to visit Mumbai for some family-related work.

The love-hate saga of Arun Patil
and Razia Khan continues

Tara Chand would rather schedule his visit to take in the Annual Function and of course, escape the intense winter freeze of Delhi in December-January.
Coincidentally, a day earlier (Sunday), Angad Singh had called from Mohali, wanting to know the exact date of the Annual Function.

Happy Birthday
Niloufer Rassiwala

He has to visit his daughter in Bangalore and would like to combine Mumbai in his travel plan. He had some kind words to say about the Club, the “sense of belonging” he shares with us and how much he misses the morning rendezvous in Mumbai. The happy news is that he is taking good care of himself and much as he stays all alone, is generally hale and hearty.
Meanwhile, Karun Sharma marked his return this morning with the choicest parwal (green potato) sweets from Benares. He had gone there to attend the annual Old Students’ Reunion of Benares Hindu University (ref post of November 2). The mawa-stuffed confection, soaked in syrup, was a first-time experience for most of us. His Delhi visit, Karun said, will have to wait.
By the way, it happened to be Niloufer Rassiwala’s birthday today. But we had to wish her in absentia as she is currently away at Surat and would return only after Thursday. Before leaving, her hubby Yusuf Rassiwala had said that she would be celebrating her birthday with us this Saturday, November 11. Watch this space.

Dilip Babani: Happy Birthday, Niloufer-ji!

DAY 2398

Pic of the Week

TEMPLE HOPPING IN BANGKOK

In Mourning

The Garden wore a deserted look

Today was a national holiday. Guru Purab. The 548th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, founder of the Sikh faith. But the Garden wore a deserted look, as though in mourning. Even the late-comers did not bother to show up. Usually when the prabhat pheri crosses the street across the Garden, people rush out of the gate to greet the procession and collect kada prasad. But today, there was none of that fanfare or cheer.
It was therefore

Checking the night life in Pattaya

left to Bijoy Gupta, as always, to brighten the morning for us. And he started out by saying how left-out he felt, regretting why he did not go to Bangkok (see earlier posts). It was actually a teaser directed at Shekhawat. But as the latter was in no mood to fool about today (he had to take his wife to a doctor in Santa Cruz), he turned his attention towards Banoo Apa. “They say when you go to Bangkok, you knock off 20 years of your age,” he proclaimed in mock seriousness.
For a moment Banoo Apa was taken aback. Upon realising that it was a joke, she promptly cut Gupta short: “Had I gone to Bangkok, by now paigaams would have started coming for me!”
Gupta has a peculiar theory about Bangkok being peopled by mysterious other-worldly creatures (“neither male, nor female”) who can hypnotize anybody with their seductive charm, such that “you will forget who you are”. He claims that some of his close friends failed to even recognize themselves in the mirror and behaved funnily after returning from Bangkok.
“I'll know the truth when Pushpa (his wife) comes back,” he said tongue-in-cheek. “I don't want to disturb her now. She is with her friends and as far as I know, they are having a gala time. I believe they have left Pattaya by now and would stay put in Bangkok for the next three days.”
Here’s a picture of Pushpa Gupta (ext left) with four of her friends at Pattaya’s main tourist thoroughfare, the famous Walking Street.

Missed Flight!

Kiran Prakash (r) explains how he missed going to Bangkok

Normal people usually miss the bus. Some also manage to miss the train. But how many would miss a plane – that too an international flight?
Well, Kiran Prakash holds this rare distinction, having successfully failed to board the aircraft that took the Bangkok group on their maiden overseas tour on the night of October 31 (see post). He turned up today at the Garden to explain how.
Kiran Prakash returned from Egypt the same day the 20-member group left for the Thai capital. By a strange coincidence, their timings overlapped. His flight landed at Mumbai airport around the same time the Bangkok flight took off.
In other words, while he was negotiating his way through Immigration and Customs, at another end of the airport, the Bangkok group was queuing up at a Departure gate!
“My flight from Egypt was horribly delayed,” Kiran Prakash said. “My original plan was to land in Mumbai in the afternoon, freshen up at home and return to the airport

With love from Pattaya: Do you recognise anybody?

in time to catch the flight to Bangkok. It was possible, were it not for the six-hour delay in take-off at Cairo airport.”
Terrible as this did sound, it was only natural of us to sympathize with Kiran Prakash – more so, as he had to forfeit the air fare and other costs paid in advance for the Bangkok trip. It is no doubt, a huge loss to him. But surprisingly he was quite cool about it and soon diverted our attention to how enjoyable, though hectic his Egypt trip had been.
He took out his mobile phone and showed us pictures and video recordings of Cairo, Alexandria, Giza, Aswan and other historic places he and his wife had visited – of pyramids, ancient temple ruins, sculptures and artifacts… The highlight of the six-day trip was surely the Nile Cruise – an experience of a lifetime as we could gather.
Meanwhile, to remind him and the rest of us in the Garden of what we were missing, the Bangkok gang has sent in a lovely group photo (above left). From the look of it and what we are hearing from different sources, they too are having a jolly good time.

Bihari Milwani (from Pattaya):
It was destined that Kiran Prakash should miss the trip to Bangkok. He has to maintain the quorum for the exercises and hold fort for Big Laafin Garden No 4.

Kiran Prakash:
Even if destined, it was unfortunate that I could not join the group. You can imagine how painful it was for me to see the Bangkok Airways plane parked just next to mine when I was disembarking from my flight. I have traveled twice with this group -- to Kerala and to Rajasthan -- and had enjoyed a lot. The trips organised by our group are economical and relaxed. And we do not miss any worth-seeing place. We have lots of in-house entertainment as well. It was indeed unfortunate to miss this trip to Bangkok.

Dilip Babani:
Very nice photo. Enjoy the trip. Have beer, chicken, wine and dance. All are looking refreshed and happy.

Exodus Continues

Yusuf Rassiwala is concerned about Naseer Putani Shah (l)

Another one from the Club has joined the 'great winter exodus'. Karun Sharma today declared that he would not be coming to the Garden from tomorrow as he is leaving for Benares to attend the Students’ Reunion of his alma mater – Benares Hindu University (BHU).
From there, he would be going to Delhi for an indefinite period.
The day-after, Yusuf Rassiwala shall be leaving for Surat for a week. The odd part is that those who had left earlier and were supposed to have returned by now, are yet to report to the Garden. Kiran Prakash is one such. He had returned from Egypt the day-before yesterday and was expected for the exercises

Karun Sharma

this morning. But there is no sign of him.
The reason such absences have begun to matter is that we are running out of people, even to start the exercises. This morning there were just three of us.

Shekhawat is concerned about Nahid Khan's (l) grand-daughter

(Later of course, many joined in, taking the day’s count to barely a dozen.) On top, we are faced with a disturbing trend of people falling ill due to a sudden change in the weather.
Today Naseer Putani Shah was in a bad shape, coughing continuously and unable to stand for long during the exercises. Yusuf R advised him to take rest at home and see a better doctor than the one he is consulting. Naseer suffers from acute breathlessness, which gets worse every time there is a weather change.
Worse still, is Nahid Khan’s situation. Her grand-daughter has been detected with dengue and was admitted to Cooper Hospital yesterday. The girl is very much attached to Nahid and insists that she stay by her bedside at all times. Nahid says she will have to “do night duty” now at the hospital, which might lead to her skipping the morning exercises in the Garden.
Let us pray that the child recovers soon.

Meaning of Money

The Bangkok group left last night (ref previous post) and attendance in the Garden dropped to single digit today. Significantly, Arun ‘Disciplinarian’ Patil also took off -- for Goa.

Garden wears a barren look

That, more than anything else, changed the atmosphere in the morning. With nobody to pick on anybody, everybody could let their hair down and have a ball through the exercises.
The chatter and bonhomie spilled over after the prayers as Shekhawat turned suddenly emotional and held us spellbound with a discourse on the transient nature of money. “It could be there with you today and gone tomorrow. Few people have experienced both extremes the way I did,” he said. Nobody interrupted him.
It is a tale that bears retelling.
Shekhawat is a school dropout. He lost his father when studying in Class 7 and had to take up menial jobs to support his family. He was paid a pittance, in food grain (not cash), just enough for all at home to have a frugal meal once a day. After working for six-and-half years as daily wage labourer for a village contractor, he learnt one day that a recruitment drive was on for the military at Alwar. Shekhawat did not even have the bus fare of Rs10 to go there. He pawned the family gold and somehow

Shekhawat narrates his story

managed to reach the recruitment camp in time.
To cut a long story short, this was the turning point of his life. A man who did not know what “navy” meant, went on make a mark for himself and made his family (and village) proud. He narrated interesting anecdotes on how he passed the entrance tests, why the examiner helped him qualify, how he upgraded himself from a Mira Road service quarter to Colaba Navy Nagar...
But the more important thing is that through his career he put his money to good use. He never blew up cash or indulged in luxury. Today, he is the proud owner of property across seven cities in Rajasthan, besides one farmhouse plot in Lonavala and three premium apartments in Mumbai. He donates liberally to temple charities, supports needy children with school fees and text books and pays handsomely (often in lakhs) at weddings in his village. “I have not forgotten the day when I literally begged for 10 rupees and nobody in the village gave me that bus fare to Alwar,” Shekhawat mused. “I don't want that to happen to anybody. Today, the village people treat me as a VIP. They know that anybody in need will not return from my doorstep empty-handed.”
Moral of the story: Money begets respect.

Dilip Babani:
Money is very important. If you have money, everybody is yours. People will respect you, listen to you and even relatives will look after you. Money has a lot of power. If you have money power, you should take care of needy people. Respect all people, rich and poor.