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!