Breathing Time

Discussion on preparations for the Annual Day function 

Banoo Apa treats us to cake and tea in extended X-mas celebration

The Annual Day function has been postponed again (ref post of December 11). But this time it is for very good reasons. Instead of being under pressure of an unreasonable deadline and making a slap-dash job of it, it was decided this morning to move slowly but systematically, put our best foot forward and mount an impressive show we can all be proud of. More important, everyone should enjoy the process.
This realization dawned after a week of rehearsals (for the plays) whereby, the strengths and weaknesses of participants have come to light. As Kiran Prakash pointed out, emphasis was being laid, rather prematurely, on the final performance before people had even memorized their lines. “We ought to concentrate on dialogue delivery, diction, voice modulation, etc. only afterwards,” he explained.
Indeed, such fine-tuning takes at least two months of regular rehearsals even for professional actors. And here, we are mostly inexperienced non-actors. A couple of exercises were suggested such as leveling of pitch (to instill confidence) and seeking the help of a prompter (preferably a female voice like Banoo Apa’s). These would greatly reduce stress in the run-up to the show.
Another lesson learnt in the past few days was that we had unwittingly put the cart before the horse. We still need to take stock of our resources (including the creative) before deciding upon the scale of the show – or even its date. Siba Prasad Maitra offered to approach Celebration Club for a donation and a letter of request has accordingly been prepared for him to carry.
As for creative inputs (apart from the plays) nothing has yet been decided. Potential performers need to be identified and coached to fill at least 90 minutes of programming time, before a schedule can be drawn up. Make-up, costumes, props, light and sound, anchoring, etc. are also critical concerns. Only after these issues are resolved would we be able to fix a date for the function and approach a decorator for erecting the stage.
Till then, we have got ourselves a breather.

Lt Col Angad Singh (rtd):
* Kiran Prakash has given good suggestions. We should continue with the rehearsals so that our actors modulate their acting and voice to give proper effect. Needless to say that choreographer has also to take lot of pain and render help to various actors. Everyone has to work hard to make the event a success.

* Our daily exercises keep us healthy and tuned to our daily routine. Similarly our Annual Function is an important event. It stimulates not only all the members but also gives additional oxygen to the audience. It is a day of reckoning and the audience would remember it till the next event. As such it is important that we all put our best foot forward and ensure that the event has the desired effect. Wishing you all the best of luck.

Christmas 2018

Playing Santa: Kiran Prakash

It was a morning of glorious goof-ups. Someone forgets his house keys, only to find them later. Another forgets the sequence of exercises. A third laughs out of turn and abruptly shuts up when corrected. A fourth forgets what date it was today.
This had to happen all at once on the same morning. And while we were left wondering whether our brain exercise (of tongue wagging) was working in reverse gear, Kiran Prakash abruptly

Father Christmas visits us at the Garden today

took to his heels and without uttering a word, headed towards the Garden gate.
In keeping with the joyous mood of the morning, we surmised he must have remembered something that he had forgotten. When he did not return after a while, Nahid Khan declared authoritatively that Kiran Prakash had driven off to his house in Malad. But Banoo Apa and Bhaswati Bose, the eternal optimists, speculated wishfully that he would turn up and surprise us with a cake!
Meanwhile, Siba Prasad Maitra floated an amusing story of cops impounding Kiran Prakash’s car and towing it away. “They do this regularly during festival time, just to make an extra buck. Kiran Prakash must have sensed this and gone to retrieve his car. If he is lucky, he’ll get it back for Rs200. Otherwise he shall have to pay Rs350,” Maitra reasoned.
Against this backdrop of wild conjecture and suspense, a smiling Kiran Prakash materialized after the exercises, dressed in red – a lovely Santa Claus cap perched on his head and holding a matching red bag bulging with goodies. He held out fistfuls of toffees for everyone and much to our amazement and infinite delight, there was a Christmas cake as well! Could there be a better way to celebrate the yuletide spirit?
Merry Christmas to All!

Lt Col Angad Singh (rtd):
Hurrah, it's X-mas time! Enjoy in the true spirit of oneness while we celebrate all festivals with equal fervor. This reflects unity in diversity -- a trait found in the armed forces only. It is unique to our Club also. Congrats!!! Long live Kiran Prakash and the likes of him.

Pre-Christmas

Members wish Bihari Milwani on his 63rd birthday

Christmas arrived a day too soon at the Garden. Bihari Milwani celebrated his birthday this morning. He turned 63 yesterday. Belated though his treat was, we had the benefit of a double celebration with phoren chocolate squares today.

Bihari Milwani receives birthday calendar from his 'angel'

Karishma distributes chocolates

The funny part though was that Bihari’s ‘computer brain’ let him down. It failed to break his age down to months and days. Otherwise, he has always been prompt at accusing us of inhabiting the planet for a mind-boggling number of days, hours and minutes (as though we have overstayed our welcome). Not just that, he unfailingly reminds us of our wedding anniversary every year -- the worst thing anyone can do in civilized society. But when it came to his own big day, he was completely at sea!

Daughter and father in a candid moment

Bijoy Gupta (in red) belts out a friendship song

Fortunately for Bihari, he had his ‘little angel’ from the City of Angels (Los Angeles, USA) to salvage the situation. Karishma Milwani presented him with the club calendar and went on to distribute the chocolates to all present. We had an unusually large gathering of well-wishers who had braved the early morning chill to felicitate Bihari and join the morning celebration.
As per tradition, we raised a fourth laugh after the exercises and sang the birthday song. Bijoy Gupta joined in, crooning Tera jaisa yaar kahan (from the film Yaarana) and forgot the rest of the song after the first stanza. Nothing unusual about it. That’s what Big Laaf is about!

The 'birthday boy' in the midst of well-wishers

Bihari Milwani:
I did not want to be at the receiving end by saying that 11 days back there was a more important occasion of having attained the landmark of 23,000 days. Today I completed 23,011 days.

Day 2729

Pic of the Week

MANY BOUNTIFUL RETURNS OF THE DAY... HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Many, many, many, many, happy returns of the day 💐🎂💐, dear Uncle --Geeta Latte

Have a 'fruitful' life ahead, Milwani-ji. Enjoy the day! --Bhaswati Bose

Happy Birthday, Bihari-ji. Many happy returns of the day. --Kiran Prakash

Milwani-ji -- Many, many happy returns of the day. May Allah bless you and your family with health, wealth and happiness. --Niloufer 'n' Yusuf Rassiwala

A fruitful and mouth-watering Happy Birthday, Milwani-ji. Never imagined that while presenting birthday calendars to everyone, you had reserved baskets of fruits for your own birthday. Wishing you a very happy, healthy and eventful long life. --Angad Singh

Drama Rehearsals

Karun Sharma (r) brought us sweets from a visit to Benares

Preparations for the club’s Annual Day function in February have gathered momentum. With just about a month between then and now, the focus at present is on the drama rehearsals, under the active supervision of Siba Prasad Maitra and Bijoy Gupta.
Two one-act plays have been scheduled for the occasion – Feku Baba and Dilip Kumar. Both are slapstick comedies, authored and directed by Gupta. He shall also be performing in them together with Yusuf Rassiwala, Shekhawat, Nahid Khan, Bhaswati Bose and other actors of the club.
Kiran Prakash and Karun Sharma, who also hold key roles in the plays, returned to the Garden this morning and straightaway joined the rehearsals after the exercises. The former was away exploring the higher reaches of the North East while the latter visited his alma mater, Benares Hindu University and picked up a box of an exotic Benaresi sweet – a variation of the Bengali labanna latika – for us on his return. It was a thoughtful gesture.
As for the rehearsals, we are still at the stage of script reading and memorizing the lines. Soon the drill of dialogue delivery would begin, followed by exercises of synchronizing voice with action and finally, inter-personal coordination of cast members for the stage.
Clearly, a lot of ground needs to be covered. But going by past experience and the enthusiasm of our actors, they are not just super-confident, but FEARLESS in their innocence about facing any audience any time. Their self-belief is palpable.

Lt Col Angad Singh (rtd):
All of us are waiting eagerly for the Annual Function. The members are emboldened by their earlier experience. The outcome will surely be enjoyable and the audience will be crying, 'Yeh dil mange more!'

Selfless Love

Banoo Apa treats the Club to cake with tea and biscuits

Banoo Apa is not well. From the time she returned from the Mt Abu-Udaipur trip (ref post of November 22), she has been under the weather. Chronic cough and cold has kept her away from the Garden. Yet, on December 8, she pulled herself out of bed early morning and celebrated Baby Enaya’s gold medal run with us.
We had imagined the worst was over for Banoo Apa. But she suffered a relapse. A change of doctors and a new course of treatment followed, with little effect. Still, she showed up in the morning today – this time with a cake. Why? Her daughter had saved it for the “Garden people” from their family

Movie poster

celebration at home, last Sunday.
Nothing but selfless love towards Club members had made Banoo Apa risk her health and brave the early morning chill to share that cake with us. She could easily have done so a day or two later, when her condition improved.

Santosh Tyagi

“But I did not want to keep the cake in the fridge too long for it to lose its freshness and taste,” she explained.
Banoo Apa had one grouse though. “Not a single person from the Garden called me to ask about my health,” she complained. “What is the point sending me impersonal text messages – that ‘we are missing you’ etc.? You could have easily picked up the phone and made a call, couldn’t you?”
Meanwhile, a section of the Club geared up for the movie of the month – Kedarnath. Billed as an “inter-faith love story”, it is about a rich Hindu girl (Sara Ali Khan) flipping over a poor Muslim boy (Sushant Singh Rajput) with Kedarnath Temple and the magnificent Uttarakhand mountains serving as the backdrop. Kajal and Renu Babani, Naheed Siddiqui, Bhaswati Bose and Nahid Khan among others would be going for the noon show of this film today, at PVR ECX Cineplex.
Santosh Tyagi, a ‘movie-outing regular’ was also supposed to go, but the sudden indisposition of her son kept her away. He has been under treatment for an acute liver condition at Nanavati Hospital for the past six days. This explains why, of late, we don't get to see Santosh Tyagi in the Garden.

Lt Col Angad Singh (rtd):
Big Laaf is a close-knit club. Banoo Apa's complaint over nobody from the club inquiring about her well-being is very relevant. It makes a lot of difference when you call a person to inquire about his/ her health rather than sending a message by SMS. Hope we take care of this.

Short ‘n’ Sweet

Kajal and Renu Babani pose with the birthday calendar

Kajal Babani turned a year older today. But there were two reasons to celebrate this morning. One was obvious – the birthday. And the other was a surprise – Renu Babani, her sister-in-law had shown up, from Canada.

Packets of goodies for all

Gupta (r) belts out a cheesy film number

It was therefore in the fitness of things that Renu should be entrusted with presenting Kajal her birthday calendar. That apart, they were as similar as two peas in a pod before the former packed her bags and relocated to Canada a few years back. She is now here on a vacation.
We, as usual, sang the birthday song and raised the customary 'fourth laugh' for the birthday girl. Bijoy Gupta interjected by belting out a snappy romantic ditty and with Kajal’s hubby, Dilip Babani organizing the eats, it had been a short but sweet birthday celebration in the Garden this morning.

Renu Babani:
It was great meeting everyone. I felt so welcome and comfy. Mr Bose declared straightaway that he has work for me. I was startled at that very point and asked cautiously, 'What work?'. But thank you for the honour of presenting the calendar to my dear sis-in-law. I shall make it a point to come by sometimes to say hello. It's good to be in touch.

Lt Col Angad Singh (rtd):
Wishing Kajal a happy birthday and long, healthy married life.

Cricketing Glory

Qadir Bano (centre, in green) plays the gracious hostess, celebrating her son's achievement on the cricket field 

Mohammad Aarif Khan with the trophy

The other day, we rejoiced over the gold medal-win of an upcoming sprint queen – Banoo Apa’s cute, little grand-daughter, Enaya (ref post of December 8).

The family: Salma (r) serves Nahid Khan while Rehan and
Qadir Bano watch in the background

Today, we celebrated the victory of another sporting champion, Qadir Bano’s son.
Mohammad Aarif Khan is a cricketer. As captain of INSPIRE, he led his team to a resounding victory in the limited overs' ICPL

Urmila Sinha (l) serves gaajar halwa

(Inter Chapter Premier League) cricket tournament in Mumbai to lift the trophy on December 12.
Aarif did not join us in the Garden this morning. His son, Rehan was there to represent him and what we gathered was that the 39-year-old has always been an avid cricketer and a fitness fiend at that. “My dad keeps wickets,” the little boy informed with obvious pride.
Rehan was accompanied by his mother, Salma and together with Qadir Bano, they laid out a grand spread of lip-smacking boiled chana masala, stuffed roti roll, upma and a giant mawa sweet – followed by typical Rajasthani chai. It was a feast fit for kings.
The hosts did not stop there. After serving us all, they invited others from the Garden, including members of the group with whom Qadir Bano does her daily yoga exercises.
And still there was more. Many took the stuff home in plastic packets, to be relished at leisure.
Earlier in the morning, Urmila Sinha dished out gaajar halwa she had been promising for long. Like several other members, she too is making a habit of sharing with us the delicacies she stirs up in her kitchen from time to time.

Lucky 13th

Urmila Sinha is 'coronated'
by Yusuf Rassiwala

It was Lucky Thursday for Urmila Sinha as she was formally inducted into Big Laaf first thing in the morning. Before we could start the exercises, Yusuf Rassiwala discreetly fished out a cap from his bag and performed the so-called ‘Coronation Ceremony’, welcoming her as a full-fledged member of the Club.
“I had a spare cap lying with me,” he explained, amid a round of applause.
The induction follows a near unanimous approval of the club’s Managing Committee yesterday, keeping in view Urmila’s exemplary track record during the past few months.

Shekhawat is amused

The common consensus was that she has all along been ‘more regular and punctual than most regular members’ and that she has also completed the requisite three months of attendance to qualify as a bona fide member.
However, a piquant situation arose when Urmila could not tell us when she was born and like Shekhawat (and Naseer Putani Shah) had to fall back on hearsay and family lore to put a date to her birth (for our record). “There was no system of birth certificates in our village those days,” she pleaded. “All I can say is that I ought to be in my sixties by now.”
Visibly amused, Shekhawat egged her to recall if a natural calamity had struck her village when she was born. “I was born in the year when our village was submerged in floods,” he prompted. “On that basis, my family elders had calculated my date of birth!”
Urmila’s face brightened instantly and she revealed that her village (near Dhanbad) reeled under unprecedented drought the year she was born. “My parents tell me the famine was so severe that they survived by peeling the bark of trees and boiling them for food,” she said.
Whatever that might mean, Siba Prasad Maitra had found his answer. “You were born on November 11, 1958,” he proclaimed, effectively conferring Urmila with a birthday (apart from the club cap) today. It is another matter there are no birthdays in the month of November in our Club calendar.

Lt Col Angad Singh (rtd):
Welcome, Urmila Sinha to the club. Hurrah for the coronation and the gift of a birth day. Now we have a member born in November!

February 9

Discussions in progress for the Annual Function

Saturday, February 9, 2019 is the “tentative date” the club has fixed for the upcoming Annual Day function (ref post of November 29).
Making the announcement today, Siba Prasad Maitra said that any date after this may be quite inconvenient as summer would have set in by then. “We shall have time to hold ten rehearsals by February 9,” he opined. "That should be enough."
The announcement comes close on the heels of the finalization of the two plays to be staged on the occasion.

Banoo Apa (l) distributes kaju caramels

Both have been conceived and scripted by Bijoy Gupta – one titled Dilip Kumar and the other, Feku Baba. The latter was read to a select audience yesterday and approved.
“We shall have music, songs and dances as well,” Maitra added. “Since I have taken the responsibility (of organizing the function), just leave it to me.

Rushsana Khan (l) lovingly feeds Banoo Apa a peda

We will put up a good show with everybody’s cooperation.”
This was music to many ears -- particularly those who, in the absence of any rehearsal yet, were skeptical about whether the function would actually take off. For the last Annual Function (ref post of January 20) rehearsals had begun four months in advance.
Meanwhile, Rukhsana Khan celebrated the arrival of a new member in her family with pedas. Her daughter, Sadaaf has been blessed with a baby boy. Our blessings (and the customary fourth laugh this morning) go to mother and son.
The best part though was our irrepressible Banoo Apa partaking in the celebration with gusto. She distributed kaju caramels as her personal treat for Rukhsana turning grandma (yet again)! Who, in this time and age, would have such a giant heart? It seems almost unreal.

Siba Prasad Maitra:
Upon seeing the doubts raised on the Annual Function, I wanted to take the responsibility assuming full support from all members. I know that two months are not sufficient for a programme like this. But I strongly believe if we all work with a firm determination to make it happen, it is possible. Requesting all members to support, cooperate and take active part to ensure the Annual Function does not get clubbed with a picnic and that we do justice to it.

DAY 2722

Pic(s) of the Week

Pit stops of a glorious journey that began THIS DAY, 45 years ago... 

(Photo Courtesy: NATIONAL MAITRA ARCHIVE OF INDIA)

A very happy wedding anniversary, Mrs and Mr S. P. Maitra. 45 years includes 11 leap years and makes 1.42 billion seconds. May your journey continue with many more billions of seconds of love, good cheer and the happiness of togetherness. --Bihari Milwani

Wish you both a very happy marriage anniversary. I pray ALLAH BLESSES YOU AND YOUR FAMILY with health, wealth and happiness in years to come. --Yusuf Rassiwala

Thanks, Blog Monster. You have made my day by reminding me about this special occasion. My sincere thanks to all the members of Big Laaf. --Siba Prasad Maitra

A happy, married life is an enjoyable journey. The marriage anniversary is a reminder of the blessings of this journey. May God bless the Maitras. I pray they continue on their happy journey for a long time. --Angad Singh

Golden Girl

Striking gold: Enaya

Everybody does a song and dance on a child’s academic scores. But how often do we get to celebrate the exploits of a tiny tot

Banoo Apa (c) celebrates with tea and snacks

on the track and field?

Zarina Khan (l) distributes Lucknawi besan-ki-barfi

For that matter, how often do we hear of a four-year-old striking gold in sports? Or perhaps, see a doting grandma basking in the glory of her ward’s success as a sprinter?
Well, that doting grandmother today was Banoo Apa and the child in question was Baby Enaya. (We call her so because we have been seeing her grow literally, since her birth.) The little cherub ran like a lapwing on her school Annual Day recently and emerged tops in the ‘flat race’ event, claiming a gold medal.
However, we got rewarded for her pains this morning with hot home-brewed tea and biscuits, courtesy Banoo Apa. It was doubtless a proud moment for her, as indeed it was for all of us who are so fond of Enaya. May she go on to win many more gold medals in years to come. Our hearty congratulations to her parents, Rakshanda and Sachin Tyagi as well.
Meanwhile, Zarina Khan shared a box of besan ki barfi she had procured from Lucknow. It was a rare treat for us as we seldom get to sample this sweetmeat in Mumbai. We thank Zarina for keeping us in mind – especially as there was no particular occasion for her to do so.

First Reading

Bijoy Gupta conducts the first 'script reading' session for his play

Hari Singh Shekhawat is on cloud nine. From Kadak Singh Jailer, he has just been ‘promoted’ to the rank of Inspector Zalim Singh – the role he would essay in Bijoy Gupta’s new play to be staged in the club’s Annual Day function early next year.
It is the main role. “I have written the role keeping Shekhawat in mind,” revealed Gupta in the course of the first 'script reading' session this morning. “Nobody else was as keen to play the part. He insisted on being Zalim Singh!”
Shekhawat has obviously tasted blood after playing the much talked-about role of a bumbling jailer in the play put up on the last Annual Function. Zalim Singh is very much up his street – more so since it has been tailored to suit his histrionic talent.
However, he was strictly warned not to let the cat out of the bag by reciting his lines to all and sundry, as he used to the last time around. In fact, the script reading session this morning was a hush-hush affair, conducted in front of a select audience – mostly those associated with the play.
Even so, curious passersby could not help overhearing Gupta’s full-throated narration and chuckling to themselves. One young bystander made no secret of his interest in the goings-on and hovered around till the end, breaking into sporadic peals of laughter like a madman.
By common consensus, the rib-tickler should be a runaway hit – the main highlight of our Annual Function.

Lt Col Angad Singh (rtd):
It is good that a beginning has been made. Let us hope that the event will prove attractive and be remembered by all.

46th Anniversary

Bihari Milwani presents by proxy (thru Fahmida Khan) a memento to mark Yusuf Rassiwala's 46th wedding anniversary

An air of sublime happiness hung over the Garden this morning as Yusuf Rassiwala was reminded of his first love during his student days at St Xavier’s, Mumbai. Like boys his age, girls were a prime subject of interest in the group

Yusuf R treats us to sinfully sweet aflatoon

he hung around with.
But Yusuf R was besotted by a particular damsel who caught his eye one day. It was clearly love at first sight. “Since then I kept dreaming of Nilu… if only she could become part of my life in the future,” he was to reminisce today.
Needless to mention, the dream came true. He tied the knot with Niloufer on December 2, 1972 and thereafter, it has been one long momentous journey that has stood the test of time. “I alone know what that journey has been,” he added with a twinkle in the eye, tongue firmly in cheek.
Yusuf R was only echoing what all married couples would like to say but cannot. Eventually it took Fahmida Khan’s presence of mind to hum a melody from the yesteryear hit, Raja Hindustani – ‘Aaye ho meri zindagi mein tum bahaar ban ke…’ and place things in perspective.
“Go home and sing this song to your dream girl!” she ordered mischievously.
It was in this spirit of bonhomie that Yusuf R celebrated his 46th wedding anniversary with us in the Garden today morning. He had box of aflatoon with him for grabs. And we raised a fourth laugh after the exercises to mark the occasion.
Bihari Milwani presented by proxy a beautiful handcrafted memento -- in the form of a cylindrical vase, embellished with photos of Niloufer and Yusuf R – on behalf of Big Laaf. He could not make it to the Garden today due to personal engagements. So Fahmida filled in, doing the honors. Also, Niloufer Rassiwala was conspicuous by her absence.

Admiring the finer details of artistry in the memento 

Bihari Milwani:
* The memento was given to him as he is often unable to recollect the date of his wedding anniversary. I kept my word of reminding him on this anniversary date.

* Yusuf-bhai, please tell me the date when you first met Niloufer. I promise you, every year I will present you one more memento on that date.

Yusuf Rassiwala:
Milwani-saab, marriage anniversary ki date batane mein 2 gold bangles galey mein aa gaye. First meeting ki date? Sorry, may bataney ka risk nahi loonga.

DAY 2718

Pic of the Week

Celebrating 46 years of togetherness, today

Wow! Forty-six years include 11 leap years -- which means (46 x 365+11) 16,801 days i.e. 168 centuries plus Lucky One. May the couple score many more centuries of healthy, wealthy, cheerful, wonderful and loving togetherness. --Bihari Milwani

A very Happy Wedding Anniversary to both of you. Enjoy the day with family. --Bhaswati Bose

Happy Wedding Anniversary to both of you. May the Almighty shower His choicest blessings and you continue to live together happily for years to come.--Kiran Prakash

A VERY HAPPY WEDDING ANNIVERSARY TO BOTH OF YOU. --Dilip Babani

The picture says: "Yeh abhee kal ki hi baat hai"! Congratulations to the young couple. --Karun Sharma

Niloufer and Yusuf Rassiwala:
We thank all members of Big Laaf for showering us with so much of love, affection and blessings through SMS, WhatsApp and this blog. These are very soothing to our heart and mind. We pray that God fulfills all your wishes and bestows you good health and happiness. With lots of love, Yusuf and Niloufer.

‘Pol Khol’ Programme

Brainstorming over the New Year's Day programme

Kiran Prakash’s persistence in having a New Year’s Day celebration in the Garden has finally paid off. After extensive discussions this morning, an uproariously zany programme was conceived

Zarina Khan returned from
Qatar with chocolates

that should leave us all in splits for the rest of 2019.
To be called Pol Khol Programme, this shall be a brainchild of the Club’s two most naturally gifted jokesters, Bijoy Gupta and Fahmida Khan. It is being devised as an unsparingly, all-inclusive, runaway laughter riot befitting the occasion -- something that is refreshingly original, never before witnessed in the Club.
However, details are being withheld, for obvious reasons.
Kiran Prakash had been resolutely pressing for such light-hearted entertainment to usher in the New Year, only to discover that every play, skit or sketch being planned was getting hijacked for the relatively high-profile Annual Day function.
At one point, it was even decided to merge the two events (ref post of November 24) into one. (This would be a pity as we already have a budget allocated specifically for the New Year Day’s celebration.) Were it not for Kiran Prakash’s initiative, we would have drawn a blank on January 1, 2019.
Bijoy Gupta, for one, was visibly ecstatic by today's outcome. With Fahmida as his sounding board, he started bubbling with ideas and even came out with a rough format for the programme. On Yusuf Rassiwala’s suggestion, the two would now fine-tune the details and together hammer out a workable script in the next few days.
As always, light snacks and refreshments would be served on-the-house to all participants at the end of the programme.

Bihari Milwani:
Come on, friends. Your countdown for Annual Function has started. Only 31 days left.

Getting Curiouser

Siba Prasad Maitra (in red tee) holds a briefing for the Annual Day function

Things are getting curiouser and curiouser by the day about the club's Annual Day function. All that was discussed and decided the day-before (ref post of November 27) was overturned this morning as Siba Prasad Maitra took over the reins of the event.
But it was with a caveat: “I am assuming responsibility provided the initiative comes from you all. This has to be a joint show with everybody involved.”
For starters, the function will not be combined with the New Year’s celebration on January 5 (as decided earlier). It will be held on an evening and mounted on a proper stage like the last time -- with lights, sound system and the works. “Dilip Babani has committed to putting up the stage for Rs 5,000 only,” Maitra revealed.
However, no date for the show has yet been announced. Bijoy Gupta was entrusted with staging a one-act play and he promptly came up with a brilliant ‘rough draft’ on the #MeToo movement that had us all double up in laughter. He asked for time to develop the idea.
There will also be the usual items of variety entertainment, such as group song, dances, skits, mono-acting, etc. as part of the programming. As of now, this remains work-in-progress.

Bihari Milwani:
Wonderful! The entire programme, including the story, actors, the stage, etc. has been finalised, but not the date of the event. It is like the baaraat is ready and on the way, but the date of marriage is not finalised.

Lt Col Angad Singh (rtd):
It is nice that the Annual Day programme is being chalked out. Hope I too will be able to join you all in time. My best wishes, as always.

Another Reunion

Banoo Apa shares gajaks with us

Siba Maitra gets us special sandesh 

Urmila Sinha distributes methi luddos 

Banoo Apa finally showed up at the Garden this morning. It was almost a week since she returned from the Mt Abu-Udaipur trip (November 16 to 22) and while other members of the group have been sharing their experience and gajaks with us, Banoo Apa has remained bed-ridden at home, battling a nasty bout of cough and cold. Not a day has passed in the Garden without someone or the other inquiring about her welfare and every time she kept assuring us she would make it the following day.
That day dawned today. Banoo Apa strode into the Garden with rare resolve, carrying a box of gajaks and loads of stories on the recent trip. But she looked pulled down and chose not to exercise today.

File photo of Razia and Tahira (r) in happy times

Mohammad Aziz

“I am still unable to do any cooking at home,” she pleaded. “We have been ordering food from outside.”
With Siba Prasad Maitra also, we had a reunion of sorts. He was back from a 12-day visit to his hometown, Calcutta and brought along a box of nolen gurer sandesh – a prized Bengali delicacy. He had gone for a wedding in the family and combined the visit with trips to certain holy places of Bengal.
If that were not enough, our good old Urmila Sinha came up with a treat of home-made methi-luddoos for reasons best known to her. It was not for us to question why but as always, to eat and… (well, some day).
Amid all the gaiety and laughter, Fahmida Khan broke the news of bereavement in Razia Khan’s family. Mohammad Aziz, the noted playback singer succumbed to a cardiac arrest yesterday. He is Razia’s daughter-in-law, Tahira’s brother. Later in the day, Razia was to inform that the last rites would be performed at Santa Cruz Qabristan this afternoon. “Tadfeen will take place from 3:00 pm onward,” she added.
Our condolences are with the family in this hour of grief. May the departed soul rest in peace.