Holi 2018

Bijoy Gupta regales at the Holi celebration in the Garden this morning

We ushered Holi in at the Garden with traditional fervor and merriment. The unending rounds of thandai, a sumptuous spread and the riot of colors notwithstanding, the celebration was rather

HOLI HAI!!!

muted by Big Laaf standards.
One reason was that there was no Mahamoorkh Sammelan this year. Bijoy Gupta tried to compensate by regaling us with snippets of ‘behind the scenes’ during the staging of

Yusuf Rassiwala

the Annual Function (ref post of January 20). Karun Sharma supplemented the effort by reciting (and singing) a few compositions he had prepared for the occasion. Banoo Apa and Mumtaz Jahan brought up the rear with a popular Holi ditty leaving Yusuf Rassiwala to formally bring the hour-long celebration to a close.
Earlier in the morning, it was color, color and more color all the way. Siba Prasad Maitra made sure we played with ‘herbal gulal’ (the non-toxic kind)

The lavish spread on offer

and with gay abandon, kept changing his appearance like a chameleon. He came in sporting a red tilak on his forehead, which vanished within minutes and his face turned into a yellow mask. After a few moments, it transformed to bright pink which lasted for a while till green took over, like that of a Kathakali dancer.
The closest anybody got to him was Karun Sharma, but a full beard prevented a complete face wash. The colors stuck in patches. At one point, he even sprawled on the ground, allowing Maitra, Kajal Babani and Pushpa Gupta to 'pour' the gulal on him. Incidentally, this was Karun’s first Holi in the Club.
Dilip Babani, Kiran Prakash (pity, he had to leave early), Arun Patil and Bihari Milwani too had their moments of madness, freaking out like kids. Even Tara Chand Seth had a blast. And the less said about Kajal, Pushpa and the other ladies the better. They were after all, the ‘soft targets’ no Holi celebration in Big Laaf can be complete without.

Tara Chand gets plastered

It's Pushpa Gupta's turn now...

...and Kajal Babani's also

Lt Col Angad Singh (retd):
Holi celebrations this year have been at a peak. It is admirable to see every member enjoying the festival in its entirety. God bless all. May you keep enjoying. It would have been additionally enjoyable had the Mahamoorkh Sammellan been also included in the festivities.