Late Realisation

Birthday boy KIRAN PRAKASH (in blue, seated in centre) flanked by well-wishers

Kiran Prakash was born yesterday. But he became conscious of his existence today. For full 24 hours, he was blissfully unaware that there were hungry souls waiting for him in the Garden to celebrate his birthday. It was only this morning that he woke up to the realisation of his place in the universe and his immediate duty towards the 25-odd mouths to feed.

Geeta Latte presents birthday calendar

Kiran Prakash distributes the goodies

Strangely also, nobody in the Club even questioned why a fourth laugh was to be raised after the exercises today. It was taken for granted that there had to be a Santa Claus with a bagful of goodies in our midst and he can be none other than yesterday’s birthday boy, Kiran Prakash.
So we all broke into a mini war dance, lustily clapping and singing the birthday song in the open. A handsome dog, called ‘Romeo’ tried to enter the melee out of curiosity, but was rudely chased away by a ferocious Zarina Khan in hijab, wielding a tri-pronged walking stick.
Only when Geeta Latte presented Kiran Prakash the birthday calendar did a modicum of sanity return to the Club.

Seeking Tara Chand's blessings

Checking out the birthday calendar

Kiran Prakash was basking in the afterglow of a rejuvenating trip to the North East (March 10 to 16), looking much younger for his years in a dapper aquamarine t-shirt and blue jeans to match. He sought the blessings of Tara Chand Seth, the 89-year-old patriarch of the Club and touched his feet out of reverence – a gesture loaded with raw emotion that did not go unnoticed. And then of course, there was the customary photo-op for all the well-wishers before everybody dispersed for the day.
Kiran Prakash was born again.

Geeta Latte:
Happy Birthday, dear Kiran Uncle 💞🎂💞

Lt Col Angad Singh (retd):
Everyone in the Club seems to have enjoyed the birthday celebration of our dear Kiran Prakash in a big way. At the same time it was nice of him to follow the age old Indian tradition of taking the blessings of a senior in a befitting manner. Be happy and continue to laugh -- more so, as our Happiness Quotient at the national level has come down.

Karun Sharma:
Kiran-ji, a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you. As the blog monster rightly puts it, you have become younger after the NE trip. Thank you so much for being there for all of us. Keep up your jovial self and romanticism with life.