Taking Liberties

Lt Col Angad Singh (retd)

Lt Col Angad Singh (retd) should have been with us at the Garden today. He shares his birthday with Shanti Singh and we could well have had the rare experience of a double-barreled celebration in the morning. More than that, he could have the opportunity to witness a bizarre exchange between Shekhawat and Shanti Singh that comes only out of easy familiarity and affection – something special about Big Laaf.

Shekhawat (r) presents Shanti Singh her birthday calendar

But first for the back story…
After her recent hospitalization, Shanti Singh has not been in the best of health and is in fact, quite irregular for the exercises these days. As a result, Shekhawat is unable to collect the annual subscription from her for renewal of club membership. This clearly has been rankling him no end since all others (well, almost) have paid up already.
Today he got his chance to claim the cash. While presenting Shanti Singh her birthday calendar,

It's party time...

he thought nothing of suddenly blurting, “Now pay me the money!” before parting with the gift. It was a situation reminiscent of the “Paanch rupaiyya barah anna” song from a yesteryear Kishore Kumar hit.

Flipping through the birthday calendar

And thankfully, it was taken in the same spirit. For everyone within hearing distance, including Shanti Singh, burst out laughing.
This happens only in Big Laaf. And only Shekhawat is capable of committing such a howler. After years of exercising and hanging out together, the lines of propriety and politesse have blurred irreversibly for him. There is no question of standing on formality with anyone or anything any longer – just as it is in a family. This applies to everyone in the Club as well. We take liberties with one another, play the fool all the time, even poke fun and no offence is taken. What you see is what you get.
Once again, here's wishing both Shanti Singh and Angad Singh (not related, please note) many happy returns of the day.

Dilip Babani:
Happy Birthday Shanti Singh-ji and Angad Singh-ji.

Karun Sharma:
Happy Birthday Shanti-ji and Angad Sir. May you have good health from now onward.

Lt Col Angad Singh (retd):
I am thankful to all my colleagues in Big Laaf. It is a unique club where we celebrate birthdays and various festivals. I missed a great occasion being so far away (in Dubai) due to domestic reasons. Let's see when we can get together. Till then, thanks a lot everybody.