Charged Up!

Lay of the Land: Surveying the sporting field

After a frustrating bid to stage the Annual Day function – not to mention a non-starter of the zoo picnic – Banoo Apa’s proposal to have a Sports Day has reignited the spirits of the Club. The only difference between yesterday and today is that the event is being rescheduled for Sunday, March 3 instead of Monday.
Accordingly, Zarina Khan announced this morning that she would celebrate her birthday on her birthday itself and not a day later (ref previous post). Siba Prasad Maitra promised to cut short his outstation trip to be present in the Garden by 8:30 on Sunday morning. Likewise, Kiran Prakash assured us

Banoo Apa

of his participation, in spite of a personal inconvenience.
Clearly, the excitement in the air is contagious. A hurried list of competitive events was drawn up and a shortlist made:

1. Reverse Walk: 15 minutes
2. Bursting the Balloon: 10 minutes
3. Threading the Needle: 15 minutes
4. Spoon Race: 20 minutes
5. Musical Chairs: 20 minutes
Time permitting, a sixth event might be included, which will be a variation of pitthu (Seven Stones).

Zarina Khan (l) consults Yusuf Rassiwala on her birthday plans

The idea is to wrap up the event within one-and-half hours before it gets too sunny. In between (before the Musical Chairs) light refreshments will be served, courtesy Zarina.
One reason the Sports Day has caught everybody’s imagination is that for the first time, personalised trophies/ cups will be given away to the winners. This explains why only those events that produce a solo winner have been selected. Group events like relay race, dog and the bone, tug of war, etc. have been deliberately excluded.
Moreover, care has been taken to ensure that there is minimal stress/ risk to life and limb, considering our constraints of age. This is also why kids will not be allowed, given that they enjoy an unfair advantage over us and would upset the level playing field. Furthermore, a variety of skills will be tested on the day – in effect encouraging all members, regardless of personal handicaps, to participate.
There will verily be something for everyone in the basket of events selected.