House Warming

Banoo Apa (l) treats us to bhel and nimbu pani

After yesterday's no-show, today's was a face saver

There seems to be some truth in the general perception of our daily attendance being dependent on the possibility of someone hosting a party/ treat on any given day. How this works out is however, a mystery.
Banoo Apa did not tell anyone that she would be coming to the Garden today and giving us a treat. But somehow, the indications were in the air and accordingly, we witnessed a fairly decent turnout – enough to keep the exercises going.
Yesterday, in the absence of any such indication, we were faced with a virtual no-show. The exercises had to be scrapped (see post). A day earlier, it was Bijoy Gupta’s birthday bash and again, we had a fairly large gathering. Just one day prior, the pendulum had swung back to rock bottom because there was no treat in the works.
Banoo Apa’s treat of crispy bhel and chilled nimbu-pani this morning was as novel as it was refreshing. We are all aware that she had shifted to a new address in Goregaon and in a sense, this was her house warming treat of sorts.
“Take this as my house-warming party by the footpath,” Banoo Apa declared cheerfully, making light of the rudimentary arrangements for hosting a morning treat. “But please don’t complain, I intend to have a proper house warming party once I’ve settled in.”
Nobody was complaining. We fully appreciate what it takes to shift lock, stock and barrel in peak summer and that too, after having lived at a place for over a decade. Nobody at our age does this, given a choice – more so, when there’s no helping hand around.
Banoo Apa has been at it quietly, all by herself. She may have moved into her new home a week back, but the process of packing/ unpacking household knick-knacks has been going on for over a month. “I need to take sleeping pills before going to bed and then I tend to oversleep next morning,” she says.
This explains why Banoo Apa is unable to be regular at the Garden these days.

Karun Sharma:
Today I accompanied Banoo Apa to her old house. She is a lively lady. We talked a lot about Gair Area in the mountains which was not ruled by any country. This was news to me. I am sure she will make many friends wherever she goes.

Bihari Milwani:
Why serve chilled nimbu-pani when everyone has come for the house warming party?