20th is Final!

Announcements on the Annual Function

After much dithering and delay, January 20, 2018 has been finalized as the date for staging the Annual Function (ref post of December 28) of Big Laaf. The venue and timings remain unchanged.
Making the announcement this morning, Shekhawat urged everyone to come up with their guest list for the occasion. “We will have to arrange biryani boxes for them as well,” he explained. “Both veg and non-veg will be served. Please specify your requirement at the earliest. I shall be making the collections from tomorrow.

Angad Singh exercising 

For members, there will be no charges on the biryani boxes.”
Yusuf Rassiwala also appealed to members to bring their families and friends along on 20th evening. “As you know, the function is being mounted on a big scale,” he said. “For the first time, a stage is being erected. It will be an evening of fun and entertainment, song and dance, music and drama… Let us ensure that there is not a single chair empty in the audience.”
Clearly, Kiran Prakash has had to do a good deal of running around in the past two days (since his return from the U.S.) to revise the permissions from various authorities. This is the third time that the date of the function has been changed – from December 16 to December 23, then to January 13 and now to January 20.
Earlier in the morning, a decision was taken to keep all exuberance and expressions of joy in check as today happened to be the death anniversary of Angad Singh’s wife. (Trust Bihari Milwani to remind us; here too he gets the date spot on!) He lost her on January 5 last year. So as a mark of respect to the departed soul, we refrained from all laughter and instead, contained ourselves to the silent exercises.

Lt Col Angad Singh (retd):
My thanks to all members of Big Laaf for sharing my grief. This gesture has endeared you all to me and my family.

Spreading Cheer

Kiran Prakash gets us U.S. chocolates

Distributing chocolates is considered de rigeur after an overseas trip – or so, it has come to be in Big Laaf. Thus, when Kiran Prakash turned up yesterday from a trip to the U.S., empty-handed, people felt deprived. Nobody uttered a word though, but the feeling was palpable. Today he made up for it and normalcy was restored.

Sanjay Sharma (r) salutes Shekhawat

What a bar of chocolate can do to bring cheer in the Club, no other foreign gift can.
Kiran’s Prakash’s return also revived the practice of holding daily rehearsals for the play on the Annual Function later this month. This routine had been suspended briefly due to the New Year celebrations and more so for the fact that Kiran Prakash himself is to enact an important character in the play. In his absence, no progress could be made with the rehearsals.
So this morning, a group broke out of the exercise circle (as was the practice earlier) and

Shekhawat (c) does his Kadak Singh number

headed to the China Hut to rehearse. The ladies also regrouped and went away to prepare for their musical gig. All those involved with putting up the Annual Function got busy, except for one man: Hari Singh Shekhawat.
He hung around for a while and then, like a wound-up toy, began to rattle his ‘Jailor Kadak Singh” lines in the open Garden. Naseem Khan, who had returned today after getting a pacemaker implanted in her heart, became part of Shekhawat’s new audience. Another was Sanjay Sharma, a friend Geeta Latte had brought along today. A native of Nagaland (but originally from Nepal), Sanjay watched Shekhawat intently from a distance and then walked up to shake his hand. “I am already your fan!” he said.
Shekhawat was thrilled. Promptly he clicked his heels and pulled off a salute. Sanjay did likewise. And thus we witnessed the formation of a mutual admiration club.

Reunion

A festive air prevails on an otherwise cold, winter morning 

A festive atmosphere prevailed over the Garden this morning as many, who had gone missing for long, marked their return in the New Year. Santosh Tyagi for one, showed up with a box of crispy revdis from Delhi. Zarina Khan, for another, had a packet of chocolates to celebrate her ‘home-coming’. Likewise, there was Kajal Babani, back from a family trip to Lonavala. And then we had Kiran Prakash, having landed last night after a 16-hour flight from New York, catching up with all he had missed during his absence.
Bijoy Gupta also turned up, after what he described as a “very heavy” New Year celebration at home with his son, who is here from London. Clearly, it has taken him three days to sober down from the “daami drinks” (read expensive Scotch) he has been imbibing all this while. He said he had come only for Shekhawat’s party (yesterday’s post) and became completely disoriented upon finding it postponed yet again.
This time though, Shekhawat did not commit to any date.

Party Bloopers

Bihari Milwani presents Siba Prasad Maitra a birthday memento

Chaklis and cupcakes keep up the festive spirit

Shekhawat’s New Year party this morning has been pushed by a day – owing to what was described as “unavoidable circumstances”. The funny part was that many like Mumtaz Jahan and ex-president Malika Kagzi were specially invited by Shekhawat for this special do and he was the first one to disappear from the Garden after the exercises. Funnier still, Bijoy Gupta – the man instrumental at forcing Shekhawat into hosting the party – has himself gone missing!
Ideally a New Year party should have been held on January 1 – as it was with us last year. But since many pleaded inability to attend due to late night festivities on December 31, the date was shifted to January 2. Shekhawat offered to foot the bill (instead of the Club doing so) partly because Gupta had been needling him for an “undeserved windfall” by way of a major hike in his monthly pension.
The real reason though was that Shekhawat has become the proud owner of a brand new property – a swank three-bedroom apartment worth Rs60 million in Kandivli. Just last week, he was handed its keys and since then, he has wanted to celebrate. He never tires of listing out the state-of-the-art gadgetry and in-built amenities the apartment provides. To Gupta, this new acquisition is also “wholly undeserved”.
Meanwhile, Siba Prasad Maitra made sure that the morning does not go ‘dry’ for us in the absence of Shekhawat’s party. He had brought along packets of cupcakes, chaklis and other tit-bits to keep the festive fervor alive. Bihari Milwani gifted him his signature memento – a beautifully framed photo with a personal message along the border – something that should have been presented to Maitra on his birthday the day before yesterday.
But then, that was a Sunday. Belated as it was, this is one gift Maitra would cherish for a long time.

Siba Prasad Maitra:
Thank you, Mr Milwani for your birthday gift. It is really special to me and I will preserve it. Though we missed you on the 30th, it was nice of you to remember the occasion.

Lt Col Angad Singh (retd):
Shekhawat's party has become over-due and over-hyped! He invited everyone and himself quietly deserted the Garden. Hurrah! There is enjoyment in waiting also. Good luck to everyone.

Ringing in 2018

First exercise session of 2018 conducted by Nahid Khan

Qadeer Bano treats us to kaju katlis

2018. A new year dawned upon us.
It was the first day of the month.
It was also the first day of the week.
It was also the beginning of a new day – the first sunrise.
Nahid Khan took charge of the first exercises of 2018, but only after steadfastly refusing to respond to Shekhawat’s query on how she spent her New Year’s Eve. All she was prepared to say was that she slept through two years. “I went to bed in 2017 and woke in 2018,” she quipped.
When Shekhawat persisted with Khatoon Baig on her New Year’s Eve celebration, her reply was a contrite “Nahin baba, we are sharif people…” – whatever that might mean.
It happened to be Qadeer Bano’s birthday also today.

Speculation over a mysterious presence in the birthday calendar 

She had no intention to celebrate as her family is in mourning following the death of her brother-in-law recently. Still, she shared with us some kaju-katlis soon after Nahid presented her the birthday calendar on behalf of the Club. We also raised the customary

Banoo Apa celebrates the New Year

fourth laugh and sang the birthday song for her.
A particular photograph in the birthday calendar was soon to become a subject of much curiosity. Present in it was the image of a lady member who had passed away last year. Even more eerie was the fact that when the photograph was taken, this person was no more. She had died three months earlier. Qadeer herself has no recollection of that lady member. And yet, there she was in the photograph, standing ramrod erect and doing nothing – as though reminding Qadeer of her ethereal presence.
Banoo Apa lightened the atmosphere by making a small New Year’s celebration of potato chips, roasted peanuts and salty biscuits. The main celebration is slated for tomorrow when people are expected to be present in greater numbers. Shekhawat has volunteered to sponsor this treat.

Lt Col Angad Singh (retd):
The first day of the year was thinly attended. It was perhaps because most of the people had stayed awake late last night ringing in the New Year. The few who came to the Garden certainly enjoyed the morning.

Karun Sharma:
* Happy New Year to all my Big Laaf friends. It was good to have Col Angad Singh back after two days. It is really creditable of him to be participating in all the events of our dear club.
* Happy Birthday, Qadeer Bano. We all enjoyed the fresh and tasty kaju katli. The presence of a lady (in the calendar photo) was a unique observation and realization. We all felt the vibration, more than the physical. Wishing Qadeer Bano good health and happiness on her birthday.

Kiran Prakash from USA:
Happy New Year to all. May the year continue to bring lots of happiness, prosperity and contentment to all our members and their families. Also, a very Happy Birthday to Qadeer. Many happy returns of the day.