Festive Air

With Diwali round the corner, a distinct air of festivity has settled over the Garden – even as several members did not turn up this morning. Many have gone out of town. Some had started celebrating last night itself (Dhanteras) and could not wake up in time today. Others were obviously conserving their energies for the big blast tomorrow. Still, the mood was upbeat with everybody shaking hands and wishing one another Happy Diwali in advance.
Sitaram Hivarkar started the exercises with a new line: “Chalo, susti bhagaao!” Instantly Nafisa Syed countered “Chalo, machchar bhagaao” and Razia Khan retorted “Kachchua jalaao”, thus setting the tone for the morning’s proceedings. Nahid Khan insisted on laughing in her off-key sing-song style while Bapu Rane was faced with a peculiar problem: ‘Diwali sweets’ dropping from crows perched just above him on a tree. He had to change position.
Significantly, like many of the quieter members, Sitaram has become increasingly talkative of late, not letting go the opportunity to pull a fast one. Santosh Tyagi attributed this to “catching the infection” – an expression she used today when asked to separate two talkative ladies by standing in between them. Santosh refused to oblige, lest she too got “infected” by the talking bug!
In all this, one person being missed was Srichand Arora (right). Today, three people enquired about his return from Singapore – Shekhawat, Razia and later, Rane. And three different dates emerged each time – October 25 (today), October 26 and October 29. Last year on Diwali, Arora was the one to initiate a small celebration with luddoos, followed by a regular post-Diwali bash in the Chinese Hut. Let’s hope he returns by this Saturday, in time for the lunch at Blue Waters.
Srichand Arora (from Singapore):
Doston, hum aa rahe hain; per 25 ko nahin, 26 ko bhee nahin... aur haan, 29 ko bhee nahin. Per hum aa rahe hain -- 28 ko dopahar 2 baje. Aur koshish rahegi ki 28 shyam ko nahin, toh 29 sawere jaroor milenge. Tub tak ke liye HO-HO HAA-HAA!!!