Diwali Prelude

There are ways and ways to celebrate Diwali – by bursting firecrackers, distributing sweets, lighting oil lamps, buying gold, gambling with cards… But we had our own unusual way of getting into the swing of things, thanks entirely to Monthi Serrao who had brought her four-year-old grandson, Tian to the Garden this morning.
Needless to say, the tiny tot took to us like fish takes to water. For a while he scampered around before taking his place on the sidelines to observe us quietly. He then stepped in the middle as though to conduct the exercises, laughed when we laughed, gamely matched Srichand Arora growl-for-growl (top pic) in the Lion and Lioness round and generally, enjoined us in the spirit of joy and merriment that the Diwali festival holds.
Soon after the exercises when someone made a presentation to the Club, Tian stood his ground amid the grown-ups (bottom pic), paper in hand and listened patiently. Once that was done with, he was all over the place, shooting his green plastic pistol and running about the Garden with Harish Wadhwa for company. Between the two, it was hard to separate the child from the man.
Clearly, over the past couple of years or so (since the time he had first dropped in as a cry-baby, barely able to talk) Tian has matured fast, gaining both in confidence and social skills. He is quick to size-up strangers, chooses his words with care, knows exactly when and how to rebut and yet, behaves his age. As Hari Narayani once put it, he is the Club’s best bet for the future.
Harish Wadhwa:
* Arora sa'ab, bacche ko darane ka nahin, galey se lagane ka!
* Tomorrow is a great day of a "wish" coming true... besides being the most important festival of the year. You can already smell it in the air, don't you? It's a surprise!
Renu Babani's PICSPEAK:
* "I maybe small, but don't underestimate my ROARRR!"
* "All of you listen to me please, I have the paper in hand..."