Three Cheers

We had three good reasons to rejoice today. One, it was Vasant Panchami, the onset of the spring festival – which extends up to tomorrow (according to certain versions of the Hindu almanac). Two, it was Valentine’s Day. And three, it was Mumtaz Jahan’s birthday as well.
Little known to many, there was yet another reason to celebrate today. It happened to be the day when Lord Kamdeva, the Hindu god of love, is propitiated – which effectively made for a combination of celebrations marking Vasant Panchami and Valentine’s Day.
With love in the air, it was only natural that the Club’s most abiding friends, Razia Khan and Nafisa Sayyad (pic left) should be targeted today. So inseparable are the two that what had begun with off-the-cuff jibes of ‘doh hanso ka joda’ has now crystallized into direct but playful references of they being a ‘married couple’. In fact, Shekhawat calls Razia “Nafisa’s Mister” and had once lost a bet of Rs500 on this count. But it must also be said that very few are as privileged to be blessed with such lasting friendship as theirs. For our benefit, Nafisa even pinned a white flower into Razia's hair and two sportingly posed for the picture above.
Shekhawat called Mumtaz (right pic) from the Garden to wish her on her birthday – only to discover that she was thanking him from Delhi. Still, we did our little number of raising an extra laugh for her after the exercises and wished her the very best on the occasion.
The only dampener though was the news of Monthi Serrao (left pic) being struck by a nasty attack of conjunctivitis. She had been organizing a movie outing for Special 26 today afternoon, but had to call it off at the eleventh hour. The lady is keeping indifferent health and of late, has become quite irregular for the exercises. Let us pray for her recovery and all-round wellness for all time.
Srichand Arora:
* Mumtaz-ji, we all from Big Laaf wish you a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Meetha toh banta hai na! But no problem, we can wait till you come back to Mumbai.
* Monthi-ji, we all from Big Laaf wish you an early recovery from this unwanted and uninvited conjunctivitis. ALL THE BEST!
Renu Babani's PICSPEAK:
* Friendship forever... No matter what the future holds!
* Yes, that's me... looking a year younger today!
* Where do you think I am going? I shall return soon.
Jagmohan Papneja:
Mumtaz-ji is lucky because her birthday falls on Valentine's Day. Wah! It is so good. Two-in-one celebration, both at the same time. May your days be filled with laughter and the finest things in life always come your way. Belated HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Mumtaz-ji!