‘Comeback Man’

Mouths open in unison for Motwani's pedas... But he is unmoved.

Now he is here, now he is not. That has been an abiding story of Prakash Motwani’s association with the Club. Nobody can ever be certain when he would be sighted next. Probably, he too isn’t sure. But on January 31, he can surely be expected at the Garden. For, it’s his birthday.
Motwani kept his appointment upon turning 66 today. Looking half his age, he came nattily dressed in dark-blue T-shirt and grey trousers with slip-on suedes to match, carrying a box of pedas… to be lustily greeted with a chorus of 'happy birthday’ wishes, hugs and hand pumping. Everybody clapped and sang for him and raised the customary fourth laughter. For a change, Srichand Arora addressed him affectionately by his first name and did not insist that he wear the Club cap.

The pedas come finally

Motwani stood quietly by the side, clearly embarrassed by all the attention directed at him.
However, for all the uncertainties surrounding Motwani’s appearances, it must be said in all fairness that he has been keeping indifferent health for the past two-and-half years. He suffers from an acute bronchial problem that tends to worsen during the monsoons and in the winter smog. Besides, he has been complaining of his ears ringing (tinnitus) and even worse, there’s been an undiagnosed issue of weight loss.

Arora distributes R-Day pictures to all members

Motwani is therefore a very worried man. On his birthday we can only wish him quick recovery -- that he overcomes his problems and self-doubts and enjoys a happy, healthy and fulsome life ahead.
The other happy occasion of the morning was when Arora gave away photo prints of the pictures on the Republic Day celebrations in the Garden (see post of January 26). He has spent a bomb out of his pocket on making these prints for the benefit of members who do not have access to a PC at home. But the gesture was more of a labour of love – essentially at sharing and cherishing memories of a happy event gone by. No wonder, Arora ran out of his 40 prints within minutes. Whoever got a chance confiscated a copy of the keepsake pic.