Grand Send-off!

PARTY TIME: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SANTOSH TYAGI!

Santosh Tyagi today gave a grand send-off to the ‘Kerala group’ on their tour beginning the day-after. That it was also to celebrate her birthday falling the day-after, made the event even more grand.

SANTOSH TYAGI

Sharing a laugh!

With friends and admirers

Shekhawat is unwell

And what a generous spread it was! The best part: The snacks and munchies were entirely home-made and brought to the Garden, neatly packed and served in paper plates, replete with spoons and tissue. Nobody has ever been so meticulous and as indulgent towards us before.
Santosh was supposed to be in that group going to Kerala and cancelled her tickets yesterday due to domestic compulsions. But her heart was with her friends on the trip and the least she could do was to celebrate her birthday in their company two days in advance. Jokingly, she quipped that this was her first chance “to know what it is to be born a pre-mature baby” even as it entailed waking up at two in the night and preparing all the stuff personally so that it could be served hot and fresh in the morning. “When you do something, you should do it properly,” she explained, as she entered the Garden looking completely pooped and drowsy.
But there were enough jokers to cheer her up. Coincidentally, the music box was playing the Lata-Kishore duet from Karz (1980), ‘Main solah baras ki / Toh main satrah baras ka’ when Arun Patil cheekily asked while exercising, “Santosh-ji aap kitne baras ki ho gayi?” As though on cue, everybody broke into “Solah”, “Satrah”, “Nahin solah”… Blushing pink, Santosh declared “90 baras ki ho gayi!”, but Nafisa Sayyad would not let go easily. “Ek-doh baras zara door rehna, baat nahin karne ka…” she interjected, paraphrasing the lyrics.
Amid this bonhomie, calamity struck as Shekhawat suddenly complained of chest pain and started gasping for breath. He wanted to leave, but could not make it beyond the gate. He sat on the watchman’s chair for a while, unable to speak. Water was given and finally, he was able to stand up, but his head was still reeling. “Chakkar bahut aa raha hai,” he said, as Arun led him to his car and dropped him home. Clearly, the stress and tension of organising the Kerala tour had got the better of him.
Jagmohan Papneja:
Santosh-ji, aaj ka din hum sub ne jashan manaya hai, kyunki iss din aapne, apne hathon se banaakar khilya hai. You deserve happy birthday wishes for today, tomorrow and day-after on 10th February from the bottom of my heart.
Srichand Arora:
Santosh-ji, the BIG LAAF group wishes you a very Happy Birthday and many, many happy returns of the day. Solah ho ya saat ya nabbe, kya fark padta hai? Dil jawan hona chahiye aur aapka dill to maasha all kabhee booda ho hi nahin sakta. GOD BLESS YOU!!!
Neha Tyagi:
Happy Birthday to my sweet, cute and loving Buaaji!!!
Anjali Tyagi:
Janmadin ki bahut, bahut shubh kaamnaayein! --Bulbul, Kaju, Anjali and Narendra