Gudi Padwa 2014

Dilip Babani celebrates with puran-poli on Gudi Padwa

Another auspicious day – Gudi Padwa, the Maharashtrian new year. Legend has it that on this day Lord Brahma had created the universe and all clocks everywhere went tick-tock from that point on. (Don’t ask who invented the clock). The day also marks the coronation of Lord Ram in Ayodhya after completing 14 years in exile and dispatching Ravana to his maker.
The day is associated with many such dramatic events, but for us today, it was a total washout.

HAPPY GUDI PADWA

The only Maharashtrian in the Club, Sitaram Hivarkar was nowhere to be seen. So, all those who woke up early and endured the exercises in the pious hope that Sitaram would appear and reward them with sweets (as in previous years), had to return home disappointed.

Why Hanuman must have been a sardar

The Badmaash Company though got lucky. Dilip Babani took pity on the group at the tea stall and treated everyone to puran poli, the traditional Maharashtrian delicacy served on Gudi Padwa day. Along with hot tea, this was exactly what Lord Brahma and Lord Ram (and all other gods) would have ordered.
Earlier, at the Garden, Yusuf Rassiwala celebrated Gudi Padwa by showing up in a brand new aquamarine T-shirt and Bihari Milwani discarding his white kurta-pajama, sported a striped yellow T-shirt and blue jeans for the first time. Srichand Arora was also in smart blue-and-red festive gear and with jokes flying thick and fast, it was not really such a dull morning at the Garden.
The funniest part was the explanation we got for Lord Ram’s trusted lieutenant, Hanuman not being a Muslim -- as is often speculated. He had to be a "sardar monkey". After all, who else would, for the sake of another’s wife, burn down someone else's house? Hanuman did that. Happy Gudi Padwa, everybody!