‘Penalty Knock-out!’

July-borns Naseem (from l) Banoo Apa and Bhaswati plan birthday party

Imagine a penalty knockout in football being compared to a candle flame that refuses to be snuffed and comes alive every time it is blown out!
Well, such trick candles re-lighting themselves is fairly common in birthday cake-cutting rituals these days. But to draw an analogy with the all-too-common penalty shoot-outs in the ongoing football World Cup calls for more colorful thinking than imagination.
Clearly, Dilip Babani is suffering from a major football hangover after all those critical matches last week that were decided on penalty shoot-outs – especially the spectacle of a goalkeeper popping up (by turn) again and again, even after conceding a goal.
So it came as no surprise today when he suggested getting a non-extinguishable candle for the birthday cake the July-borns are planning for themselves next week. “Since there are seven of you, one by one keep blowing off the candle and it will re-light

Rekha Srivastav treats us to pedas on her birthday

automatically… just like the goalkeeper in a penalty shoot-out!” he advised Banoo Apa, Bhaswati Bose and Naseem Khan with a straight face.
Dilip is a new convert to football and has got so addicted to the game that he is probably the only one among us to follow every World Cup match religiously, however late it might extend into the night. Even Bijoy Gupta could not stay awake last night to watch the France-Belgium semi-final till the end; but Dilip was there this morning, fully charged, eagerly updating him with all the highlights.
As for the July-born birthday luncheon party, looks like a consensus building up for a vegetarian fare at Kailash Parbat (ref previous post) on July 17 – restricted to members only. A formal announcement is however, yet to be made.
While on birthdays, we were treated to a surprise this morning. Rekha Srivastava, a common friend and Garden regular, plied us with soft, mouth-watering pedas soon after the exercises. We could reciprocate only by wishing her a very happy birthday and a long and healthy life.

Lt Col Angad Singh (retd):
July celebrations are already on. Good beginning. Enjoy yourself, but keep on exercising. It is very important. Good luck to everyone.