Brain Power

ANNIVERSARY MEMENTO: When 'Mr Computer' meets 'Ms Encyclopedia'

At a time when memory lapses are more a norm than an exception in the Club, we were witness to two lovely instances on the possibilities of ‘brain power’.
The first was of course, unsurprising, but no less significant. Our ‘Walking-Talking Computer’, a.k.a. Bihari Milwani reminded us that it was Banoo Apa’s wedding anniversary today and presented her with his personalized memento to mark the occasion.
No one else remembered. Clearly, this gentleman has transcended the level of keeping track of our birthdays and is now making a mental note of every landmark event in every member’s life. And here we keep struggling to remember the sequence of our daily exercises!
The other instance was related to Banoo Apa more directly. Her mobile was on, the recorded songs providing the usual atmospherics during our exercises. One vintage number sounded faintly familiar. Even then, the general tendency is to remain indifferent rather than apply the mind on the origin of a song.

Urmila Sinha (l) treats us to dark laddoos

Banoo Apa (r) celebrates with choco-bars

But not so with Banoo Apa. “My mother used to say that there is one shameless man in Hindi pictures who dances like a woman,” she remarked. “In this song, he can be seen dancing with ghungroos (ankle bells) on!”
She was right. The actor was none other than Mumtaz Ali, the first male dancer of the Indian screen, otherwise known as comedian Mehmood’s father. The song in question was from a yesteryear blockbuster, Ratan -- dating back to 1944. So much for Banoo Apa’s encyclopedic knowledge and her penchant for instant recall.
While she celebrated her wedding anniversary with choco-bars, Urmila Sinha sprung a surprise by treating us to dark dry-fruit laddoos – for no particular reason. Muhammad Farooq, Banoo Apa’s husband, should have been with us today. We missed him.

Bihari Milwani:
I thought Banoo had forgotten her wedding anniversary and that was why, like an alarm bell, I came to the Garden. The idea was to remind her that she must demand an expensive gift from Dr Farookh!

Lt Col Angad Singh (rtd):
Our 'walking-talking computer', Bihari Milwani is a superman. He has stupendous power to remember the dates of important events in all members' lives and is always ready with a gift for the occasion. He has been performing this task unfailingly since the birth of the Club. Banoo Apa has excellent knowledge about the film industry and she can recite various events impromptu. Our Blog Monster is no less a running encyclopedia. Hats off to all these members. Our regards to them and their ilk.