Big Buzz

Animated discussions on the political future of Maharashtra

Siba Prasad Maitra shares some chikkis he picked up from Pune

The political stalemate in Maharashtra captured the imagination of the Club this morning. Without getting into specifics, several incredible permutations and combinations of power sharing between the parties concerned were discussed, ultimately leading to one inevitable conclusion: the imposition of President’s rule in the state.
But the bigger buzz of the morning had to do with food. Lakshmi Hadimani confirmed over the phone that Sunday, December 1 will be the day when she would like to celebrate her 50th birthday (ref post of November 9). She did not however, show up at the Garden today. Apparently, she was busy packing for a trip to Goa this evening.
Talk on Lakshmi’s momentous birthday treat has been brewing for some time, ever since she declared that she would like to throw a “grand party for the Club in a hotel” and that “money is of no matter” to her. Yesterday she revealed that it would also be an occasion to introduce her newly-married son and daughter-in-law to us.
However, she would not be able to celebrate on December 10, i.e. her birth day because the family would be out of town from December 7 for a week. “Moreover, I do not want to do anything on a weekday because my son and his wife have office to attend,” she said. “I need to have the celebration on a holiday, like Sunday. So after talking to my son, I felt that December 1 would be the best date for the party.”
She also spoke of choice of cuisine and if we had any special preferences on food, the venue, etc. She said that for those who like to drink, there would be hard liquour also and that her son would take care of the corkage. Her close friend, Nahid Khan however, put her foot down and tried to dissuade Lakshmi on serving alcohol at the party.
Our general stand though, was that since it was her birthday and she being the hostess, it had to be entirely her call on what was to be served. We had no demand nor expectations, one way or the other. “But I would insist on opening a bottle of champagne!” Lakshmi retorted with a twinkle in her eyes.