Fond Farewell

Yusuf Rassiwala and Shekhawat present Vijay Jakhia a farewell card on behalf of Big Laaf

All those wondering what the second photograph in yesterday’s post was about, well, here’s the explanation: Vijay Jakhia, a cricketing aficionado and more importantly, one of the oldest friends of Big Laaf, is relocating to Borivli (ref post of November 6).

Kiran Prakash (r) presents a T-shirt and box of chocolates

A farewell card, bearing the signatures of all members, was to be presented to him.
Naseem Khan is seen in the pic, putting

Vijay Jakhia

her signature on that card.
The card was presented to Vijay-bhai this morning by our two chairmen, Yusuf Rassiwala and Shekhawat in a brief but poignant farewell ceremony at the Garden. Kiran Prakash, whose brainchild this was, separately presented a box of chocolates and a white t-shirt. “You should wear this new T-shirt when you go out on your morning walks from now on,” Kiran Prakash told a visibly overwhelmed Vijay-bhai.
Clearly, he was expecting none of this.

Bhaswati Bose (r) presents the framed memento

But the bigger surprise was yet to come: a framed photograph of Vijay-bhai on the cricket field with M.S.Dhoni, Rohit Sharma and Yuzvendra Chahal for company. This was the handiwork of Bhaswati Bose, another cricket lover.
Initially, Vijay-bhai could not recognise himself. When he did, he literally jumped out of his skin, wondering how he could be snapped in the same frame with the cricket stars. Kiran Prakash reminded him that the photograph was taken when he last visited Ranchi, Dhoni’s hometown. “Don’t you remember going there?” he asked mischievously.
Vijay-bhai was at a loss of words. So were the others. “But how could you look so young?" exclaimed Rukhsana Khan, unable to figure out the magic of photoshop. For her, as indeed many others, this was a real-life photograph and from that moment, Vijay-bhai’s stature rose immeasurably in her eyes. It shall remain so for all of us, forever. We will miss him sorely.

He can't believe his eyes!

Displaying the photograph

Shekhawat showers floral blessings

Karun Sharma:
Wonderful farewell to a wonderful friend. We shall miss him a lot. Keep in touch and take care, Vijay-ji. Above all, keep your interest in cricket alive. It's another way to stay connected.