Mellow Morning

Attendance booms as the weather improves

Andaman group in a familiarisation meet

As the weather turns mellow, attendance in the Garden has begun to boom. Even more impressive is the level of punctuality among members. From a time, not long back, when we were no more than three or four at the start of the exercises, the number ballooned to double digits today.
“It is good to see so many members at the beginning of the exercises,” remarked Shekhawat whose ploy of shaming late-comers with a white flower (ref post of November 19) seems to have borne fruit.

Zarina Khan distributes Snickers

He had fewer flowers to give away this morning.
Among the many ‘new faces’ today, there was Kiran Prakash showing up after conducting a rigorous ten-day refresher course for managers in the outskirts of Mumbai. He was away for a fortnight or so, but it seemed like we were meeting him after ages.

Yusuf Rassiwala announces meeting on Saturday

The running joke was whether he still recognised us. And so he played along pretending not to recognise even Shekhawat when presented with a white flower as a welcome gesture.
Zarina Khan was also there after disappearing for a week. Her son is back from the U.S. after 16 years and clearly, she needed to spend quality time with him. She came today to distribute Snickers he had sent through her and more importantly, to meet members of a group setting out on a trip to the Andamans early next month.
With Bhaswati Bose and Nahid Khan as the other members of the group (the rest are all outsiders), the six-day tour covers Port Blair (Cellular Jail, Carbyn’s Cove, etc.), Havelock Island and Neil Island and includes the usual museum visits, cruises and ferry rides, light and sound show, snorkeling, etc.
Meanwhile, Yusuf Rassiwalla announced a general body meeting being convened this Saturday, November 30. He requested all members to be presentat the China Hut after the exercises.

Bihari Milwani:
Attendance was good because everyone was expecting there to be many treats today also, like on Saturday.