Heartwarming Tale

Zarina Khan with her son, Asad

Those wondering how someone as regular as Zarina Khan should suddenly turn erratic in her attendance at the Garden, here’s a piece of news that should gladden many hearts. She is meeting her son from the U.S. after 16 years.
Asad Khan is 44 today. In 2003, a year after his marriage, he left for the proverbial ‘land of opportunity’ in order to make a career and life for himself.

Bijoy Gupta (r) wants to revive his plays

His core competence was financial planning. Before long, he landed a well-paying job.
“But it took me 16 years to get my green card,” he said betraying a pronounced American accent. “I could not risk visiting India in between as it could have jeopardised my chances for the green card. So I used to keep in touch with Mom long-distance on phone and lately, Skype.”
More than the emotional reunion with her eldest son, Zarina was meeting two of her grandchildren for the first time. “I have three kids,” Asad informed. “The older one was here last year with her mother. The other two hadn’t met their granny before.”
Zarina considers herself “blessed” on seeing her boys now well-settled in life. Just the other day, she returned after spending a month with another son at Doha, Qatar. In Mumbai, she is with the youngest – the one who recently won a major pharma award in Switzerland.
Having Asad in person by her side is a major “wish-fulfilment in life” for Zarina. She may or may not go visiting him in the U.S. later, but that is unimportant at the moment. “What’s important is to make the most of the time he is here,” she says. “He is leaving this Sunday.”
Meanwhile, there was Bijoy Gupta this morning raising the question of whether the plays he had written would ever be staged. Those plays were scripted especially for the club’s Annual Function early this year. Since the event had been scrapped, Gupta is worried (naturally) that all his efforts have gone to waste. Kiran Prakash advised him to call a meeting to discuss how best to take this ahead.

Karun Sharma:
* We can well imagine how much this special event means for both Mother and Son. It is difficult to stay apart for so long. Now is the time to celebrate TOGETHERNESS.
* Gupta-ji has the right sentiment for the scripts he has worked so hard to develop. We usually appreciate a final product but fail to recognize the hard work put behind it.