Diwali Prelude

There are ways and ways to celebrate Diwali – by bursting firecrackers, distributing sweets, lighting oil lamps, buying gold, gambling with cards… But we had our own unusual way of getting into the swing of things, thanks entirely to Monthi Serrao who had brought her four-year-old grandson, Tian to the Garden this morning.
Needless to say, the tiny tot took to us like fish takes to water. For a while he scampered around before taking his place on the sidelines to observe us quietly. He then stepped in the middle as though to conduct the exercises, laughed when we laughed, gamely matched Srichand Arora growl-for-growl (top pic) in the Lion and Lioness round and generally, enjoined us in the spirit of joy and merriment that the Diwali festival holds.
Soon after the exercises when someone made a presentation to the Club, Tian stood his ground amid the grown-ups (bottom pic), paper in hand and listened patiently. Once that was done with, he was all over the place, shooting his green plastic pistol and running about the Garden with Harish Wadhwa for company. Between the two, it was hard to separate the child from the man.
Clearly, over the past couple of years or so (since the time he had first dropped in as a cry-baby, barely able to talk) Tian has matured fast, gaining both in confidence and social skills. He is quick to size-up strangers, chooses his words with care, knows exactly when and how to rebut and yet, behaves his age. As Hari Narayani once put it, he is the Club’s best bet for the future.
Harish Wadhwa:
* Arora sa'ab, bacche ko darane ka nahin, galey se lagane ka!
* Tomorrow is a great day of a "wish" coming true... besides being the most important festival of the year. You can already smell it in the air, don't you? It's a surprise!
Renu Babani's PICSPEAK:
* "I maybe small, but don't underestimate my ROARRR!"
* "All of you listen to me please, I have the paper in hand..."

Day 822

Pic of the Week

Our dear friend – a much-loved, much-respected, but painfully shy man… has gone missing. Any clue where he can be found?

THE MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE: Kahan gayab ho gaya... But looks to me like the dog is lost! --Renu Babani

"Aap Chhipe hai Kahan / Hum Tadapte hain Yahan... (chai ke liye!)"
Missing our Badmaash Company regular, Jain-sa'ab. These days posting a Missing Person-ad is in vogue, like Gauri Bhosle of the tele-serial which is likely to go on air soon. -- Harish Wadhwa

Gangnam Ishtyle

Here’s breaking news: Long before a South Korean rapper went 'oop' 'oop' and became an international sensation with what has now come to be known as Oppan Gangnam Style, the very same dance was being performed at Lokhandwala Garden No 4, Mumbai every morning for years. Little known to many, Hari Singh Shekhawat is the originator of this dance form that involves cheesy animal-inspired moves and intricate leg-shuffling side gallops.
This morning, the 73-year-old naval veteran performed the Gangnam dance (pic alongside), much to the delight of all present. As usual, he started by yelling “Rane” and galloped in the air, arms raised, alternatively breaking into a horse trot and same leg-shuffling side gallops as the Korean pop star. The only difference was that instead of music, he kept beat with loud outbursts of “Ha-Ha”, “Ha-Ha-Ha”!
For us at the Club, this is of course, old hat. We have been watching Shekhawat do this for ages without bothering to give the dance a name. At one time, his solo performance had become a daily ritual marking the end of the exercises and signalling the start of the morning prayers. The only person who could match steps with him on this is Bapu Rane and together, they have often produced some exhilarating duets – pucca Gangnam ishtyle.
The other major highlight of the morning was Jagmohan Papneja ushering in the Diwali celebrations with a box of barfis (bottom pic). The festivities actually begin next week, but many are likely to be out of town or otherwise, would stop visiting the Garden for the exercises. It was extremely nice and thoughtful of Papneja to bring in the festive cheer in advance and wish everyone well on the occasion.
Renu Babani's PICSPEAK:
* "I'm a horse, galloping to freedom."
* "Who doesn't have a sweet tooth? Treats always welcome!"
Harish Wadhwa:
Shekahwat-ji gallops in this Gangnam ishtyle to meet and greet Rane-ji, his ek-din-ka-bichhda-hua brother. It is nice to watch the duo do it in sync as they rejoice their meeting.

Never Enough

The surest measure for joy, they say, is when you are unaware of time ticking by. For us at the Garden, whatever time we spend together, is never enough. We are supposed to be there at 7:00 in the morning, but many of us are already on the benches by 6:30. The exercises last an hour (and that is serious business), give or take 10 minutes. Thereafter, it is gaffing time. Some hang around while others head to a nearby tea stall. Many continue their discussion on the road (lead pic), often in the midst of heavy traffic. The discussions would be unending – just that no one ever remembers what was talked about. And yet, a lot still remains to be said the next day.
This happens to almost everyone. The same people who used to return home by 8:30 are now going back at 9:30 (on a good day), a clear three hours since they had left. But ask them what could have delayed them for so long and they would be at a loss for words!
Just to get a sense of what engages so many brilliant minds for so long, here are some clues: A’s grand-daughter is getting married and only B is invited, why not the others; C’s cap was stolen and she is asked to catch the thief before she gets a new one; D has acquired a smartphone, but cannot operate it (big deal); E wants to ensure non-vegans abstain from eating veggies for Diwali lunch; F wants to break G’s bones big time for being shifted around during the exercises; H, I, J, K, L… cannot understand why X or Y wears his clothes ulta!
Well, that was today. Tomorrow is another day.
Renu Babani's PICSPEAK:
* "OMG! This is so funny, you guys are missing out..."
* "I have so much to say, but such little time. So listen up quick!"
Harish Wadhwa:
* By the way, what is Santosh-ji crooning about? Just curious. Is she saying, "Wait for a couple of weeks for red gaajar to come into the market before I get some good kanji for all of you"?
* In the lead-pic Kishor-da seems to have understood what the ladies talk about!

Gag Order?

The gag order was today observed in the breach.
In what was a typical case of the ‘cat being away and the mice having a ball’, the morning witnessed a highly charged, noisy bunch of under-age adults eager to shoot their mouths in all directions. As Geeta Sardhana (right pic) was to say: “What to do? After bottling ourselves all day at home, we get verbal diarrhoea coming here. We can’t help it!”
Ramila Mistry (left pic), who had bravely stepped into Srichand Arora’s shoes, tried to do some damage control – even threatening to chuck the chatterboxes OUT – only to invite mischievous jibes from Dilip Babani & Co (bottom pic) who were bent upon addressing her as “Kokilaben” (as in ‘THE hospital’). She momentarily silenced them by declaring that Kokilaben happens to be her aunt – thereby, also raising her stock in the eyes of all members. But within seconds, they were back to their pranks. Before long, Nahid Khan was heard making feeble attempts at restoring order in chaste English: “Be quiet please or go out.”
But nobody was listening. Shekhawat was as usual, playing to the gallery while Nafisa Sayyed was more intent on mimicking his Hindi, particularly the way he pronounced numbers while counting. Even Harbans Singh got into the flow of things and joined the talkative trio of Geeta Sardhana, Bhaswati Bose and Kajal Babani. By the time Monthi Serrao came in, everyone had gone berserk.
If that were not enough, Harish Wadhwa sang an old romantic number in his inimitable, free-spirited voice for the benefit of the ladies (lead pic) and in effect, calling it a day. So what if he had got the wording all muddled up? He could get them all asking for more!
Renu Babani:
The crazy bunch, ever ready to prove they are part of the Club. Each one of us has the freedom of speech... unless someone can prove otherwise.
Harish Wadhwa:
* Today is my turn of a good pic! Be sure that I have not consumed sandhi sudha to act like this. It is the Blog Monster who must be dancing due to last night's hangover to click such an awful picture of mine like this! (LOL) To add to my misery, Geeta-ji is mocking at the way I walk.
* Like the Talking Trio, here is a good pic of the 'Laughing Trio'. I am sure this pic was taken when the hangover effect was gone!!!