Pass the Cap

With barely two days to go, preparations for Holi have begun in right earnest. In yet another first for the Club, the hat cap was passed around for members to voluntarily pitch in towards the expenses. Like last year (see post of March 20, 2011) we shall be celebrating in the Garden with dry colour, followed by thandai and eats. The on-the-spot collection yielded around Rs350 in a few minutes as everybody put in whatever they pleased.
Earlier on, a certain amount was fixed as individual contribution, which had led to widespread dissension among members. (The amount was inclusive of costs being incurred on the caps and ID cards.) What started with light-hearted comments (“As it is we are forced to wear caps, now we are being made to pay for them!”) soon snowballed into strong voices of protest: “We never asked for caps; I am returning mine today itself!” “I have decided to stop coming to this Club; I get unnecessarily delayed every day.” “The Club was never like this before. Everything seems to be money-oriented nowadays!” “The 4,500 rupees they are collecting, is not a small amount." “No, the collection should be much higher, almost Rs6,000…”
Sensing the mood of the members and in order to avoid a confrontation, Shekhawat (on Bose’s suggestion) returned all the money collected earlier, but warned everybody on indulging in “loose talk”. He said it was only in the fitness of things that Club expenses should be spread out evenly, rather than be a burden on one or two people. Yusuf Rassiwala then spoke up, voicing popular sentiments: “Whatever you are doing is not a collective decision. This is what people are objecting to. When they were not consulted, how can you ask them to pay?”
In between, Harbans Singh (left) dropped by to say her goodbyes as she leaves for Punjab tomorrow. Later, Tara Chand Seth (right) wished everybody well as he too leaves tomorrow – for Delhi. And Sunita Jajodia distributed sweets in absentia for reasons that still remain a mystery. Thus life goes on...
Renu Babani's PICSPEAK:
* "I hold the box of sweets, so whatever remains is all mine to take home."
* "Goodbye dear friend, have a safe trip. Do come back soon. For you shall be missed."
* "A walk in the park alone as I observe everything around me."

Life’s Lesson

Tara Chand Seth (in pic) today set into motion this week’s round of celebrations with a box of burfis from Delhi. Santosh Tyagi is bringing kanji day-after-tomorrow and the following day is Holi. On Saturday, there is an invite from the laughter club of Garden No 2 which Srichand Arora and Hari Singh Shekhawat feel we must honour.
Tara Chand’s burfis were ostensibly to celebrate his grand-daughter's success in her medical exams. (He had already treated us to sweets last year when she passed MBBS.) As it turned out, he is leaving for Delhi on March 7 and will not be able to join us for Holi. So this was his way of discreetly wishing us in advance with what were actually ‘Holi sweets’ from his side.
In between, our yoga ‘guru’ Prof Mirajgaonkar joined us unexpectedly and insisted on celebrating the foundation day of the Club today. Out of courtesy, it was agreed to raise an extra laugh for his benefit after the exercises, though everyone knew the official date to be March 14. Midway, the guru-ji demanded a Club Cap. When told there were only a counted few made (as per the membership list), he walked away in a huff. Efforts to recall him (for the laugh he was so keen about) proved futile as he sat sulking in the Chinese Hut and complained of “nobody even looking” at him!
Clearly this childish petulance rose from a desperation to attract attention. Eventually, Tara Chand went across when no one was watching and placated him with a piece of burfi. He even surrendered his cap if that should make him happy. Now here is a simple, self-effacing man of comparable age with no claims to academia or higher learning whatsoever. But we have so much more to learn from him than from any "professor" or so-called guru-ji. Think about it.
Renu Babani's PICSPEAK:
"I am so happy today, I feel the need to celebrate. So help yourselves please..."

Day 580

Pic of the Week

Haven't we seen her somewhere before?

* "Baagon mein bahaar aayee..."
--Bhaswati Bose
* "Tum kahaan, main yahaan..." 
--Renu Babani
* "Kashmir ki kali, isharo isharo mein dil dene wali bata yeh tune seekha kahaan se? Sharmila Tagore???"
--Dilip Babani
* "Patta Patta, Boota Boota/ Haal hamara jaane hai..."
--Srichand Arora
* "Bahaaron phool barsaao, mera mehboob aaya hai!"
--Kishor Babani

Selfless Love

As the Club grows from strength to strength, the sense of love and camaraderie shared between members is having its effects on all in the Garden – and outside. Yesterday’s ‘cap distribution’ was not lost on anybody. At least two young ladies and one elderly gentleman have since approached us separately with Rs50 for “membership”. They were simply not prepared to believe that there is no membership fee for our Club. And today, when Srichand Arora presented a cap to Jagmohan Papneja, a non-member (but nonetheless, a regular), the gesture was greeted with a huge round of applause. It is this spirit of fellow-feeling and inclusiveness that distinguishes our Club from any other.
Small wonder, a representative from the Laughter Club of Garden No 2 (pic above) nearby came over and invited all our members to a party next Saturday. This has never happened before. Quite clearly, the idea is to connect and get to know one another better -- much as the occasion is meant to be our old friend, Mr H.P. Jain’s treat for a wedding in his family. Also our yoga guru-ji, Prof Mirajgaonkar dropped by to remind us that it is time we formally celebrated the ‘foundation day’ of our Club, which completes nine years this month.
However, the main event of the day was the kada prasad Harbans Singh brought for us this morning. Words are woefully inadequate at describing the divinely delectable halwa of simple wheat flour and pure home-made ghee, served with brittle mutthi – just out of this world! Nobody kept count of the number of helpings they took. Suffice to say, both the casseroles Mrs Singh brought, were polished clean (bottom pic) and still, nobody had enough.
Harish Wadhwa:
The halwa was just too good -- out of the world, tasty, dripping with ghee... So was the mutthi, which coincidentally is a good combination with aate-ka-halwa for breakfast in many Punjabi families. Thank you, Mrs Singh, for the prasad. The six musketeers of Arora-Bose-Kishor-Arun-Hari Naraini-Harish had a great laugh today, thanks to the spontaneous jokes' sharing and talks. Please don't ask us to share what we discuss as we ourselves do not know! What we do know is that many a times people hearing us chori-chhuppe also laugh with us -- so infectious, magical and intense are these dicussions.
Renu Babani's PICSPEAK:
* "Since they call me 'Guruji', I guess I should have my say too in the group!"
* "This is so tasty, I wonder if I could get the secret ingredient?"
[P.S.: The fact that all the members are not wearing their caps shows significantly. Please show some appreciation to Mr Harish, who took the effort of getting them.]
Dilip Babani:
"Harish-bhai's caps are very nice. Thanks!"

Capping the Club

Today, for the first time in Club history, Sitaram Hivarkar stood in the middle and conducted the exercises with a lovely navy-blue polo cap perched on his head. Looking every inch a no-nonsense drill sergeant, he thus inaugurated what is now to be recognised as the 'club cap'.
With a distinctive red trim around its peak and the club’s Happy Face insignia in front, the cap instantly reduced everybody's age by at least 15 years! The bald pates and silver hair were all gone. Prakash Motwani and Ved Prakash Grover looked like geeky school boys while Nazma Sayed (in picture) was mistaken for a little girl. Nahid Khan wore the cap over a dupatta around her head and for a moment, in half-smile, she appeared as an Arab sheikh.
Actually, nobody had expected the caps to bring about such a dramatic transformation, both in the appearance and behaviour of the members. Bapu Rane lost his trademark Gandhian chrome dome and became funnily unrecognizable while Ram Shankar Shukla turned into an overgrown ‘Alvin the Chipmunk’. Bose transmuted into a security guard. Tara Chand Seth, Kishor Babani and Pratap Bhatt looked a cross between young army jawans and punters at the race course. Even the ladies started behaving out of character -- more like mischievous boys. The most hilarious though was Hari Singh Shekhawat (left) who presided over the cap-distribution -- a field marshal ‘doubly-anointed’, with two caps planted firmly on his head!
The blame (or credit) for all this must fall squarely on Srichand Arora – ably abetted by Harish Wadhwa. Two years back, the former spotted some people in Singapore wearing caps and exercising and since then, he has wanted our club members to do likewise. Today, Harish turned that intention into action. The question now is what if some members per chance forget to wear their caps to the Garden. The penalties being suggested are (a) debarment from exercising; (b) standing on the bench; (c) treating everybody to chai; and (d) doing ten laps of the Garden in ten minutes. Or does anyone have a better idea?
Harish Wadhwa:
* Option (c) seems to be the best bet. But frankly, I don't think wearing the cap every day is required. Yes, on picnics and celebrations, it could be the ticket to the bus or party.
* Bose Babu and Arora-ji, appreciated the gesture at chai. Arun-bhai joining us gave hope that he would soon become permanent company.
Renu Babani's PICSPEAK:
* "Tirchi topiwale, babu bhole bhale..."
* "I get two caps because I am in charge. No one must forget that!"