Breathing Time

Discussion on preparations for the Annual Day function 

Banoo Apa treats us to cake and tea in extended X-mas celebration

The Annual Day function has been postponed again (ref post of December 11). But this time it is for very good reasons. Instead of being under pressure of an unreasonable deadline and making a slap-dash job of it, it was decided this morning to move slowly but systematically, put our best foot forward and mount an impressive show we can all be proud of. More important, everyone should enjoy the process.
This realization dawned after a week of rehearsals (for the plays) whereby, the strengths and weaknesses of participants have come to light. As Kiran Prakash pointed out, emphasis was being laid, rather prematurely, on the final performance before people had even memorized their lines. “We ought to concentrate on dialogue delivery, diction, voice modulation, etc. only afterwards,” he explained.
Indeed, such fine-tuning takes at least two months of regular rehearsals even for professional actors. And here, we are mostly inexperienced non-actors. A couple of exercises were suggested such as leveling of pitch (to instill confidence) and seeking the help of a prompter (preferably a female voice like Banoo Apa’s). These would greatly reduce stress in the run-up to the show.
Another lesson learnt in the past few days was that we had unwittingly put the cart before the horse. We still need to take stock of our resources (including the creative) before deciding upon the scale of the show – or even its date. Siba Prasad Maitra offered to approach Celebration Club for a donation and a letter of request has accordingly been prepared for him to carry.
As for creative inputs (apart from the plays) nothing has yet been decided. Potential performers need to be identified and coached to fill at least 90 minutes of programming time, before a schedule can be drawn up. Make-up, costumes, props, light and sound, anchoring, etc. are also critical concerns. Only after these issues are resolved would we be able to fix a date for the function and approach a decorator for erecting the stage.
Till then, we have got ourselves a breather.

Lt Col Angad Singh (rtd):
* Kiran Prakash has given good suggestions. We should continue with the rehearsals so that our actors modulate their acting and voice to give proper effect. Needless to say that choreographer has also to take lot of pain and render help to various actors. Everyone has to work hard to make the event a success.

* Our daily exercises keep us healthy and tuned to our daily routine. Similarly our Annual Function is an important event. It stimulates not only all the members but also gives additional oxygen to the audience. It is a day of reckoning and the audience would remember it till the next event. As such it is important that we all put our best foot forward and ensure that the event has the desired effect. Wishing you all the best of luck.

Christmas 2018

Playing Santa: Kiran Prakash

It was a morning of glorious goof-ups. Someone forgets his house keys, only to find them later. Another forgets the sequence of exercises. A third laughs out of turn and abruptly shuts up when corrected. A fourth forgets what date it was today.
This had to happen all at once on the same morning. And while we were left wondering whether our brain exercise (of tongue wagging) was working in reverse gear, Kiran Prakash abruptly

Father Christmas visits us at the Garden today

took to his heels and without uttering a word, headed towards the Garden gate.
In keeping with the joyous mood of the morning, we surmised he must have remembered something that he had forgotten. When he did not return after a while, Nahid Khan declared authoritatively that Kiran Prakash had driven off to his house in Malad. But Banoo Apa and Bhaswati Bose, the eternal optimists, speculated wishfully that he would turn up and surprise us with a cake!
Meanwhile, Siba Prasad Maitra floated an amusing story of cops impounding Kiran Prakash’s car and towing it away. “They do this regularly during festival time, just to make an extra buck. Kiran Prakash must have sensed this and gone to retrieve his car. If he is lucky, he’ll get it back for Rs200. Otherwise he shall have to pay Rs350,” Maitra reasoned.
Against this backdrop of wild conjecture and suspense, a smiling Kiran Prakash materialized after the exercises, dressed in red – a lovely Santa Claus cap perched on his head and holding a matching red bag bulging with goodies. He held out fistfuls of toffees for everyone and much to our amazement and infinite delight, there was a Christmas cake as well! Could there be a better way to celebrate the yuletide spirit?
Merry Christmas to All!

Lt Col Angad Singh (rtd):
Hurrah, it's X-mas time! Enjoy in the true spirit of oneness while we celebrate all festivals with equal fervor. This reflects unity in diversity -- a trait found in the armed forces only. It is unique to our Club also. Congrats!!! Long live Kiran Prakash and the likes of him.

Pre-Christmas

Members wish Bihari Milwani on his 63rd birthday

Christmas arrived a day too soon at the Garden. Bihari Milwani celebrated his birthday this morning. He turned 63 yesterday. Belated though his treat was, we had the benefit of a double celebration with phoren chocolate squares today.

Bihari Milwani receives birthday calendar from his 'angel'

Karishma distributes chocolates

The funny part though was that Bihari’s ‘computer brain’ let him down. It failed to break his age down to months and days. Otherwise, he has always been prompt at accusing us of inhabiting the planet for a mind-boggling number of days, hours and minutes (as though we have overstayed our welcome). Not just that, he unfailingly reminds us of our wedding anniversary every year -- the worst thing anyone can do in civilized society. But when it came to his own big day, he was completely at sea!

Daughter and father in a candid moment

Bijoy Gupta (in red) belts out a friendship song

Fortunately for Bihari, he had his ‘little angel’ from the City of Angels (Los Angeles, USA) to salvage the situation. Karishma Milwani presented him with the club calendar and went on to distribute the chocolates to all present. We had an unusually large gathering of well-wishers who had braved the early morning chill to felicitate Bihari and join the morning celebration.
As per tradition, we raised a fourth laugh after the exercises and sang the birthday song. Bijoy Gupta joined in, crooning Tera jaisa yaar kahan (from the film Yaarana) and forgot the rest of the song after the first stanza. Nothing unusual about it. That’s what Big Laaf is about!

The 'birthday boy' in the midst of well-wishers

Bihari Milwani:
I did not want to be at the receiving end by saying that 11 days back there was a more important occasion of having attained the landmark of 23,000 days. Today I completed 23,011 days.

Day 2729

Pic of the Week

MANY BOUNTIFUL RETURNS OF THE DAY... HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Many, many, many, many, happy returns of the day 💐🎂💐, dear Uncle --Geeta Latte

Have a 'fruitful' life ahead, Milwani-ji. Enjoy the day! --Bhaswati Bose

Happy Birthday, Bihari-ji. Many happy returns of the day. --Kiran Prakash

Milwani-ji -- Many, many happy returns of the day. May Allah bless you and your family with health, wealth and happiness. --Niloufer 'n' Yusuf Rassiwala

A fruitful and mouth-watering Happy Birthday, Milwani-ji. Never imagined that while presenting birthday calendars to everyone, you had reserved baskets of fruits for your own birthday. Wishing you a very happy, healthy and eventful long life. --Angad Singh

Drama Rehearsals

Karun Sharma (r) brought us sweets from a visit to Benares

Preparations for the club’s Annual Day function in February have gathered momentum. With just about a month between then and now, the focus at present is on the drama rehearsals, under the active supervision of Siba Prasad Maitra and Bijoy Gupta.
Two one-act plays have been scheduled for the occasion – Feku Baba and Dilip Kumar. Both are slapstick comedies, authored and directed by Gupta. He shall also be performing in them together with Yusuf Rassiwala, Shekhawat, Nahid Khan, Bhaswati Bose and other actors of the club.
Kiran Prakash and Karun Sharma, who also hold key roles in the plays, returned to the Garden this morning and straightaway joined the rehearsals after the exercises. The former was away exploring the higher reaches of the North East while the latter visited his alma mater, Benares Hindu University and picked up a box of an exotic Benaresi sweet – a variation of the Bengali labanna latika – for us on his return. It was a thoughtful gesture.
As for the rehearsals, we are still at the stage of script reading and memorizing the lines. Soon the drill of dialogue delivery would begin, followed by exercises of synchronizing voice with action and finally, inter-personal coordination of cast members for the stage.
Clearly, a lot of ground needs to be covered. But going by past experience and the enthusiasm of our actors, they are not just super-confident, but FEARLESS in their innocence about facing any audience any time. Their self-belief is palpable.

Lt Col Angad Singh (rtd):
All of us are waiting eagerly for the Annual Function. The members are emboldened by their earlier experience. The outcome will surely be enjoyable and the audience will be crying, 'Yeh dil mange more!'