‘She is 16, going on 17…’, is the famous Sound of Music song we are all familiar with. That was years ago. A group photo of those actors was in circulation with their current ages – 50s to 70s probably.
Yes, time flies. Lakshminarayan ji of Maple 3133 whom I had the pleasure of knowing ever since I moved into SFV in 2016, has been an active joggers’ park morning walker. Some of the others included Sankaran, Gautam, Viswanathan…But, as things stand now, perhaps only Viswanathan owes allegiance to the park and still patronizes it. All others have switched over to greener pastures.
Shri Lakshminarayan ji is a very happy and contended man. He worked in the Ministry of Railways. From what I have observed, he has been the go-to man for all entitlements and waivers in Government and other monetary transactions. He is suave and a no-nonsense person bestowed with a clear thinking – no ambiguity.
He celebrated his 90th birthday – nay his sons, sister, brother had all arranged the event. His is one family which could take pride that most of his siblings and son and family are all housed in Sobha Forestview complex. A well-knit family where bonding takes precedence over everything else. So nice to see such a family.
SFV Club House – both Hall 1 and 2 - were well decorated for the event. The invitees could be divided into equally two – his family and friends, and the SFV co-residents.
MPH Hall-1was full when we entered a little late. The Event Manager was regaling the audience with Tamil film songs quiz. He would play just the intro to a film music, and the audience will have to guess the song. It proved to be a child’s play for most, though I personally could make out hardly one. Maybe time to admit I am outdated. But, on the whole it was enjoyable. And some of them were required to dance to that number. Many took it in the stride as the occasion called for.
Then there was the mathematical quiz. The two teams vied with one another to come up with the answer first – mostly correct. This was followed by many interesting quiz programmes. I found this one very interesting. A male and a female from each team was asked to come forward. Some pictures with answers, such as Slippers, Instagram, were shown from behind by the Event Manager. Each group’s members could give the man or woman with sign language tips for the right answer. Both the contestants did so well that in the end it became a tie, with just one last picture to be shown. The lady answered and got away with the prize.
The one that stole the show, however, was the number rendered by an 85-year old friend of Lakshminarayanan, aided by Karaoke – Baharon phool barsao mere mehboob ayaa hai.. Simply stupendous. Some thought Mohammad Rafi has re-entered earth for a brief while.
It was time for lunch. This catering agency knew its job well. The way they organized orderly serving, with the Manager ensuring with a list in hand to ensure that they missed nothing; that there were repeated servings; and, more importantly, the dishes left nothing to be desired in taste and delicacy. The bottom line: There is no dearth of caterers in Bangalore; it is only a question of picking the right one.
It was nice to see all family members moving around merrily, beaming with happiness – Lakshminarayan’s brother Prabhakar, his wife Prema, LN’s sister Vani, son Chander, his wife Aparna and their children. Seeing one happy is infectious and the invitees could not resist feeling similarly.
An afternoon well spent, heard many say as they got into the lift heading home.
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