Part 5 - The day after the exhibition

I am as relaxed and a bit lazy even to write today - as much as I was the morning after the exhibition.. The most important job over, we were all free in the mind. By 11.00am we had to be at Mrs Veena Das's residence for a Coffee Morning. We reached in time. The other guests had started to arrive. We were given a warm welcome by the graceful Mrs Dass. I couldnt take my eyes off the huge Tanjavur Painting of Subrahmanya-Valli-Devayani that adorned the walls.! And there were many Ravi Varma prints of Lakshmi & Saraswathi!!!

The heads of chapters who had come from outside Delhi spoke on the occasion. Mrs Dass was congratulated for organising this exhibition. Mrs Indu Punj touched everyone's heart by reading out the words that came straight from her heart! She woke up at 3.00 am and wrote those beautiful words. She spoke about all the lovely years they worked as a team. And about the dedication of Mrs Dass to Ikebana. Mrs Veena Dass spoke about the remarkable support Mrs Indu Punj and Mrs Uma Sharma gave her in planning and organising the event. She also thanked the entire team for all the help and support, without which the whole event would not have been possible.

Tea was served. It was a sumptuous feast :) It should have been called lunch! Sorry, I find it difficult to describe the unmatching hospitality of Mrs Veena Dass. All I can say is that she is one amazing & great lady!! Thank you Ma'am for everything! We left around 1.30 in the afternoon. We headed off for some shopping.


We picked up some nice vases from the Art D'INox at Khan Market. For example these cute steel vases with crows on them that Dally picked up..!
Here I must give a million thanks to Meenu for taking us around the trip, never bothering about her badly hurt leg!!! We wish you a very speedy recovery Meenu! We had time just enough to come back to our rooms, freshen up and change and head for Dr. Kusum Ansal's residence for evening tea. There also we were treated to a huge feast! Thank you very much Mrs Ansal for your tremendous hospitality!

Malathi Sensei wanted to see the house of her teacher Mrs Uma Rao and also the house where she lived in Jhor Bagh! I took a picture of Mrs Uma Rao's previous residence from the car. The watchmen got suspicious on the camera flash and came running to us. We had to explain to them what was happening :) However, I heard that the watchmen at the Jhor Bagh residence were very friendly and Sensi took some nice pictures. She might have felt very nostalgic, I can say! I wasnt there because a frined of mine who went to school with me was coming to meet me. We were meeting after 25 years!!! Yes, a quarter century!!!!! We had a great time having dinner. I came back at about 11.00 pm. And started to pack all the remaining flowers into one box. Then every pin holder, cutter, the masala box and my own suitacase... Wondering whether we would be fortunate to have Drama-At-The-Airport which we so much missed on our onward journey!! I hit the pillow at about 1.45 am only to be woken up at 3.30am... By 5.00 am we were all out and in the car!! We said our bye-bye to IIC and were at the airport at 6.00. Again, to our disappointment nothing happened. All our bags were through, just like that. And no excess Baggage .. Phew!!! The flight was delayed by about 40 minutes.

It was great fun to have Prerana onboard. She was dropping joke-bombs and Vaishali and I started screaming. Sorry, I cannot put all those things on the blog. YOu will have to call me or message me :)

Landed safely at 10.40 and headed for our respective homes. Malathi Sensei was so sweet, she agreed for a lesson at 3.00 in the afternoon. Thats a great gesture, isnt it? I completed my Book 3 that day, though we were all tired. It was a very nice trip. Many nice memories.. We missed Ambika, Molly, Trishala, Chitra and Seetha. Well, there will always be a next time.

It was a very good learning experience for all of us. I close my report here, thanking each one of our team for the great time. Especally both the Senseis. And to all the people at Delhi for the great opportunity. Bye for the moment.