Birthday gift to Churchill?

The day of the Lok Sabha elections, April 23, was Dr Willie's 82nd birthday. The day of the result, May 16, will be Churchill's 60th birthday. What is the connection we hear you ask? Nothing that we know of except that both men are political Rambos of Goa.
But what is this we hear about the Congress party planning a special birthday gift for Churchill after May 16? That depending on the results of the Lok Sabha elections will be decided the result of the disqualification petition against Churchill Alemao and Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco?
Aah, the electronic voting machines, they say, reveal more than ought to.And that a careful analysis of the EVMs can show a boothwise voting pattern to reveal which candidate secured more and which candidate secured less. Forget the Matanhy factor, there is talk now of a Churchill factor which might have damaged Sardinha's prospects. The EVMs will tell all and on their tale, will hinge the result of the disqualification petition.
Sure, Churchill has talked tough. And so has small brother Joaquim. But for all their posturing and jingoism, can the Alemaos rock Digambar's boat? Nah, say observers. Digambar and the Congress have a collective strength of 25 and two less would even be considered good riddance to bad rubbish. No doubt, the carpet will actually be pulled by the high command. At the local level, Congressmen will be making a beeline to Varca dutifully mouthing Happy Birthday Churchill!
Electrifying encounter
Some months ago, a few colleagues experienced queer happenings in office where static electricity would be passed at the mere touch of another person. This problem, they were told, was due to improper earthing system in the office set-up.
One afternoon, a colleague was really hungry. He had not packed his lunch to office and instead decided on grabbing a bite at a food counter at Miramar.
Leaving a report incomplete, our colleague rushed to the food outlet - not aware that electricity was coursing through his veins, literally.
After having his fill, he went up to the counter to pay the bill. However, a large, portly gentleman had blocked his way. Apparently, the man was inquiring about cakes for his daughter's birthday. Now, getting a little late, our colleague finally decided to make his way through.
"Excuse me," he said, lightly touching the man's elbow, when CRRRAACK!!' - a sound zipped through the air. The man spun around bewildered. His face had anger, fear, pain and shock written all over it.
Our colleague too was taken aback at what had happened. He put on an air like a superhero who exercises superpowers but always pretends to ignore what just transpired and walked past the man to the counter.
He paid the bill and walked out of the store with a sense of secrecy about him, leaving the fat man still speechless.
Shabaash Shadab
Team Chennai went for a spin on a Ducati....sorry, Jakati.
Jakati, who? One may ask.
Shadab Bashir Jakati. The left-arm spinner from Goa who grabbed four wickets to send Team Delhi tail-spinning to defeat on Saturday.
For us in Goa, it was soothing balm after the hero of the last edition of the IPL Swapnil Asnodkar failed yet again in Saturday afternoon's match against Team Hyderabad.
For most, however, the spinner was incoginto, inducing fans and journalists alike to reach for their data bases and the internet to get some background on Jakati.
Had they done their homework well, they would have known that the Vasco-based slow bowler was key to Goa's fine performance in the last Ranji Trophy season both with bat and ball.
The 28-year-old has already scored a double in First Class cricket 1,000 runs and 100 wickets besides a century and according to Hemant Angle, former Goa Ranji Trophy player, has got a remarkable temperament which should hold him in good stead.
Not to mention Jakati's bowling style a left-arm spinner, someone who could be a tricky customer in the cauldron of T20 cricket. The Indian team pines for a left-arm spinner. So keep it up Shadab, and left' simply could be right' in time to come.
Never ending wait
Braving the sweltering heat one morning, Suzie decided to go complete some paperwork at her local village panchayat. Although she was happy to have got to the place in 10 minutes on her bike, she wasn't too pleased about the long queue of people waiting at the panchayat office to get their work done as well.
It took forever for the line to get shorter, but when it finally did, Suzie heaved a sigh of relief. It was her turn at last. However, her joy was shortlived.
After requesting for a form on which to get her information recorded, the clerk at the counter was audacious enough to say, "Madam, I have run short of stationery. If you want to get your work done, you will have to go make a photo copy of the form. It is the only one I have got." Poor Suzie was forced to comply as there was no other way out. So off she went ...to get her photo copy and stand at the end of the queue...again!
Free water
Tara was washed with a feeling of security at the airport at how thorough the authorities were being at checking hand luggage. They made sure no liquid items went past them during the security check just before boarding. So even tiny bottles of moisturizer, sanitizer and of course mineral water bottles were removed from the bags and put into a large, cylindrical plastic bin. Needless to say with the weather being as it is lots of people were carrying bottles of water in their bags and the plastic bin was soon filling up.
As she cleared her security check and proceeded to wait till her flight was ready for boarding, a slight commotion caught her attention. Members of a large joint family were discussing rather loudly how expensive water at the airport was while a tiny tot, belonging to the same group, threw a tantrum because he was thirsty. What followed next not only shocked Tara and all those present but reaffirmed how ignorant some parents are. The father of the child went up to the security officers, put his hand in the water bin and randomly pulled out a bottle. When the officer said he couldn't take the bottle with him, the man said, "No problem! I'll make my son drink it here only so you can see if anything happens to him!"