Chokhi Dhani Revived

The New Year party this Sunday is off. The idea, which was so well received yesterday (see last post), has suddenly fallen into disfavour. Money was collected this morning and within minutes, returned. In its place, Chokhi Dhani has emerged as THE place to celebrate New Year’s – on January 8.
Travelling to this quaint Rajasthani village resort near Kalyan is Neelam Garg’s (right) brain child. She had come up with a similar proposal about six months back, but it was dropped for some mysterious reason – despite Shekhawat-ji’s personal interest in taking us there. Some say that the food served there was of dubious quality as yellow worms (or was it cockroach?) were detected in a rice plate. Everybody panicked.
Neelam-ji now assures us that quality standards at Chokhi Dhani have since improved and at least, yellow worms will no longer be found in rice plates. (She will not be going with us though!) “Besides, isn’t it a fact that in the best of hotels and restaurants, worms, even flies and cockroaches are found in the food?” she argued.
The logic appealed to the ladies, who have lately developed an aversion for parties in the Chinese Hut. As Mrs Harbans Singh (left) put it: “It will be the same old routine of being handed packets which would eventually end up with the building watchman or household bai. It's a sheer waste!” The idea was seconded by Santosh-ji and formally ratified by Arora-sah’b.
Likewise, the Goa trip for January has run into rough weather. The discounted hotel rate of Rs 1,200 per person, as quoted by Nazma Sayed today, appears to be prohibitive for many – more so, when another Rs 1,500 approx. is required for to-and-fro train fare. Besides, there are no tickets available in any decent train for January, according to Kishor-bhai. Furthermore, Sitaram-ji put his foot down on two trips in the same month. “Either Chokhi Dhani or Goa,” he insisted. “We cannot have both in January, since there are expenses involved.”
Motwani (right), a silent spectator in these deliberations, came out with the last word: “If only the ladies had not objected, we could have the New Year party in the normal course and everything would be fine. Now they are talking Chokhi Dhani and that too on the 8th of January! Chances are, this too would go for a toss – like the Goa trip.”

Harish Wadhwa says:
1. The two ladies have a "chokhi" smile in this blog!
2. Well, I am not going to be around on the 8th and will be on leave from 4th to 9th Jan. The venue, lunch, etc. do not matter much. But the people who attend do make the difference. Have a great time folks.
--Harish