Picnic Announced

So Harshgiri it is, for the next picnic. And the date fixed is March 13. Sunday.
While making the announcement this morning, Hari Singh Shekhawat (right) said that after due consultation with members and having Kishor-bhai to explore every other option on the Net, he has finally zeroed in on this “nature park” on the Mumbai-Nashik Highway, 60 kilometres away from Thane. It would take around two hours to reach the place by bus and the costs (including tariff) would work out to Rs600 approx. per head.
The Harshgiri Lake Resort is a sprawling 240 acre holiday getaway with green expanses and dense plantation, gardens, walkways, farming plots, a natural clear water lake, waterfalls… besides the usual facilities for boating, rain dance, etc. which other resorts offer. It is located close to Shahpur, the nearest railhead being Asangaon Station. The historic Mahuli Fort is 15 kilometres away from this location.
Monthi Serrao (below) had been recommending this resort for long, as she had already been there on an earlier excursion – just that none of the present members seem to recall now. Strange names like Eskay Resort and Kaytee Resort had come up for consideration, which were found to be either too close to Mumbai or too far. The idea, from the very outset, was to have a day-long outing and return by the evening. The kind of excursion we had with an overnight stay at Lonavala, six months back, has been found to be too ambitious and unfeasible at the moment.
According to the publicity literature available on Harshgiri, the following 'attractions' are on offer:
* natural as well as artificial waterfalls;
* swimming pool;
* nature garden;
* boating facilities;
* indoor and outdoor games areas;
* sunrise-sunset points;
* rain-dance with music;
* picnic sheds and multi-purpose hall; and
* in-house catering (vegetarian)
Appears to be a nice place to unwind during the week-end. Besides, it seems like ages since we last went out on a picnic.
Dilip Babani says:
Picnics, we all enjoy. A one-day picnic is all the more fun and hardly tiring. We can look forward to rain dances, jokes, Housie, Sitaram's bhajans and old songs... We will surely enjoy!
--Dilip
Harish Wadhwa says:
Nice to see everyone getting charged up for the picnic. Jokes competition are a MUST, one for all the members and another one exclusively for the Badmaash Company.
-- Harish