Picnic at Manori

After a week of bitter cold, we were in for warm sunshine… and the sea, surf and stretches of golden sand. We soaked in the sounds and smell of a bygone era – a Portugese settlement, now a fishing village of Christians. We had paneer masala, chicken curry, jeera rice, poha, puris, pakoras, gulab-jamuns… and ice gola, beer, rum and coke. And we scoured the beach, sang antakshari, danced to Chikni Chameli, played Housie…
In short, we had a blast!
Setting out from the Garden at 8.00 a.m. (see yesterday’s post), the bus dropped us at Marve in half an hour. After a short ferry ride and an even shorter bus ride, we were at Manori Resort by 9.00 a.m. Instantly Srichand Arora got into action, taking charge of a degchi of poha and doling out our first meal of the day (follow the slideshow alongside) with potato curry and puris – before everyone dispersed towards the beach.
It was still low tide then. Hari Singh Shekhawat chaperoned the ladies to the far reaches of the deserted beach (before the sun got the better of them), while Arora laid the ground with a bed-sheet for the lazier lot to relax. Between the two, all activities during the day were conducted with mechanical precision, perfect coordination and attention to detail.
And yet, there was so much of heart on display – be it in the caring and concern about the personal needs of individual members or the warmth with which ‘guests’ (strangers, actually) were drawn into the group, in the jokes traded and drinks shared or while playing antakshari and Housie, the impromptu dances of couples… If this picnic is to be remembered, it would be for this reason: there was not one discordant note sounded during the day, thanks entirely to Shekhawat and Arora.
On the flip side though, two incidents did cause concern. One, Kishor Babani managed to misplace his reading glasses and got us all rummaging the sands… till he figured he could have lost it on the ferry across Manori Creek. The other vexing issue was whether we had left behind someone on our way back. If so, who could that be? After counting all heads three times, checking and cross-checking with the passenger list, the mystery was resolved: Two kids, who were treated as one adult (for accounting purposes), had been counted separately in the beginning. But Shekhawat’s wife, Mohan Kanwar had the last laugh: “We were 36 when we set out from home. Now we are 35!”
Renu Babani's PICSPEAK:
These photos are proof of all the fun we had at the picnic. What started as friends when we would meet daily for the exercises has turned out to be a real family. Goes to prove that Our Family is priceless and these memories will remain forever.
Kishor Babani:
I found my glasses at home. I forgot to take it on the picnic. So everything is okay. Had great fun at Manori.
Dilip Babani:
I think all the members enjoyed a lot. Everyone was happy and relaxed. We played antakshari, had nice food and chilled beer. Without the support of Shekhawat-ji and Arora-ji, this lovely picnic would not have been possible.
Harish Wadhwa:
Picnic pics are very nice, thanks to our 'official' reporter and photographer. With such good pics and the time you all had, those who could not make it (including myself) must be very JEALOUS. Everyone at the Garden was appreciating the scrumptious food as well. I also heard about the healthy competition of antakshari between the erudite friends who knew and shared some of the old and less-heard legendary songs. I am sure Arora-ji and others must have defeated the women gang of Banoo-ji, Bhaswati-ji, etc. quite squarely!