Picnic Overdose?

For all his good intentions and simplicity, Shekhawat has a knack for getting the wrong end of the stick. The current joke going around is that his over-enthusiasm in organizing picnics would render several members homeless. Just the other day, when he proposed a weekend getaway at Mahabaleshwar end-May, Mumtaz Jahan quipped aloud that “many of us would be given talaq” for blowing money so often on picnics.
The same sentiments were expressed today when Shekhawat revived the Mahabaleshwar idea (above) that would entail Rs7,000 per head. While some stood around amused, exchanging knowing looks, many simply walked away.
Others discussed among themselves: “We have just incurred heavy expenses on Goa and there’s a Kashmir trip coming up which will mean another Rs30,000 at least. With what face can we ask our families for more money on Mahabaleshwar? They will throw us out of home… or else, discourage us from coming to the Garden. Shekhawat does not understand this.”
From all indications, Mahabaleshwar looks like a non-starter, even as Shekhawat insists that this would be the last picnic before the onset of monsoon. For the record though, it was Srichand Arora (right) who had done the spadework on fixing a place in the famous hill-station. It is a sprawling 10-bedroom guest house, let out for Rs76,000 (negotiated down to Rs66,000) for two-and-half days during the weekend.
Taking two to a room -- though more can easily be accommodated, so spacious (left pic) are the rooms -- the costs would boil down to Rs3,000 approx per head for two nights. Arora confirmed that the bungalow was still available for the May 25-27 weekend – but not for one night.
Shekhawat soon came up with another option up his sleeve – Royal Garden Resort (where we’ve been to a couple of times earlier). It would be a day trip, he said, costing “one zero less” than Mahabaleshwar. Still, not a single person evinced any interest in it.