Kashmir Countdown

With just over a month to go, the countdown to 'Mission Kashmir' has begun. On August 31, at 07:55 a.m., a contingent of close to 40 adventure seekers from the Club would board the Swaraj Express at Bandra Railway Terminus and set out on a long, non-stop journey of nearly 2,000 kilometres across north India to reach Jammu the following afternoon at 2:45 p.m. It is for the first time that an excursion of this scale is being organized.
Mumtaz Jahan (left pic), who is taking care of the logistics at the Srinagar end of the trip, made an appearance this morning to confirm that “all arrangements” have been made. She was in Kashmir last week and spoke of an unprecedented heat wave in the Valley; but was quick to assure everyone that the weather would turn pleasant there within a month. “You have nothing to worry about,” she said, cheerful as always.
Such positivity on Mumtaz's part is reassuring for the group – especially for the many first-timers to Kashmir who are a little nervous and perturbed by recent reports of disturbance in the area. Some members are threatening to pull out on one pretext or the other (but till they actually cancel their bookings, nothing can be said). Let us hope that nobody withdraws at this stage since a lot of effort has gone into putting together the numbers and finalizing everything -- courtesy one man, Hari Singh Shekhawat.
Incidentally, Shekhawat and Srichand Arora (pic above) are working out a new schedule for birthday celebrations – restricting them to just four quarterly joint-dos in a year. The idea is to put an end to frequent ‘birthday parties’ (which have lost their significance) in the Chinese Hut and instead, encourage interaction among members over lunch/ high tea in some restaurant or hotel, once every three months. A formal announcement on this is expected shortly.
Renu Babani's PICSPEAK:
* "My goodness, that is soo funny... I can't stop laughing!"
* Sisters-in-arms...