Stop-gap Picnic

RAIN-BATHED GARDEN: Shades of green, upon green, upon green...

Another dark and wet morning with only seven-and-half people, two sad crows and a few earthworms in attendance. Most of the ladies – including regulars like Santosh Tyagi, Monthi Serrao and Geeta Sardana – stayed away.
But Hari Singh Shekhawat was there. Possessed by the spirits of Bangkok and Pattaya, he came in clutching an umbrella, struggling against raging winds and relentless rain, only to settle into his designated plastic chair at a corner.

Shekhawat weighs his options on Bangkok-Pattaya

He wasn’t much interested in exercising today. What mattered obviously were the options available to him for setting out on the mid-November tour.
Taking stock of the situation, he realized that even as mid-November (i.e. post Diwali) was non-peak season, all tour operators were out to make a killing by charging upwards of Rs27,000 per ticket. In December, the rate goes up by Rs3,000 (levied as ‘surcharge’) and post-New Year, it would revert to current levels of Rs25,000-odd.
Dubai did not offer much comfort as the rates for a three-day holiday package were upwards of Rs31,000 and done independently, return air tickets alone were Rs16,000-plus.

Nahid Khan

The other option about Kerala that Srichand Arora had given yesterday (see post) would cost Rs12,000 by air and Rs4,000 by train (Duronto Express) for senior citizens on an average. Lodging, local travel, etc. will cost extra. And going by a circular of Central Railway, the idea of booking a separate coach for ourselves looked too complicated and prohibitively expensive.
In the circumstances, Shekhawat felt that it would be prudent not to rush into Bangkok-Pattaya right now and instead, push the trip by a couple of months (i.e. to mid-January 2014) to avail of the off-season benefits. Also, all those without passports would have ample time to get their travel documents in order. In the interim, a local excursion could be organized once Arora is back from Singapore.
Arun Patil suggested Matheran while Shekhawat had in mind a place in Gujarat which had cable cars as a tourist attraction. Both of them would compare the costs and logistics involved and the more convenient option will be taken. Most likely, this ‘stop-gap picnic’ would be scheduled after Dussehra in mid-October, when Shekhawat returns from a visit to his village temple in Rajasthan.
Meanwhile, the mystery behind Nahid Khan’s disappearance has been resolved. She is the most regular lady for the exercises and her absence for the past three days had become a cause for mounting concern. Turns out she is in Ajmer and would return by the month-end.