Picnic at Mini Kashmir

Shortly after 9:00 a.m. today, the autorickshaw brigade spluttered to a start from the Garden gate with Dilip ‘Kejriwal’ Babani (see previous posts) at the head.

Cooling their heels on arrival

He led us in single file to the ‘promised land’-- somewhere beyond the highway in the wilderness of Aarey Colony in Goregaon East – for what was to be the most innovative, enjoyable and low-cost excursion ever organised by the Club.
Chhota Kashmir was a picnic spot waiting to be discovered. With its well-manicured lawns and flower beds, cobbled pathways, an artificial lake for boating and giant cactus and palm trees lining the outer fringes, this was ‘paradise on earth’ for us city dwellers. The heavens also smiled upon us, occasionally showering us with light drizzle and the sun played hide-and seek behind the clouds for the best part.

Boating in the rain

Against this setting, the 18-member 'aam aadmi' group was completely in its elements –

Santosh gamely does a foxtrot

the ladies breaking into antakshari from the very start, soon to be followed by impromptu jigs, a round of Housie, word rhyming, lungi dance, a game of throw ball… and of course, pedal boating in the rain.
Nobody had ever seen Santosh Tyagi doing a foxtrot before (with Bhaswati Bose) while Razia Khan and Geeta Sardhana performed a garba number for the time we took shelter in a wooden hut while it rained outside.

'Kejriwal' speaks to reporters

There was never a dull moment.
Dilip was made up as Kejriwal (replete with cap and muffler) and posed for a photo op with Razia ‘Birla’ Khan and Tara ‘Yogendra ’ Chand. The group even addressed a mock press conference with Dilip hilariously promising ‘sab kuchh’ to everybody free of any charge – water, electricity, food…
Many had brought food from home and after sharing with the rest, there were always supplements such as tea and cold drinks, cheese sandwiches, masala dosa and pao bhaji on order from a nearby eatery. Everybody, for once, went dutch – to the last rupee. And the initial Rs 100 collected from each, was duly returned.
In the end, everybody went home a happier person. For the amount spent individually, what we took back was priceless – a memory to be cherished for a lifetime – all thanks to Dilip, Tara Chand and Razia who made this 'aam aadmi' magic happen.