How it Happened

Yusuf Rassiwala

Impromptu events in Big Laaf are proving to be more enjoyable than the best planned and organised ones. This became amply clear today morning as many pointed out that the picnic-cum-Eid party the day-before-yesterday at Chhota Kashmir (ref post of June 23) was the ‘most successful’ from the Club to date.
Yusuf Rassiwala took the floor soon after the exercises and formally thanked those who had taken the initiative in making the picnic happen. “It was a big success and all of us enjoyed,” he said. “Right from the food to the company we had, the entertainment, boating, even the weather... everything was perfect. Nobody expected it to turn out so good!”
Indeed, given our limited resources and uncertainties of the weather, a lot was left to chance.

Shreyans and Arushi (after a big fall)

In fact, the idea of having a party, let alone picnic, had almost been abandoned till Kajal Babani took the initiative and with the support of Shekhawat and Kiran Prakash among others, things began to quickly fall into place. Banoo Apa volunteered to make the sheer khurma and soon, Mallika Kagzi stepped up to organise the biryani from a reputed caterer...

Nahid Khan's daughter had sent chocolates from Kuwait

all this with barely a couple of days to go. It was Bijoy Gupta’s idea to turn the Eid party into a picnic, suggesting that we drive to Chhota Kashmir in whatever cars available. His own driver ditched him at the last moment, but other cars were there: Arun Patil’s, Shekhawat’s, Santosh Tyagi’s, Kiran Prakash’s, Siba Prasad Maitra's... And so off we went – about 40 of us. That Yusuf R’s birthday coincided with the date was the proverbial icing on the cake.
In all this euphoria, a word of apology is in order. We had a few kids with us, particularly Santosh’s three grandchildren. Surely, they had come with expectations, but in the absence of other kids and with so many elders instead – that too, separated from them by two generations – they must have felt completely out of place. So they kept to themselves. Much as we love them dearly and shall cherish their company, we have to admit that we are all physically and mentally challenged in engaging with them on any meaningful level.
Shreyans and Arushi, in particular -- please forgive us.
Lt Col Angad Singh (from Mohali):
'Himmat e mardan madad e khuda...' is an old proverb, meaning, God helps those who help themselves. The club members took the initiative to go on a picnic against all odds and being senior citizens, were rightly worried about the unpredictable weather conditions. However, God certainly helped them to enjoy the outing. The children might me feeling left out, but at a later stage, they will certainly realise the importance of the event.