Post-Picnic Celebrations

Banoo Apa hosts a chai-samosa party with biscuits

They haven’t stopped laughing yet. Each of the ‘picnickers’ (as distinct from those who did not make it to Saina Resort on Saturday) reported to the Garden today with their teeth still out. In spite of repeated reminders to regain their composure and concentrate on the exercises, they kept chattering about the picnic (ref post of November 26) and laughing their heads off. Clearly, nobody was in any mood to get over the day's madness and revert to normal life.
Banoo Apa declared that never before had she felt “so happy on a picnic” and that she would like to celebrate with tea and samosas after the exercises.

Event managers Kajal Babani and Bhaswati Bose

Everybody agreed it was by far the most successful picnic from the Club and much of the credit should go to Bhaswati Bose and Kajal Babani who had organized the games and variety entertainment.

Rukhsana Khan (second from rt) celebrates with Iraqi dates

Arun Patil wanted a special round of applause for the duo while Rukhsana Khan chipped in with a box of soft, succulent dates her daughter, Afreen had brought down from Iraq.
Of course, the biggest applause was reserved for Shekhawat who had sponsored the bus hire. He was however, more anxious to cock a snook at his bête noir Bijoy Gupta for backing out at the last moment and thus “missing the opportunity of a lifetime”. Shekhawat showed him images in a camera of all the fun and games, provoking him with exaggerated stories till Gupta conceded that indeed he was the loser.
Like Gupta, there were Nahid Khan, Shanti Singh and a few others who could not make it, but joined the jokes over Fahmida Khan making a pass at Manisha Kolhe, the way Kiran Prakash addressed Khatoon Baig (supposedly his long lost love of 50 years) or say, Banoo Apa singing the Fevicol item song as a classical number.
Arun Patil confessed to getting stuck on ‘saala’ when he had to sing ‘Saala main toh sah’b ban gaya’ in English. It seems Banoo had prompted him with “brother-in-law”, just that it did not fit within the metre. So, of all the words, he settled for ‘bloody’ and went on to croon, “Bloody, I have become Englishman!”
Of these little anecdotes are lasting memories made.
Lt Col Angad Singh (from Mohali):
Picnics, no doubt, are meant to be enjoyed. But it is also nice to enjoy the post-picnic memories. This can be very wholesome.