Plan B

Heated discussions on next tour destination

Shekhawat’s carte blanche on herding a bunch of giddy-headed members by bus to his village in Rajasthan has come to a naught (ref yesterday’s post). General ambivalence across the Club led to a silent burial of those plans this morning.
But all hope is not lost. A far more ambitious plan is now brewing for an all-expenses-paid trip to any place in India at the very earliest. The sponsor has also been identified. And most likely this would have to be by train.
The options discussed were Lucknow, Kolkata, Igatpuri, Ajmer, Delhi-Agra, Aurangabad (Ajanta -Ellora) and Kanya Kumari. A consensus could not be reached as someone or the other had a negative opinion every time a new destination was suggested.
Still, after much debating, Ajmer-Pushkar and Kanya Kumari emerged as the most popular destinations.

Urmila Sinha (l) marks her return with sweets from Dhanbad

The problem on taking a final call is the conflicting interests of members on travel. If Nahid Khan is interested in checking out a historical site like the Taj Mahal and Qutub Minar, there’s Yusuf Rassiwala who would much rather explore the culinary delights of Lucknow.
But to Zarina Khan, neither the Imambaras of Lucknow nor the broken statues of monuments anywhere else can hold her interest as much as the exotic ‘scene-scenery’ of Kanya Kumari Bhaswati Bose endorsed the idea. For a while, Laxmi Hadimani (who dropped by casually) deflected attention towards the “many possibilities for shopping” that Kolkata offers. Shopping, indeed, was a top priority for many.
Eventually, it was decided to check the earliest availability of railway tickets before zeroing in on a destination. Since there is no possibility of getting a confirmed reservation any time soon in a 2-tier or 3-tier AC coach (unless we wait for four months) a consensus was reached for travelling by sleeper class.
The question of going by bus anywhere did not arise – for obvious reasons.

Bihari Milwani:
How about going to Alibaugh by train up to CST, then by taxi to Apollo Bunder and thereafter by speed boat to Mandwa Beach and then by bus to Alibaug? It is off-season now and even on Sundays there will be no rush.