Royal Garden Resort

It is not for nothing that Royal Garden Resort has become the most favoured picnic destination for the Club. Its proximity to the city, well-maintained swimming pools, relatively high standards of hygiene and good food prompted us to visit the place for the third time. Added to all this were the excellent arrangements made by Shekhawat in advance, the wonderful company and great atmosphere which together, made sure that everybody had a swell time. Even the octogenarian Tara Chand could be seen wading into the pool and having a ball. There were a few anxious moments though. The bus which took us there, forgot to take us back and it had to be summoned from someplace else, late evening. Earlier, on three occasions, three ladies mysteriously fell off their chairs inside the resort: Nazma Sayed, Kajal Babani’s mom and Mrs Shekhawat. And Santosh Tyagi had the most regretfully breathtaking and bone rattling ride of her life on the slide, down into the pool. For once men and women mingled freely in the waters – rather than remaining segregated in clusters – as one large family of 50 noisy members. Together, they gamboled in the pool, did the rain dance, performed the rail-gaadi around the shower pole, helped those who slipped back on their feet, treated one another to ice-golas… This kind of camaraderie that comes with letting go all inhibitions can rarely be seen on home ground. As usual, Shekhawat, Bose and Dilip Babani took their rum-cola breaks while Sitaram, Arjun and Pawar slinked away to a nearby resto-bar for an afternoon swig. Post-lunch, it was time for Housie (above), followed by Sitaram taking charge with his harmonium (left) and bhajans and geets and ably complemented by Mumtaz Jahan. But ultimately, it had to be Rehana Sheikh (below) dominating the proceedings with her power-packed songs and dancing. She was the prima donna of the picnic, from the time we boarded the bus, till we got down and all through the men vs women antakshari session. Pawar led the men’s challenge, though Harish Wadhwa turned out to be a surprise discovery for his singing talent – a face saver for the males. As Pawar put it, “Harish-bhai ne mardon ki izzat bachaa li!” The most gratifying part though was that we had one of the Club’s founder members, Purushottam Sharma joining us for this outing – the first time since his wife's untimely demise last year. Nice of him to still take us as family.
Purushottam Sharma says: Nice pictures. It was my pleasure to be with you all yesterday. You people are indeed my extended family.
-- Sharma
Renu Babani says: What a great picnic! Everyone left their inhibitions behind and decided to enjoy every minute of the time spent together. The resort was clean, food was good and there was some sort of fun for everyone. Kudos to Mr Shekawat for working so hard to ensure that things went smoothly. His helpers ensured that there were no hitches on the way. The singing and dancing added to the fun and laughter. This picnic was worth it no doubt and will be remembered with wonderful memories.
--Renu
Bhaswati Bose (right) sings: We had joy, We had fun, We had seasons in the sun... What a PICNIC!
--Bhaswati
Dilip Babani says:
We all enjoyed the picnic -- good food, plenty of ice golas, lots of fun, nice swimming pool and of course, wonderful members. Everything was great and well-planned. Sitaram's bhajans, Rehana's dances and songs, Harish-bhai's Chhupa Rustom act and Bose-babu's pictures covering the full picnic... The kids also enjoyed the rides and slides, rain dance and gulab jamums, jalebis, chicken, pav-baji, curd rice, pulav, etc. Thank you Shekhawat-ji, and all members. It was like one family having fun together!
--Dilip
Harish Wadhwa says:
Well, it was really great fun at the resort, thanks to the organising team, especially Shekhawat-ji. The crown for full entertainment undoubtedly goes to Rehana-ji. Wow, what great energy she has! It was also nice to hear melodies from Sitaram-ji.
--Harish
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