Himachal Tour

With a little more than a month to go, the process of tying up loose ends for the Himachal Tour has begun. Hari Singh Shekhawat and Srichand Arora took stock of the financials – the collections made so far, installments advanced to the tour operator and the balance amount required to be generated from all members proceeding on the tour.
Basically, out of the 23 who had enlisted initially, four have opted out, thereby leaving a contingent of 19 – each of them having already paid Rs10,000 towards various bookings. It was estimated that an additional Rs10,000 would be required per head, which would take care of all foreseeable expenses and the balance shall be refunded at the end of the trip. The amount includes charges for hiring helicopters from Katra to the Vaishno Devi shrine, for which bookings would be made online on March 1, in Mumbai itself.
The ten-day tour starts on March 27 from Mumbai and will hit Vaishno Devi four days later via Amritsar. Thereafter the entourage will wind its way across all the major scenic spots of Himachal Pradesh and finally terminate at Delhi a week later. The only regret, if any, is that the group members will be missing the Holi festivities as they would be in the train on March 27.
Meanwhile, here's a charming picture (left) from Pratap Bhatt, currently holidaying in Australia. He sends it with his good wishes.
Harish Wadhwa:
Why is Arora-ji blocking a ear and not wanting to listen to the 'guru gyan'?
Renu Babani's PICSPEAK:
* "Can someone please explain what is this discussion about?"
* "A big hello to everyone. I'm fine and having fun."