Fallback Plan

Backroom planning for the Lonavala picnic

Ladies can't have enough of Monthi's cookies from Bangalore

Whatever planning Shekhawat had done for a picnic tomorrow (see post of June 2) has gone phut! It was meant/ announced for The Great Escape, a suburban water park and holiday resort. But he has now realized, rather belatedly, that the person who gave him the contact details has taken him for a royal ride (pun intended). The telephone numbers were all wrong.
Shekhawat will not say where his calls were reaching nor the reasons for that anonymous person to play such mischief on him. Quietly he has fallen back on ‘Plan B’ -- Lonavala. He has identified two guest houses (close to one another) between which a bus load of people can be accommodated. Obviously, one place does not have the capacity to take in the whole lot. That apart, the room tariffs of the two places are different.
But there is a bigger problem. Shekhawat wants this picnic to be in June (before peak monsoon) and he has only three week-ends ahead: 14-15 June, 21-22 June and 28-29 June. Initially he decided for June 28 but was told in the Garden that Ramzaan begins on that very day. As we have a sizable membership of Muslims, that date is out. Then he shifted to June 14. Again, it is a big festival for Muslims – a day for seeking forgiveness in preparation of Ramzaan. Then he moved to June 21 – but that too is not ‘convenient’ for many like Srichand Arora who is expecting his family from Singapore. Now his option (if he must go) is to settle for a date mid-week, any time between 15 and 21 June. It will eliminate the office-going types, but surely he cannot please everyone.
Meanwhile, Monthi Serrao got her chance to treat us all to the cookies she had brought from her trip to Bangalore last week. She wanted to distribute them on the day after her arrival, but could not find an opportune day since. Today there was no treat forthcoming from any quarter and she happily distributed the long-promised cookies – much to everyone’s delight. The picture says it all.