Borivali Picnic

Zarina Khan and Nahid Khan

Nahid Khan and Zarina Khan were back in the Garden this morning. As reported earlier (ref post of December 27), they were having medical issues which made them considerably weak and unsure of themselves. Zarina, who sat through today’s exercises, believes she is “condemned for life” with her BP problem. And Nahid cannot understand how deficiency in Vit C and Vit D (for which she’s been prescribed medicines) is responsible for recurring bouts of giddiness.
However, the bigger development of the morning was the Club taking a call on celebrating New Year at Borivali National Park on January 5 (next Sunday). As there is little time left for preparations, Yusuf Rassiwala convened

Discussions on picnic at Borivli National Park

a meeting soon after the exercises to discuss various options open to us for the picnic.
At the outset, Shekhawat rejected the idea of hiring a bus (as we had done the last time around on December 2012) to ferry us to and fro since it will

Urmila Sinha brought gajar halwa

involve needless expenditure on keeping a bus held up for the entire day. Banoo Apa had learnt from some transporter that this would cost us nothing less than Rs5,000 (for a small bus).
The other option is to pile on to members taking their cars out and driving the distance. Or else, we could perhaps all take OLA cabs and split the costs. This was found to be most economical – if not actually comfortable. On balance though, it was decided to avail of both modes of transport and collect a certain sum from every ‘passenger’ in advance.
It was also decided that the Club should bear the entry fees to the national park as well as incidental expenses (such as snacks, refreshments, etc.) incurred by the group. Lunch would largely be packed from home and shared, much like a potluck. Those preferring to go for restaurant food would be free to do so.
Yusuf R asked everyone to give these aspects a serious thought and come up with suggestions before confirming their participation. A final head-count will be done tomorrow. Only thereafter, would a programme for the day be worked out.