After a hiatus of three years due to Covid, Porosh organized the much-awaited picnic for its members on a balmy January 18th along the bank of the holy Ganges. The venue was Nihar-on-Ganges (NoG) at Panihati which is located north of Kolkata.
Although all the members were invited yet a few could not make it due to physical ailments. A couple of buses were arranged from north and south Kolkata to bring the members to the venue. Pre-packed food and water were also served after boarding bus. A few cars were also booked for only those whose residence did not fall along the bus routes. An ambulance was also parked at the venue as a standby for meeting emergency requirements.
By 11.30 am the members started to reach NoG tea/ coffee was served in the lawn. What caught our attention is that the members spontaneously formed informal groups on the basis of their past acquaintances in the previous event. And, thus started adda. After a while, we had several of the members volunteering to either sing, or recite poetry. Time flew by and it was already 2 pm – lunch time.
The spread of menu was as elaborate as one can think of. Care was taken that veg and non-veg items were served as per requirements of the members. Needless to add, the quality of food was impeccable and served hot.
Post lunch session was followed by siesta by a few. Three large rooms were booked in anticipation that some of them may need to take rest. Most of the members, however, preferred staying outdoors basking under soothing rays of the Sun.
In the post lunch session we had a few staff members of Porosh volunteering to belt-out a few modern Bengali songs. Their efforts were well-appreciated by the members. As afternoon gradually paved way for evening, snacks were served once again with tea. But, many preferred to pack the items and take home though. Group photographs were also clicked apart from various moods of the get-together which were already clicked earlier in the day.
At the end all the members went back home with smile on their faces. The entire event was well-orchestrated by the support Staff. Obviously, requests have now started to pour-in for the next get-together around Poila Baisakh, or even earlier!