The Picnic

It was ironic how I went thru the entire summer without once thinking of going on a picnic. And just when winter was around the corner, out sprang the idea of having an outdoor day. And well, fortunate that I am to have equally enthusiastic friends, we did go out to embrace the sun for one full day, from dawn to dusk, I should say considering the late lateefs we have in the gang, from noon to dusk.

 

We went to Burke Lake, though I never really got to see the lake or the row boats for which it is generally known. But we had one huge chunk of well-mowed lawn all to ourselves, not to forget that the space was fully loaded with three picnic benches, which we never actually make use of. The true indians that we are, we prefered to shun the bench and cool our "butts" on the green luscious grass. Speaking of which, we also had a true indian traditional picnic lunch of puri, alu sabzi and shrikhand. It was delicious. You would think we perhaps all just dropped down on the verdant 'carpet' for a nappie, but we didn't. The guys went ahead to continue their game of cricket, while we girls took a joyride on the toy train. Its truly blissful to take pleasures in these small 'kiddish' things in life. Life seems simple in such times.

 

Sumit's mom enthralled us with some old forgotten shayaris while we tried to play the school-time favorite games of "the chain catcher." Rosy and I were so out of breath in just a few minutes that we just gave up and left poor Krishna all by himself to catch the others. We were just complete misfits I should say. And while the sun was setting, we thought of buttering up the bread, and sprucing it up with chutney, tomatoes and cucumbers to finish our day with our true desi sandwiches.

 

The fun day however did end with a few injured friends, some limping their way back home, while some ending up with ankle or wrist sprains. This just proves how they all just literally "ran and bowled" their way to having a wonderful day. Take it easy friends and do not forget to see Deya's album.