AFVOA Newletters of Year 2003

Page 4 of 170 5. The first thing that everyone did upon disembarking from the buses, was to rush (you guessed it) to the steaming hot, aromatic and mouth watering spread of idlis, pongal, vadas, sambar, chutney lubricated by coffee that Maharaj had strategically placed upon two serving counters. Mr Robin Briggs, the caretaker of the Camp, who looked after us during the previous year’s picnic to the same spot, greeted the party with genuine warmth. The spread was truly tasty and welcome, and nobody minded if was beyond the usual “Mess” timings for the meal, i.e., 0700-0900. If anything, the fare was a little too heavy, considering that we finished by 1000 hours, and lunch was slated for 1300-1330 hour!. Luckily, we were joined by some of our “outstation” arrivals, namely Gp Capt & Mrs DK Dass, Gp Capt & Mrs KS Raghavachari, and Lt Col & Mrs CR Sundar, who drove in directly from Tambaram even as breakfast was fast disappearing. Col Ashok Choudry, Mrs Chhanda Choudry, and their charming daughter Anuradha soon joined the gathering to a heartfelt and rousing welcome for they had driven all the way from Pondicherry to be with us. Col Choudry has been a member right from 1995, and the love and affection that the Choudry family evidently have for their old comrades in arms and their families is manifest (they try and attend all annual picnics now that they have relocated to Pondicherry!). There were some other honoured and most welcome guests too: Air Cmde & Mrs Amirthalingam had with them Gp Capt RP Sharma, AE(L) (Retd), who is currently the Principal of a school in Nainital, and Mrs Bharti Sharma. Wg Cdr & Mrs DK Sundaram came accompanied by Sqn Ldr Sanjeevi & Mrs Sanjeevi. Mrs Durgabai was accompanied by Brig (Ms) Maheshwari. The gathering was made lively by the presence of the younger generation. 6. Picnics of a scale such as ours do not get off the ground without some effort, and much goodwill. The importance of which is such that it would be unfair to relegate mention of this to a last paragraph titled “acknowledgements”, which is usually skipped over in the reading. Not in order of importance/effort, for every bit counts (remember the tiny little squirrels who helped put up the bridge by Lord Rama’s Engineer Regiments!), mention must be made of Col Samuel Raj (the scale of his contribution must remain a State secret!), the GOC, Maj Gen AS Jamwal, without whose goodwill we wouldn’t have travelled in comfort, and much else besides. Then there is Col RI Subramanian, the quiet, behind -the- scene key to a good deal of the success of all our picnics so far, Maj Anil Jotwani, OC of the ATNKK&G Area Signal Coy, and of course the Committee itself, but for whose efforts, as they say, the picnic may have certainly run even smoother! Talking about the Committee, Col Viswanathan and Naresh Maharaj ensured that we all had our fill of what was certainly very delicious and superbly laid out fare, at breakfast, at lunch, and at tea in the late afternoon. It would be less than fair if mention were not made of the efforts put in by Col Narayanan to make sure that no one went thirsty, of course for a price. If all this relates to the build up to the picnic, that the actual event was, as they say, a “smasher”, was probably entirely due to the efforts of three large hearted ladies, who designed and conducted the games which truly held our undivided attention, which is saying something for a gathering as diverse and large as ours. Mrs Usha Subramanian, Mrs Rajeswari Raghavachari, and Mrs Chitra Rajan, may your tribe increase! 7. The Games were so organised that participation was maximum. The first game involved forming four different groups, which involved knowledge of the Chiefs of Army, Navy and Air Staff and the winners of the PVC. Then the gathering was asked to group themselves into various flowers, vegetables and fruits. This was followed by the Noisy Family, which involved the various groups being able to identify different animal noises and group themselves accordingly. The next game involved many activities – with each individual being tasked to carry out an activity. The games were enjoyed by everyone – both