Vaishali Chandorkar Chitale
AND SO IT ALL BEGAN, ON THE ROAD TO ROHETGARH…..
The OC, i.e. the five of us, namely Manish, Kirti, Nandita, Shailendra and I, woke up one day after months of slumber, to the fact that the onus of arranging and executing the 45th reunion of the class of 80 was upon our able-bodied shoulders! Able or not, was yet to be decided, but we were quite certain that if we could pull it off at Karjat, we could pull it off anywhere…. but that was before we actually got down to doing it… Then the saga began…….
The first hurdle became apparent almost immediately when we realized that we were all in different cities, far away from each other. Logistical nightmare it was, but when did mere logistics deter the OC from raring to go? …and so with unbridled enthusiasm we took off……
Our excitement was so high that we had announced the dates a year back, keeping the NRIs in mind. After all, we wanted maximum footfalls, it being a milestone reunion. After careful deliberations, taking in Diwali and the wedding season, a consensus had finally been reached- November 14-16th, 2025. I, for one, was very happy as it coincided with my bestie’s birthday! Double celebrations ensured!
Then we hibernated for the next few months, only to be rudely awakened from our sleep when we woke up to the fact that we were in the month of April and had only 8 months to get our act together.
The clamor on the class group for the venue declaration was growing bigger by the day. After wracking our brains for a feasible one, from the point of view of easy access (mainly for the Delhiites, they are the spoiled ones, they refuse to travel far) and finance, we zeroed in on Jodhpur. After Karjat, one thing was very clear: that we needed to recce the place; after all, we are all now silver citizens and need our creature comforts; and it was very clear to us that we needed to own the place for those 2 days; it had to be only us there, for we, the class of 80 are a boisterous lot and need our space to mingle and jingle.
Manish and Kirti were cajoled into doing the recee, though it didn’t need much cajoling, the sports that they are! They set off for Jodhpur and threw in Jaisalmer for a choice. Two days of intense search in the April heat and our boys came through—we had our venue, Rohetgarh. Frantic messages, calls and pictures later, all five sat back with a ‘job -well-done’ look on our satisfied faces.
Venue and dates in hand, the time was now racing……or rather galloping towards November. Budgets were drawn (a little conservative, if you ask me, given the exclusivity of the resort), and somehow seamlessly it just fell into place. Nandi took over the finances (the initial amount and the rest), budgeting fell in Manish’s lap, interfacing with the hotel was entrusted to the girls, and for the to and fro, it was Kirti all the way!
Now the goody bag thinking caps were put on! Manish, as usual, set the ball rolling by chipping in the Tohl product, which we all have grown to love; I chipped in my two bits—my debut book, and Nandita volunteered to get out name tags made from the City of Nawabs, Lucknow. Jodhpur being a blue city, when Namita suggested that she would like to knit blue mufflers for all of us, we jumped at the chance. Kirti, in his inimitable style, took on the task of creating the beautiful blue Jodhpuri jackets and procuring the Jaisalmer stone glass. One huge responsibility taken care of……… and, did he deliver and how…. The jackets, after an almost everyday group call, with pictures of different swathes of jodhpur prints, were finally ready, with Kirti going out of his way to get the measurements right. Shailendra, not to be left behind, took on the responsibility of getting the sweet packets made in honor of Children’s Day.
Now only the logo remained….and after much brainstorming, bickering, rootha-roothi, we had the logo for the meet!! The logo this time was only on the goody bag and we wanted it to be perfect. The canvas bag, after a lot of back and forth, was decided upon, and sent for production.
We were all very sure that we wanted to give everyone a taste of Rajasthan, literally and figuratively. With the help of Vimal, our representative at Rohetgarh, we girls, curated the menu keeping us young senior citizens in mind. For entertainment, though all of us together are enough to entertain each other, , we decided to take us jaanbaazs for a ‘Shikar Night’ into the wilderness. The main attraction being the camel cart ride, the flame eaters and the Rajasthani folk singers and dancers! The mouth-watering spread at the venue added to the charm (and I can safely say that it was a huge success).
All loopholes tied, the stage was now set for D-Day. Our work done, now the wait was for everyone, 46 of them, to troop in and have a ball.
Post Script
And trooped in they did…..with smiling, exuberant faces, ecstatic to see old friends, happy to connect, happy to be together again! Some early birds wanted more of fun and frolic, and joined us on the 13th itself.The revelry began almost instantly ….and reached a crescendo by the time everyone was in on the !4th by lunch time. Back slapping, loud guffaws of laughter, jaadu -ke jhappies, jubilation reverberated throughout Rohetgarh. The sleepy hamlet came alive with class of 80’s euphoric delight and gaiety!.
Rohet ke thikane pe, sabko mauke mile patane aur hasane ke….
………..and before we know it, it is time to bid Adieu!
Au Revoir for now, Class of 80!
Vaishali Chandorkar Chitale
The Bash of 80 