#Annual Picnic
My earlier post mentioned the various
tours a senior citizen can enjoy making post-retirement life joyful and
exciting. During the previous year, the last month of 2024, I had a tour of the
Sundarbans with my wife and two sons. On 5th January, the new year, our housing
society organized a picnic at Saheb Bagan, Village—Sibalaya, Duttapukur, 30 kilometers
from our residence. It’s also a short group tour with our known people in the
locality organized by our Housing Society. The contribution was Rs.400.00 per
person. A large bus was arranged to take us to the picnic spot. An individual had
the option to go by their vehicle.
The bus was scheduled to depart at 8 a.m. on January 05, 2025. About 70 people participated in the picnic, of whom around 50 went to the picnic spot by bus and the remaining by their vehicle. The bus started at 9 a.m. and reached the picnic spot at 10.15 a.m. The picnic spot, Saheb Bagan is very spacious having many big trees, a kitchen, space for vehicle parking, and open spaces for playing and gathering. Big walls enclose the picnic spot. There was only one entrance. Eleven cars entered the picnic spot. The Bus was parked outside the picnic spot.
After entering Saheb Bagan, breakfast was served. After finishing breakfast, we gathered and sat together. There was a good seating arrangement with sufficient chairs and tables. There was a badminton court where children were playing badminton. My son also played badminton there. I also played badminton with the children. A few children and adults were playing football and cricket. I also played cricket with them. I enjoyed playing cricket. For more than two decades I could not play cricket. Therefore, I was excited to play cricket. In between lunch and breakfast, snacks were served. They served chicken pakora with tea/coffee as snacks. For vegetarians, they served veg pakora.
Before lunch, we enjoyed a few
interesting fun games. Prizes were kept for the winners of various fun games.
We enjoyed the fun games. After fun games we had lunch. In addition to
vegetarian items, fish and mutton were served as non-vegetarian items. After
lunch we played ‘Housie’. We enjoyed our participation in the Housie Game. In
between, oranges were served to all. After having evening tea/coffee we packed
up to return home by the same bus.
The picnic spot was very spacious and had a variety of trees, particularly mango and betel nuts. In addition, vegetables were grown inside the property. They cultivated cauliflower, cabbage, potatoes, and onion. Betel nut trees were in a row on both sides of the pathway, which enhanced the scenic beauty of the picnic spot. Mango trees were located in such a manner that they provided sufficient shade without affecting sunlight and open spaces.
We enjoyed the natural beauty and sunlight throughout the day. Every individual was free to roam around inside the picnic spot. People of almost all age groups participated in the picnic. I enjoyed interactions with many people both known and unknown. We had two singers amongst us. We enjoyed their live songs. It was a nice gathering away from our home in a natural environment. Every year we wait for this picnic. We are all waiting for the next picnic in 2026.
#picnic
