The Botanical Garden hash walk was brought forward to the 27th, the last Sunday of November, 2005 as we leave for the Sunderbans on 4th Dec. Zoria, Carl, Madhuri and Sid were early birds and set off to catch the worms inside. Wanja (who changed from slippers into sneakers at my insistence and was thus responsible for our late arrival), François and I got a lift in Paurosh and Vineet’s car at Turf View. We caught up with Nitish, Jolly and Nishant in front of the Banyan tree. New Hashers Andy and Nil reached the main gate and caught up with us at the center. Pradeep and Bonani who brought lawyer Vikramjit on false pretences saying that they were going to the Wetlands, caught up with us at the lily pool.
The Ficus bengalensis was fascinating for François and Wanja as this was their first visit and they kept asking which was the original tree trunk. Bonani and Nil are birds of a feather and were bouncing birds and flowers off each other! To confuse me further Nil pointed out the Bird of Paradise which is a flower! The white bird or bok I keep confusing is the egret. The pond heron is actually brown with a white underside to the wing when flying. There was something called a Jacanna but I’ve quite forgotten whether it was a bird or flower! Andy who is now an active member of the hash group, having set up the website and the pictures, took lots of pictures of cobwebs on a bush as we walked towards the riverside. We walked up to the old colonial building and then turned around as I was getting frantic calls from Doc that I kept passing on to Bonani.
Yvonnick was told that 20 of us were reaching The Park. We set off in cars and motorbike back to The Park by 8:45. A long table was set up for the hashers and I sat at the alcove table with Yvonnick, Wanja and other new hashers and was able to convince all 4 to join the Hash Group as we needed their multiple talents. Andy is Hash Flash like Yvonnick, our gourmet chef and chief contact with The Park and Flury’s. Nil is Bonani’s spiritual son (as Andy put it) and we are all invited to his design studio d next to the Toll Bridge for their first anniversary on 1st December at 7 p.m., as well as for a barbecue after one of the Botanical Garden visits this winter. He was full of anecdotes on Michael Madhushudan Dutt who lived near the Botanics and came to the gardens for literary inspiration. I was inspired to recite Simple Simon met a pieman as François has come to the conclusion that I need mnemonic help to remember names of birds so I’m to think of lemon pie and I’ll remember that it’s a magpie with a forked tail! Need hardly say that I remember the Atrium menu quite easily, even Akuri which is a sort of Indian scrambled egg and not a Japanese businessman…
After breakfast, Yvonnick invted us to the Business Center to watch the Durga Puja, Bisarjan boat trip, Kali Puja, Cemetery, and Hallowe’en pictures taken by him, Andy, and François. After the photo session, we headed to the Craft Village with Sid on Yvonnick’s bike with Nil’s extra helmet, and Wanja, François and I following in a cab. Wanja bought a wedding present for a friend from the Bastar stall and Yvonnick bought a hanging wrought iron lamp which we are negotiating the price of. If anyone is interested in buying the giant tortoise made of bamboo, leaves and jute it can be bought for Rs.5000. Nothing to beat François “Monstrosity” as dad puts it though the rest of us refer to her as his fiancée standing sentry by my stairs. Wanja who was living upstairs from her has left Cal but will be back to spend December with us. She will miss the Sunderbans trip but I think we can set up some interesting hash trails for her return.
Neela
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