Elders' Meet, Day Out,...

The Evolution: A few months ago, a handful of elderly people started sitting and chatting in the evenings on the knee-high wall opposite the Club House main gate. Gradually the number began to swell. Soon the group began to indulge itself with a walk across to SLV for a cup of coffee. Later they upgraded it to a steaming hot Vada as well. Thankfully an attempt to try Kharabath was thwarted for fear of losing appetite for dinner and being grilled back home.

Getting charged: Now, everything falling in place - a well-knit group, time-pass discussions, occasional indulgence, and participation in the Badminton tournament - the members felt a fresh impetus to venture into an uncharted territory, a day’s picnic – initially a trial run in a 13-seater Tempo Traveller. The venue: Sivanasamudra, Talakad and Somnathpur.

Who will bell the cat? It is here that the buck game usually starts. Fortunately, Mr Krishnamurthy (6093), backed by experience, came forward.

The preparation: The group decided to engage the guy who had earlier carried an SFV group on an inter-State tour. Krishnamurthy, ably assisted by Kaleeswaram, 7211, negotiated with Grand Ragavendra restaurant for breakfast and lunch, ready to be picked up at 6.30 in the morning. SLV couldn’t deliver that early, they had expressed.

The trip: The members, attired in their best, waited at Oak gate at

6.30 am sharp. Beaming with happiness, we were eager to share with each passing by morning walker where we were heading, till it became a little embarrassing for us to meet the same people on their fifth or sixth round, and we still waiting for the Tempo Traveller, past 7.30. Thereafter we avoided eye contact with them.

The promised driver had safely switched off his mobile. So Krish pressed into action Plan B, and another Tempo Traveller picked us up - a patient and understanding driver. With occupants hailing the name of God in unison, the vehicle charged out of Oak gate at 8, instead of 6.30. Better late than never, we consoled ourselves.

A little later the search began for an ideal place for breakfast. In the interim, members who had brought token snacks began to distribute them. An hour later, the driver spotted an open space away from the road, stopped, and spread the huge sheet that he had, on the grass. Everyone did full justice to the breakfast – Idli, Vada, chutney, sambar, eggless cake, and bananas. We gave the excess to the old man and his cow that was searching for grass. One good deed a day. Maybe not, because what we gave was leftover. Anyway.

It was now time for Anthakshari. Soon, teams were marked: the two-seaters forming one team, and the one-seaters and those seated in the back row, the other. The songs could be in Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam, or any other language. It fell to my lot to inaugurate it. I did it with, Waqt ne kiya, kya haseen sitam; tum rahe na tum, hum rahe na hum. Mala, (Mrs Gera), lost no time to sing a number starting with Ma. Soon it picked momentum, with both teams in a frenzy to outwit the other. Till we reached Sivanasaumdra, neither team was found wanting.

The view of Sivanasamudra falls was as enticing as the Jog falls. Soon Chandrashekar, of 6172, swung into action with his I-Pad Mac. We then headed for Talakad where the excavated Marleswara temples have been preserved. Some of the members chose to take a ride in locally made boats. Again, Chandrasekhar captured the moments so well that others have named him the official photographer for future events.

We had lunch by the river. We were worried if the lunch picked up at 8 am would not have gone stale. It was fresh. More so the much-feared curd rice.

It was time to hurry to Somanathpur before it closed at 5.30. Too bad that yet another architectural splendour fell a victim to supremacy battle. Anyway, the Archaelogical Survey of India has preserved well the remnants.

With excellent tea on the way from a wayside shop, we reached home around 8.30 pm. A day well spent, everyone felt.