Bandra Picnic!

There are several picnics held by the expatriate community here and the Bandra Picnic is one of them. In its 15th year, the Bandra picnic attracts former residents from Bandra and their friends from other parts of Bombay and India in a day full of fun, laughter, games, food, drink (yes! though it is illegal to drink in public places!) and lots of socialising and reminiscence.

The picnic is a great place for new residents to catch up with old friends, make new ones and even talk to the ones that they never noticed back in India. It is a great community gathering where everyone helps in some form or the other whether it is setting up the canopy, finding suitable places in the shade, carrying picnic tables across the park, serving the snacks, heating up the food, ensuring that all the glasses are full or just ensuring that everyone is having a good time.



The picnic spot was a place called Kelso Park which is privately owned and is just across a lake. A very scenic spot with lots of places to play, have fun or just relax. While, the picnic is predominantly a Catholic gathering, it is open to everyone. It was a fascinating experience, though I didn't really catch up with any old mates from Bandra.



I also heard that the Bandra picnic is just one of such picnics, tomorrow, there is another picnic at the same venue. This one is the Borivili IC Colony picnic. Wow! a few weeks ago it was the Middle East picnic, there are also other picnics like the Kalina (where I come from) Vakola and Santacruz picnics and so many more. I hope to visit some more next year and catch up with the ones that left India several years ago. I must also add, it is not only the Indians that have such picnics, there are other as well like the Malaysians, Caribbean and several other nations. However, by our sheer size, we out number them all.