PUMBAI 2015

PUMBAI. To most, this word may make no sense; few others could feel it is something related to Pune and Mumbai together; for us, it is an experience that triggers a series of wonderful memories. As some of you would have guessed, Pumbai is our annual get-together where Pune and Mumbai friends meet and celebrate a weekend together. Last year, Varsoli beach, Alibag was blessed with our fun; this year, it is Saguna Baug, Neral. While Pumbai is just a weekend, it starts quite earlier than that. Planning and organizing is just a small part of the preparations, it is the excitement of meeting the gang and the anxiety of masti that we would have, drives each of us to counting days for this grand get-together.

Pumbai started on Saturday evening. As few of us were unknown to each other, we spent a few minutes on "Hi" and "Hello". And then, as usual, it didn't take much time to groove in. Before we knew, we were chatting as childhood friends meeting after quite a long time.Chatting continued post dinner and past midnight. Yet we woke-up to a fresh Sunday morning, pepped up to have more fun. Some of us had a river bath, while the rest were happy with heavenly showers (some preferred the shade of umbrellas).

Being International Yoga Sunday, we were treated to a Yoga session followed by a magnificent malakhamb display. Then was the round around the pond in a non-polluting 7-seater (pedal boat). This ride provided a view of a unique fish race which put up a spectacular view. Then we had a fishy experience. Trying to bait the fish, we ended up feeding them. Hence we had to settle for chicken for lunch. Post lunch, most had to leave. Those who stayed back were enthralled with the snake show. Along with a splendid display of venomous cobra, the session was a lot informative as well. All these activities can still be enjoyed at the resort, but the experience with this "gang" cannot be replicated.

When amazing friends get together at a beautiful location in an awesome climate, it results in a deadly concoction, the hangover of which lasts long, very long and the memories makes us nostalgic, every time we hear "PUMBAI".

The blog is an attempt to share an experience that cannot be expressed in words. So are you happy reading or do you wish to experience the magic? If you are interested and want to know more, do get in touch with us. You can email us as mahagsb@googlegroups.com or feel free to call Ashutosh (+91-9820992403).

Pumbai - Finally!!!

The much awaited Maha GSB event of the year was finally here. This event was announced a month back and within two weeks, we were looking forward to the event as though we have been waiting for this event since ages. It wasn't that we knew each other since ages, much rather, most of us were meeting each other for the first time. We were connected over whatsapp in the recent few days and all that we knew about each other were our phone numbers and to some extent our display pics. 

Being connected on whatsapp had built-up the enthusiasm to an extent that the topic of conversation on the group over the last few days before the meet was majorly on how early can we meet and the acitivities that we do. We had 3 cars from Mumbai and 3 from Pune converging at Vadkhal naka, on way to Alibag. It was a nice specatacle of 6 cars following each other thru the lanes of Alibag and Varsoli. Most of us were not known to each other till we reached the resort and it did not matter, cause the moment all cars were parked, we were helping each other with unloading the cars and settling in the resort.

The resort was just a namesake...we made it our second home as we settled in. After freshening up, it was time to hit the beach. And the beach we truly enjoyed to the core, from playing cricket to volleyball to water sports. Amidst all these, the kiddos (Ira, Shivam and Aditya) were busy splashing in the water, thoroughly enjoying their heart out. Even with a varied age group, there was not a soul who was idle or left out.

Fun and food are two words that are a inherent part of all our get-togethers. From chai and wada pav on the beach to an awesome chicken dum biryani for dinner at the resort, jawla-pav and omlette for breafast and then a full-spread lunch at Fulora (Alibag), we relished food all thru the meet. Fun factor was always on...from the moment we started our journey to Varsoli till we left the resort, then some more at Alibag while having lunch and the lingering moments at Pen when we had say good-bye, much against our wishes. We spent an hour clicking photos, not because we were photo-crazy, but we wanted those moments to last as long as possible. They will, in our memories, till we meet again.

This event was significant in many ways. Firstly, this event introduced the Pune team to the Mumbai team and was the grandest ever with close to 30 friends meeting. Most meeting first time, and yet within 24 hours being so close as though the friendship was ages old. Secondly, in a diverse age group, no one felt left out. Even the toddlers Ira and Shivam enjoyed to the fullest. Thirdly, whatsapp was relived that weekend. We were so busy enjoying and connecting offline, that except for sharing a few pics with those who missed the meet, there wasn't much happening online. A group that boasts of nearly 1000 messages a day was dry at less than 20 messages. Lastly and most importantly, there was no one at the helm. We did have an organizing team - Sanket (resort booking), Vaibhav (co-ordinating the Pune team and finalizing resort), Sanyukta (getting all information needed) and the rest contributed in their own way. It was a team event and everyone contributed in their own way to ensure that it was successful.

If you enjoyed reading the blog, do comment your thoughts. Do you wish to just read the blog, or be a part of the events as well? If you are interested and want to know more, do get in touch with us. You can email us as mahagsb@googlegroups.com or feel free to call Ashutosh (+91-9820992403).

Golden Moments - Revisited

Remember those days when we used to sit besides our grand-parents and they would tell us the wonderful stories of their childhood...of the pranks they played and the fun they had. Those moments still bring on a smile. We were lucky this Saturday to re-live those moments when the aaji's & ajoba's shared some of their childhood memories with us. It was very touching to see the joy on one of the ajoba's face when he was telling us how he hit a woman with his cricket ball when he was a teenager.
In those days of our childhood, we loved cutting magazines and creating cards using all those bits. We called it craft. As we grew, we moved to electronic gadgets, emails and e-cards. Today we got a chance to get back to those days, bring back the creativity in card and paper. Though we were a bit rusty at the start, but as we caught the colors...imagination flew. Starting from cutting pictures from magazines to some finger-paintings we went on to create quite a few "un-imaginable" cards. (We had never imagined that we could do this) Saturday afternoon which otherwise would have been a lazy one was spent on this activity. And efforts bore fruits when we saw the smile after we gifted them the cards.
This was our second visit to Shantikunj and like we did last time, we were inclined to make their time a memorable one. The response was low initially, but as they started singing...we joined in and then it was a "mehfil" of songs and bhajans. No ipods, no decks, no network coverage...it was so very wonderful that we had moved to those good old days when there we no computer games and one of the favourite games was passing-the-parcel. We passed parcel around and they enjoyed it.
For them, we tried to help them enjoy their Golden moments and in the process, we too, recollected those Golden moments that we had experienced in our childhood days. The visit also brought back those moments that we had with them in November (during our first visit). It does give a sense of satisfaction when you make someone of their age smile. Returning home with a "blessed" feeling... it truly was "Golden moments-revisited!"
Twice we have been here and both times we have collected some lifetime-cherishable moments. We are back home and we are again waiting for the next time to visit the place, waiting again to "visit the Golden Moments!"

If you feel you have lost a Golden oppurutnity, we will re-create it again. So do let us know your thoughts and how you would like to contribute to Maha GSB. Please email us as mahagsb@googlegroups.com or feel free to call Ashutosh (9820992403).

Children's day with grand-parents

Most of us have had a great time with our grand-parents. They have always been special for us. In line with these memories, we thought of spending time with some grand-parents who are away from their children and make the "Children's day" a great day for them. However, Oldage homes are not happening places and at most times, you would get negative vibes from the people staying there. They are also very low on EQ (Emotional Quotient) and even a simple conversation could drive them to bad memories of the past. Understanding this, we knew we had a tough task ahead.

It was a challenge and we had to prepare ourselves. We spent about 2 weeks on creating the plan, discussing it and working out options. We planned for an ice-breaking session on the first day, followed by a stage show in the evening. We had interactive games, the second day morning and a gifting ceremony to close the event. We wished to create memories that they could cherish for a long time. Little did we dream that the event would give us such a memorable experience. And while we had a wonderful time with the people there, we also had our share of "masti" with a night-walk, then terrace chatting, the making of "khottos", morning walk to emu farm...and not to forget cramping 15 in 2 cars (9 in Honda City and 6 in Suzuki Estilo)
The experience was very nice and very fantastic...not just for me or a few other, but for all. We collected feedback from the people there as well as the Maha GSB team and the response was equally positive! The people there like stage show that we did as well as the interactive games that we had. One of them mentioned, "You people have brought a ray of light in the lives of the aged by interacting with them so ably" The fact that they likes the event was seen by their participation as well.
Some joined us in the performance while the rest participated in the interactive games. They sang, played tabla and even danced with us! The enthusiasm was bubbling...they were as eager to play with as much as we were to get involved with them.

We had planned to gift decorated "Matki (pot) Candles" and while we were painting, a couple of ammas joined us in the decoration work.
While some of the team members were busy with the interactive session, some worked on filling the matkis with wax and the rest cleared up non-biodegradable stuff from the premises.
The interaction was so smooth with the inmates, that we never felt that we were there for the first time. Hegde maam, the incharge there said "It was really nice to see the inmates happy" while Bhat maam has invited us to visit more often. And the feedback from the Maha GSB team is no different. All the feedback mention that the visit was a pleasant and wish to visit the place as many times as possible. We, the Maha GSB team are all set and waiting to cater to another social cause!
If you feel you can contribute to Maha GSB and are not sure how you can, please email us as mahagsb@googlegroups.com or feel free to call Ashutosh (9820992403).

आती क्या खंडाळा!

This call of "आती क्या खंडाळा??" was answered by 21 Maha GSBs from Mumbai and Pune. Half of them had performed at the Wadala Math and knew each other...but the rest of the group barely knew each other and few of them had never met anyone in the group. In such a scenario, it would be fair to say that getting around with each other would take about 4-5 hours and meeting in the evening would just suffice the intro session for the group. But this group was a tad too different...probably it is in-built that any member joining this group just gels in.We reached the venue at about 6:00 PM. There was power failure and darkness was seeping in. That did not deter the enthusiasm in anyways. It took us about an hour to get the momentum going and the fun-time started rolling (not that we did not have fun on the way to Khandala) and the enjoyment and merriment went on more than the clock could count hours...from evening to night to midnight to dawn to early morning...till the time that time took us apart and it was time to head home. And in all this while, we collected memories to cherish for a lifetime.
We joked, we laughed, we sang, we danced, we barbequed, we enjoyed. We never missed a second and yet we never knew how time passed. And when we realized it was time to say "Good-bye", we were left wanting for more. Even after returning, we all are still in the same mood...wanting to be back with each other and have even more fun.I am short of words to describe the experience we had, hence will be updating the blog from the feedback from those who attended the meet shortly. The experience is also shared very poetically by Amit Bokale [AmBo] on our blog Kavya Prabha

Those who were there know what it was and we promise to deliver more of such memories in the time to come. For those who missed out, still have a chance. For details, write to us at mahagsb@googlegroups.com