Hindu College Colombo

             Alumni Association of North America

             “fw;whq;F xOFf”          

                                                               Newsletter - 05/2008

 

 

“Picnic Recap”

 

Only Mother Nature could have disrupted the perfect day. The arrangements were perfect, the location was magnificent and everything had been coordinated to the last detail. Sadly, Lady Luck was not with us. It poured and drizzled for most of the morning and into the afternoon.

 

Yet, “The Faithful” made it out there to make it a memorable day. That says quite a lot about the alumni.

 

The day started off with very grey skies, leaving many wondering if the event was still on. The phones were ringing off the hook, some to confirm the event while others were sheep that needed shepparding to the shelter.

 

The early birds – Dilrukshan, Shivarajan and Sivaprassad - fired up the stove, cracked up a few eggs and cooked up sausages. Experiments were conducted on sausage preparations and they too came out tasty. Soon the pot of tea was also ready to wash down the food. Breakfast went on way beyond the 11AM deadline, for there was plenty.

 

Energy from the food brought the shelter alive. Boys kicked the ball around, some mothers ran behind little ones to feed them, the HCC Alumni banner went up, cameras clicked away and men drifted towards the cooking half of the shelter. The first lady graciously spent her cell phone battery by playing the background music.

 

T’was well past noon when thoughts of lunch came about and the barbeque was finally unlocked by the park rangers. The experts were at it immediately, firing it up and brushing down the grill. The Sun peeked out a little and this prompted the ladies and the kids to wander towards the water front.

 

More arrived at the site and along with it came more culinary expertise. If we thought there was a lot of breakfast, then think again about lunch. A lot more!!

 

While the clown was busy painting up the kids and to blowing up the balloons, the “cook-off” began. Not really, but nearly. Wijay boasted about his cooking prowess and backed it up with a fantastic chicken curry. This was soon polished off with bread – typical Srilankan style. Even our home style chicken curry attracted the park rangers to visit our shelter.

 

Ravi, in the mean time, was ready with the French fries and chicken nuggets. He attracted the kids and the mothers. The BBQ was still being manned, notably by Sivananthan, and producing ribs and chicken all the time. There was no shortage of helping hands or advice at any time.

 

As the pot was again put on for the evening brew, Jega joined the youngsters and gave us all a short taste of his vocal gift.

 

Several cameras flashed away all the time, taking action photos and a few group photos. We have so many, that we may have to get additional space on the web site to display them all. [http://www.hinducollegecolombo.com/gal_picnic2008.php].

 

So much fun was had by all, that everyone was left wondering how it would have been if Mother Nature had been on our side.

 

Winding up, special thanks are due to the two Giri’s, Dr. Giri for sponsoring the clown and Vimika Giri for the BBQ food. As always, hats off to The Committee for putting this event together.

 

Last, but not the least, a big thank you for all those who turned out and participated. It would not have been possible without you.

 

“Cricket”

 

By popular demand, this event has been brought back into the 2008 calendar. The date is tentatively set for Saturday, the 23^rd of August and at the same venue. More details on this event will be published as soon as they are available.

 

Till then, stay tuned, stay fit and psyche yourself to play a big role in knocking the other teams out.