December means winter, picnic and outings

December, the last month of the year, has arrived bringing with it possibilities of get-togethers like picnics or outings. Those who are employed can usually some casual leaves throughout the year. These leaves, if not utilized during the calendar year, lapses. Of course, some organizations give cash to the employees who surrender these casual leaves – the intention is to encourage them to inculcate the habit of being regular in their duties. However, for others, the leave lapses. In any case, all of them, at times, go in for local outings during the Christmas holidays and, in case the 25th happens adjacent to a Sunday, so much the better – it adds to the excitement.
Those who participate in such outings or picnics in a group usually travel by bus - the material for preparation of food are carried with them and, once they arrive at the picnic spot, it is fun and enjoyment throughout the day.
The responsibilities are divided and shared - one set of persons get busy with the preparation of food stuff right from breakfast to lunch, others form groups and sit down for a game of bridge. Shouts of ‘three no-trumps’ and ‘double’ prove that the men have really and truly left behind their office worries somewhere along the wayside.
The boys wield the cricket bat and copy Virat Kohli and the girls take the badminton racket and copy Saina Nehwal. Their mothers gossip over the latest juicy tidbits and, when they run out of ideas, yell for a game of tambola. That keeps them occupied for some time and they wait eagerly for the elusive numbers to be drawn out from the bag.
The menu for breakfast consists of bread-butter sandwich with boiled eggs and bananas – some prefer puri, sabji and sweets like rasogolla or gulab jamun. Lunch menu nowadays are of chicken curry and rice or chicken pulao – with chutney and salad on the side. Mutton has taken a back seat because people have become more conscious of the adverse effects of the mutton fat that has bad cholesterol and is harmful for the heart.
Hard drinks are normally forbidden but, still, the men folk indulge in this on the sly and revel in trying to outwit their better halves. As the shadows lengthen and the day comes to close, the members run to locate their places in the bus and the return journey begins – the kids sing in chorus, some elders join in but the enthusiasm and tempo of the morning is obviously missing. It’s a tired and weary lot on their way back to the daily routine.