San Francisco Bay Area Chapter

[ Report courtesy of Arjun Ghose (Y2K batch). ]

      Incomprehensible rant & quotidian queries flew past Young Blood as his acclimatization instincts failed and his senses reeled. This was Bear Territory. The Magi had been unequivocal in their predictions: "From now on, it is perpetually a downhill road for you.". They had been correct. Nothing seemed to register in his brain now---- nothing except dejavu ... He had willingly accepted when the dark side of the world bade him into its tempting folds, welcoming him into the grinding machine. All he could do now was look back in desperation, beyond the horizon, towards a small tract of land ensconced within a hitherto rural region, a land filled with magnets & miracles, where the grass always grew greener ...

      Just then, the phone rang.

      And, through a momentary lapse of reason, he realized that the windows to his most endearing past, were, once more, opened wide to him. For, it was a call from one of the organizers of the millenium Bay Area Picnic of KGP, inviting him to be part of the family. Young Blood had finally found the Wise Ones.

      The executive decision was taken by the top-notch active members at a kick-off lunch on July 28th at Sneha in Sunnyvale. While satiating their culinary taste-buds, Pran Kurup, Shailendra Kumar, Jagmohan Rajpal, Ravi Venkatesam, Suvo Sen & Padala Ramesh decided on a preliminary picnic plan, while Kanoj Sarkar, Satyaki Das, Santanu Nandi, Anurabha Bera, J L Narayan & Sounak Sinha seconded it. The dilemma on greenbacks Was Sportingly offered generous solutions by senior alumni of the likes of Arjun Malhotra, Dennis Mathias, Raj Khanna, Shyamal Roy, Suhas Patil & Vasan Raman. Baypicnic@kgpnet.org was immediately setup as the common communications portal to reach out to alumni in all corners of the bay area. While the frenetic efficiency of the organizers & the inexhaustible enthusiasm and alacrity of the innumerable volunteers saw mercury rising, animated responses of a favorable nature poured over into the baypicnic platform from enthused alumni who wouldn want to miss this chance of reliving their alma mater once over again.

      Then, as Joseph Heller would say: "Something Happened!"

      Erstwhile Pro-Phasers, bearing the humanoid form of Professors Amitabha Ghosh (Director), Bhaskaran (T & P Head) & Faruqi fixed their US trip itinerary at around the same time as the picnic was supposed to be held. The Pro-team needed no further instigation. Everyone actively joined in with a new ardor capable only of KGP-ians to try make the event a momentous occasion, what with the participation f their teachers from back home. Frenzied volustook action into their own hands in calling up each & every alumni listed in the kgpnet roster. The publiteam got the wheels rolling by filling in the Net with a deluge of info & announcements about the picnic. Thanks to all the adrenaline, we managed to get hold of as many alumni as we could from hitherto unknown nooks & crannies of the Bay area.

      The picnic was held at the Ed R. Levin County Park, Milpitas, California, overseeing sheer waters of the lake topped by a breathtakingly beautiful hillside. The $4 vehicle charge was more than compensated for by the free cost of the picnic, graciously borne by the sponsors, unlike previous years, this raising hoots of approval from all quarters. Volunteers Arjun Ghose, Kishore Gummadidala, Abhishek Agarwal, Sunil Dixit & Amit Agarwal got themselves going in a frenzied zeal in setting up the place. Then, at 11 am ... it was picnic-time. Initial registration records saw the Patel Hall count shooting up beyond barriers, displaying, once more, the age-old tempestuous tempo inspirited in it. As the crowd started trickling in 11:30 onwards, the general feeling of camaraderie had already started its magic, transcending batch boundaries. Spirits were as high as the Hang Gliders floating across the hills in the bountiful Californian summer noon.

      The entry of Profs. Bhaskaran & Faruqi (it so happened that Dr. Ghosh trip to the US was delayed by 3 days) was received with mixed feelings by the younger portion of the crowd. However, thanks to both, with the once-perceived distances subsided, everyone rushed towards beer, chips & salsa. Thus, with their hitherto enervated bodies rejuvenated, the green signal was given for the Tug-of-War to begin. Amidst loud war- cries dating back to the good olKGP days, the qualifiers went by, not without major claims of duiby losing teams. Even an SN-IG match was held to compensate for the lack of female participation, quoting an earlier e-complaint by one member of the fairer, but not-so-weakersex (Achtung Baby!!). The finals between RK & RP were won by RK, thus coveting the trophy as well as the bragging rights for a year. People also indulged softball & volleyball, while the kids busied themselves in sack races et al. All the events were organized by Shailendra Kumar's wife, Rajni.

      The much awaited hors doevres got everyone queued up in multiple lines, bringing back memories of the hall-mess----but the resemblance ended there ! Sneha did a fabulous job in bringing up a sumptuous Indian cuisine, and the savor-sequestrated crowd up for years or days of deprivation, as the case might have been, in typical 'desishtyle'. So rampant was the feeling of dejavu that in someone query as to where the napkins were, the instant reply came: "Abey, pant hai kis liye?" The number of picnikers had been grossly underestimated to be around 180, about 75 less than the actual head- count (ranging from the 60s batches to even 2 Millenium batch pass-outs!), and had thus engendered initial apprehension amongst the organizers as regards the sufficiency of the food & drinks. However, ambrosia was present in ample quantities, and everyone had had a fair share of it. To top it off, Shyamal & Dennis started off with "Wish You Were Here" to grab the attention of the avid Floyd-ians. They were aptly followed up by Naan & Sahu. Memories on argentum were inscribed courtesy Srijay Ghosh of the Y2K batch.

      Post-lunch chit-chat led to Prof. Bhaskaran & a few of the active organizers standing up (on tables !) for "brief" speeches. For the benefit of the somnambulists present, KGPNet was highly praised for being one of the major sources of funding for our alma mater. T-shirts & other mementos were promised to be shipped soon, and initial plans for next year picnic were discreetly laid. Everybody threw in something for their beloved bastion, with contributions ranging from $2 to $2000. It was the least we could do. Heard towards the end of the picnic:"Aisi jhakaas junta is desh mein kahan milta hai yaar ?"

      "Don Cry", those who missed it this time----for though the Bay Area Picnic won probably be held in aeternum, it definitely will show more than "Signs of Life" next year, "With or Without You". Though, on September 16, 2000, under the crystal clear Californian sky, how we wished you were there!!