Christmas Mela @ Panchshila Club
by Vinit Taneja
Panchshila Club organized a Christmas mela on Sunday 11th December in the main lawns, from 11 am to 10:30 pm. The venue had 45 stalls that were all booked, with a waiting list to boot. Kids had their own corner behind the back gate security area and just next to the entrance to the children’s garden. Entry was free for all, including non-members of the club and non-residents of the colony.
The stalls had a variety of stuff. You could buy paintings, handlooms, clothing, cakes and bakes etc. on the one hand and participate in games and art activity stalls on the other. Wishes and Blessings with its two stalls had also organized raffles innovatively and had announced that the proceeds would go to charity. There was live music, melodious Hindi during the day and some wonderful English in the evening, interspersed by young kids coming up and singing poems. The food served had great variety. You could enjoy chaat, alu tikki, matar kulcha, chole bhature, pizza, biryani, chicken tikka etc. etc. And a variety of alcoholic and standard beverages to match. It was interesting to note that many popular food items were finished by 6 pm or so, such was the demand.
The staff and food stall handlers were serving everyone really enthusiastically. Fortunately, self-service was the norm otherwise they would have been totally inundated.
People started early as it was a warm and sunny day. The sun was up its full force, making that day almost seem like summer, challenging all visitors who had come heavily clad for a wintry morning. By 1’o clock, there was no place to sit in the lawns. Once the sun went down, the crowd thinned rapidly. By 7 pm, it was time for a different genre, primarily interested in a “liquid” diet, to make their presence felt, along with the lilting music.
The event was a roaring success by any standard. The total number of visitors exceeded 900. I am quite sure that the cash registers of the club rung handsomely as a tribute to the organizing team of M/s Suman Chopra, Madhu Singh, Avneet Bedi and Rajiv Batra (the Club Subcommittee). They were ably assisted by the other enthusiastic Managing Committee (MC) members and Anil Narain, Honorary Secretary. It was a fantastic sign off to the year 2022 by the incumbent MC, led ably by Mr Rajesh Chopra. Perhaps the only tiny cloud in a day of silver linings was the opportunity for improvement pointed out by some stall owners who felt that the allotment process needed to be more robust, equal opportunity and timely.
This event has set the tone for many more successful ones to happen as the Society and the Club prepare to take advantage of the wonderful winter months with hopefully bright and sunny days ahead.
