We were supposed to trek down from Kasauli to Garkhal and then down to Jabli… However, CATS being CATS, we decided to find another route down.. so instead of coming through Garkhal, we chose to come down through Kimughat…. Little did we know!!
And if you still suspect the height of adventure that us select few CATS had…. then have a look through this video….
CATS - Jabli Kasauli 2nd Trek
CATS - Jabli Kasauli 2nd Trek
Rain became more bearable and the hot cuppa had warmed us too… So we set foot on the trail again… but can you imagine the magnificent weather which faced us??
It would not be wrong to say that CATS indeed had their heads in the clouds!!
CATS - Jabli Kasauli 2nd Trek
This was true adventure in the lap of Mother Nature… It was pouring like hell… We were thoroughly drenched and cold… and there was no way out as no cabbie would take us back to the Market Place and no visitor took mercy on us to give us the lift…
Luckily CAT Ashish C found out that his uncle was posted as Wing Cmdr at the Air Force base itself (200mtrs away from where we stood getting sprayed in the rain). We pounced upon his offer to go around to his place to keep ourselves a little warm!
Paanch Bheegi Billiyan on the run towards cuppa- cha and if lucky, a bite to eat ;-)
CATS - Jabli Kasauli 2nd Trek
Just as CATS hit Kasauli Ros Common, we decided that instead of going to the Kasauli Market, we will hike up to the Monkey Point (or is it Manki Point), before heading down to have some authentic Tibetian Momos in the market place…
Weather became very pleasant as well… scorching sun was simply hidden behind the white-ish clouds.... but some had started turning a little sinister-ish grey.. causing a few butterflies in our bellies to fight with the mice jumping around inside looking for food !!
CATS - Jabli Kasauli 2nd Trek
CATS can be seen huffing and puffing along the steep hike to Garkhal, which was 2/3 way to Kasauli…
Whilst it was bright and sunny when we started uphill around 8am….. God Indra had something else in store for us altogether.... Meow
CATS - Jabli Kasauli 2nd Trek
Select CATS were exploring their flora and fauna enroute Jabli to Kasauli trek (24kms return)... Our IT specialist, CAT Ashish C believes that strawberries grow on trees :-)
CATS can be credited of rectifying many a misbelief, by holding impromptu environmental sciences lessons on the way to the top!
Meow Feedback: Jabli-Garkhal-Kasauli-Kimughat-Jabli
Such was the disappointment because of having to make the decision to postpone the much planned Solang Valley trip, that I needed to do something drastically different to get away from it all.
Around 7pm I was having a quite bite with Paramjeet when even he sensed the sheer sense of defeat and desperation I was undergoing. When I suggested that we repeat the Kasauli trek the following day, he immediately agreed without batting an eyelid. Within a jiffy, I called Deepinder who said he was game too. Bapu ke teen Bandar were ready, but then we thought since a car would be going, might as well find out if there are two more souls ready to pounce at the eleventh hour opportunity. Next was Ashish C who said, ‘Bilkul jaayeinge ji.’ Last to be called was Manpreet and hey, we were on a roll.
Paramjeet offered us all the luxury of home pick-up service but we had to be ready by 6am. With no water bottles, only three sandwiches prepared by Deepinder and a carton of cherries brought by Ashish C to share between the five of us, we could not have been more ill prepared for a trek which is not necessarily a stroll by the lake, but we could not give two hoots. We were on an adventure trip. Ashish C even treated us to large glasses of fresh vegetable juices from his local park, where he had done ‘saetting’ with the Juice Vendor in advance.
We reached Jabli at 7.30am to have a quick fueling of our rumbling bellies, had 4 paranthas packed from the restaurant, bought 5 bottles of water from a local shop and set foot towards Kasauli, enroute Garkhal. We were soon huffing and puffing on the way, taking pictures at practically every point where we had taken photos during our last trek 7 months ago. We almost knew what to expect round every corner. The sight of the railway bridge brought a kid out of each one of us again. Amazingly, we had even remembered the colours of the houses we came across.
Then came the fields but there was nor corn or cherry tomatoes to pluck. Sure enough there was a fruit which remotely looked like a fig but was too red to be one. We still don’t know what it was, but trust Ashish A to say that they were apricots, till in fact he did come across some apricot trees and he accepted his error of feeble judgement pertaining to vegetation. However, I did enjoy eating yet to ripe, nearly bitter apricots plucked by Manpreet along the way.
During the last hike upto Garkhal we came across a pack of monkeys which stopped us in our tracks. Refreshing our memory boards from reading newspapers where Chandigarh MC once said not to cross between a mother and a baby monkey, not to make eye contact with them and not to make noises whilst walking past them, we armed ourselves with tree branches just in case nevertheless and quietly made our way through our homo-sapiens. This little encounter however did intrigue Deepinder to say that if we humans evolved from the monkeys, then what went wrong with the evolution process of the monkeys still prancing around us!
Soon we went to the same hotel Hemkunt where we had had soda lime last time. After a well deserved short break, we set foot to hit the trail for Kasauli. A short but extremely hike of 3kms to take us to Ros Common. We made more pit stops for food and rest in this short stretch than the entire 6kms hike from Jabli to Kasauli. It was fun spotting the familiar cottages on the way and discussing the changes the owners had made since our last trek. Weather had started turning a little pleasant too.
On reaching the point where we could either head towards the Market or go towards Manki Point, we discussed for a minute and simply did heads and tails for a quick decision. Don’t think we remember the number of heads but we simply started walking towards the Manki Point – Jai Ho Hanuman Ji Ki. The clouds had completely taken over by this time and it seemed as if I was back in England. Most hilarious déjà vu moment came when on the way to Manki Point, a soldier asked us where had we come from? When we told him that we had come on foot from Jabli, he took a good measure of us all from tip to toe and asked, ‘Don’t you have a car?’
By the time we reached the Air Force base to gain entry passes to pay obeisance at the Hanuman Mandir on top, it started raining cats and dogs. A kind Army soldier got the passes made for us and we even went through the security checks, deposited our rucksacks in a brave attempt to still make it to the top, but we were stopped in the nick of time by the Base Keeper that a minor land slide was taking place and gates had been closed. Ill equipped as we were in terms of clothing, I became the mascot of bravery (or stupidity) with my shorts and sleeveless top. People could not help asking me, ‘Aren’t you feeling cold?’
As there was no sign of the torrential rain taking it easy, we started making calls to see how best we could get back to either Kasauli Bus Stand or to our car in Jabli. There was no cab immediately available and we were asked to wait for one which would have taken a while to come up. In the meantime, Ashish C managed to locate his Wng Cmdr Uncle who was luckily posted in Kasauli itself. We were delighted to know that his residence was actually no more than 200mtrs from where were standing like ‘Bhigi Billian.’ Forgetting the rain, we literally ran towards his house where he welcomed us with open arms and a hot cuppa cha. Thank heaven for little mercies.
By the time we sipped the last of the tea, the rain had become a little kinder and Deepinder managed to get a cab upto the Air Force base too. Once again, with clouds kissing our cheeks and a spray of rain playing with us, we ran (carefully) on the slippery road downhill to catch our cab. As luck would have it, at the gates we found that he had left after waiting for us. We were back to square one; rain and no way to get back.
The girls were delegated the task of asking for a lift for five of us but guess we were no Pooja Bhatts. Not even some lecherously smirking drivers would give us the lift. One even had the temerity to say, ‘Paidal hi aaye the, paidal hi wapis jaayo.’ I somehow could not help retorting back, ‘Allah kare tumhara tyre puncture ho jaye!’ Plenty of cars went whooshing past, but none took pity on us. We had made up our minds and we were going to walk through the rain to prove the point, don’t know to whom though!
Just as we had resolved, a Chandigarh car stopped in the middle of the road and a SardarJi asked, ‘Lift Chahiye?’ We didn’t even say yes but simply opened his back doors and made ourselves comfortable. Unfortunately only three of us could fit in so Paramjeet and Deepinder decided to foot it to the bottom. As soon as we reached the market, we found the Momo’s shack and ordered the food, where both Paramjeet and Deepinder joined us within ten minutes. As soon as we finished our food, the rain stopped as well. Munching over ‘chhaliyan’ whilst browsing through the market place, we decided that we were going to walk back to Jabli rather than taking the bus back. Clearer weather had also cleared all the doubts of our minds, apart from that of Ashish C. Though initially we gave him the option of going by bus and waiting for us at Jabli, we changed our mind soon and dragged him downhill with us.
All was going well till we reached Garkhal. Whilst buying two water bottles to sustain us on the way down, Paramjeet decided to ask the shop keeper if there was another way down to Jabli, instead of going through Garkhal village. The localite merrily pointed out that we could go through Kimughat instead which is a quicker way down. Adventerous as we had been through the day, we decided to find a new route down. Given that we had heard ‘quicker’ way down, we probably forgot to ask him, ‘but how difficult is it!!’ Hum ho.
It was too late by the time we crossed Kimughat. We thought we just had to take the trail which seemed to be going down, but when we crossed Kimughat, we realized that there was no trail, only zig-zag hard to spot paths covered with dry pine needles, making it a very treacherous way down. But there was no going back. We were lucky to spot a couple of odd villager on the way, who kept on assuring us that we were heading in the right direction, but just had to be a little careful!
Fortunately, we were all well balanced and nimble footed to make it to the bottom of the hill and actually felt like being on top of the world when we hit the road. There were cheers and meows all around. Unbeknown to all of us, Paramjeet had twisted his right knee by this time which was hurting him badly. In order to mask his pain from all of us, he started walking about a 100 mtrs ahead of us. Even when we took a little rest of some scooters parked just before hitting the last leg of the journey downhill, he sat a few feet away from us. I sensed something was simmering inside of him but could not put my finger on it. I thought perhaps he was keeping the distance to have some peace and quite to enjoy the nature, away from the yapping cats.
Most poignant moment came when nearly towards the end of coming down, we came across lots of young girls and women carrying empty buckets and pitchers. Out of curiosity Manpreet asked one of the young girls barely into her teens, ‘Aap yeh kya ker rahe ho?’ Pat came the reply which left us all speechless, ‘Aap ka kaam hai ghoomna-phirna aur humara kaam hai paani bharna.’ In this day and age where living in cities we crib about the water supply cuts for 5 hours a day, here we had tender years of life being wasted in fetching water from perhaps miles away to cater to their daily needs. Could we not be a little grateful for the luxuries the one above has bestowed upon us? Could we, the so called priviledged ones do something collectively to ensure that action is taken at the grass root level so that atleast basic facilities are available to our fellow beings?
Ashish C and I had done this trek before in Oct’07, so we knew more or less where we were heading, but if there indeed is a record of trekkers asking for directions from the localites, we surely broke it both on the way up and down!
By 6.30pm we were back in the crowded and noisy Jabli, where we had a quick bite to satisfy our rumbling bellies, before Paramjeet dropped us all back to our homes.
It was the most unplanned and hastily put together trek we had undertaken, but one which was full of adventure and absolutely joyous day, in which we saw three seasons of the year in a single day.
Around 7pm I was having a quite bite with Paramjeet when even he sensed the sheer sense of defeat and desperation I was undergoing. When I suggested that we repeat the Kasauli trek the following day, he immediately agreed without batting an eyelid. Within a jiffy, I called Deepinder who said he was game too. Bapu ke teen Bandar were ready, but then we thought since a car would be going, might as well find out if there are two more souls ready to pounce at the eleventh hour opportunity. Next was Ashish C who said, ‘Bilkul jaayeinge ji.’ Last to be called was Manpreet and hey, we were on a roll.
Paramjeet offered us all the luxury of home pick-up service but we had to be ready by 6am. With no water bottles, only three sandwiches prepared by Deepinder and a carton of cherries brought by Ashish C to share between the five of us, we could not have been more ill prepared for a trek which is not necessarily a stroll by the lake, but we could not give two hoots. We were on an adventure trip. Ashish C even treated us to large glasses of fresh vegetable juices from his local park, where he had done ‘saetting’ with the Juice Vendor in advance.
We reached Jabli at 7.30am to have a quick fueling of our rumbling bellies, had 4 paranthas packed from the restaurant, bought 5 bottles of water from a local shop and set foot towards Kasauli, enroute Garkhal. We were soon huffing and puffing on the way, taking pictures at practically every point where we had taken photos during our last trek 7 months ago. We almost knew what to expect round every corner. The sight of the railway bridge brought a kid out of each one of us again. Amazingly, we had even remembered the colours of the houses we came across.
Then came the fields but there was nor corn or cherry tomatoes to pluck. Sure enough there was a fruit which remotely looked like a fig but was too red to be one. We still don’t know what it was, but trust Ashish A to say that they were apricots, till in fact he did come across some apricot trees and he accepted his error of feeble judgement pertaining to vegetation. However, I did enjoy eating yet to ripe, nearly bitter apricots plucked by Manpreet along the way.
During the last hike upto Garkhal we came across a pack of monkeys which stopped us in our tracks. Refreshing our memory boards from reading newspapers where Chandigarh MC once said not to cross between a mother and a baby monkey, not to make eye contact with them and not to make noises whilst walking past them, we armed ourselves with tree branches just in case nevertheless and quietly made our way through our homo-sapiens. This little encounter however did intrigue Deepinder to say that if we humans evolved from the monkeys, then what went wrong with the evolution process of the monkeys still prancing around us!
Soon we went to the same hotel Hemkunt where we had had soda lime last time. After a well deserved short break, we set foot to hit the trail for Kasauli. A short but extremely hike of 3kms to take us to Ros Common. We made more pit stops for food and rest in this short stretch than the entire 6kms hike from Jabli to Kasauli. It was fun spotting the familiar cottages on the way and discussing the changes the owners had made since our last trek. Weather had started turning a little pleasant too.
On reaching the point where we could either head towards the Market or go towards Manki Point, we discussed for a minute and simply did heads and tails for a quick decision. Don’t think we remember the number of heads but we simply started walking towards the Manki Point – Jai Ho Hanuman Ji Ki. The clouds had completely taken over by this time and it seemed as if I was back in England. Most hilarious déjà vu moment came when on the way to Manki Point, a soldier asked us where had we come from? When we told him that we had come on foot from Jabli, he took a good measure of us all from tip to toe and asked, ‘Don’t you have a car?’
By the time we reached the Air Force base to gain entry passes to pay obeisance at the Hanuman Mandir on top, it started raining cats and dogs. A kind Army soldier got the passes made for us and we even went through the security checks, deposited our rucksacks in a brave attempt to still make it to the top, but we were stopped in the nick of time by the Base Keeper that a minor land slide was taking place and gates had been closed. Ill equipped as we were in terms of clothing, I became the mascot of bravery (or stupidity) with my shorts and sleeveless top. People could not help asking me, ‘Aren’t you feeling cold?’
As there was no sign of the torrential rain taking it easy, we started making calls to see how best we could get back to either Kasauli Bus Stand or to our car in Jabli. There was no cab immediately available and we were asked to wait for one which would have taken a while to come up. In the meantime, Ashish C managed to locate his Wng Cmdr Uncle who was luckily posted in Kasauli itself. We were delighted to know that his residence was actually no more than 200mtrs from where were standing like ‘Bhigi Billian.’ Forgetting the rain, we literally ran towards his house where he welcomed us with open arms and a hot cuppa cha. Thank heaven for little mercies.
By the time we sipped the last of the tea, the rain had become a little kinder and Deepinder managed to get a cab upto the Air Force base too. Once again, with clouds kissing our cheeks and a spray of rain playing with us, we ran (carefully) on the slippery road downhill to catch our cab. As luck would have it, at the gates we found that he had left after waiting for us. We were back to square one; rain and no way to get back.
The girls were delegated the task of asking for a lift for five of us but guess we were no Pooja Bhatts. Not even some lecherously smirking drivers would give us the lift. One even had the temerity to say, ‘Paidal hi aaye the, paidal hi wapis jaayo.’ I somehow could not help retorting back, ‘Allah kare tumhara tyre puncture ho jaye!’ Plenty of cars went whooshing past, but none took pity on us. We had made up our minds and we were going to walk through the rain to prove the point, don’t know to whom though!
Just as we had resolved, a Chandigarh car stopped in the middle of the road and a SardarJi asked, ‘Lift Chahiye?’ We didn’t even say yes but simply opened his back doors and made ourselves comfortable. Unfortunately only three of us could fit in so Paramjeet and Deepinder decided to foot it to the bottom. As soon as we reached the market, we found the Momo’s shack and ordered the food, where both Paramjeet and Deepinder joined us within ten minutes. As soon as we finished our food, the rain stopped as well. Munching over ‘chhaliyan’ whilst browsing through the market place, we decided that we were going to walk back to Jabli rather than taking the bus back. Clearer weather had also cleared all the doubts of our minds, apart from that of Ashish C. Though initially we gave him the option of going by bus and waiting for us at Jabli, we changed our mind soon and dragged him downhill with us.
All was going well till we reached Garkhal. Whilst buying two water bottles to sustain us on the way down, Paramjeet decided to ask the shop keeper if there was another way down to Jabli, instead of going through Garkhal village. The localite merrily pointed out that we could go through Kimughat instead which is a quicker way down. Adventerous as we had been through the day, we decided to find a new route down. Given that we had heard ‘quicker’ way down, we probably forgot to ask him, ‘but how difficult is it!!’ Hum ho.
It was too late by the time we crossed Kimughat. We thought we just had to take the trail which seemed to be going down, but when we crossed Kimughat, we realized that there was no trail, only zig-zag hard to spot paths covered with dry pine needles, making it a very treacherous way down. But there was no going back. We were lucky to spot a couple of odd villager on the way, who kept on assuring us that we were heading in the right direction, but just had to be a little careful!
Fortunately, we were all well balanced and nimble footed to make it to the bottom of the hill and actually felt like being on top of the world when we hit the road. There were cheers and meows all around. Unbeknown to all of us, Paramjeet had twisted his right knee by this time which was hurting him badly. In order to mask his pain from all of us, he started walking about a 100 mtrs ahead of us. Even when we took a little rest of some scooters parked just before hitting the last leg of the journey downhill, he sat a few feet away from us. I sensed something was simmering inside of him but could not put my finger on it. I thought perhaps he was keeping the distance to have some peace and quite to enjoy the nature, away from the yapping cats.
Most poignant moment came when nearly towards the end of coming down, we came across lots of young girls and women carrying empty buckets and pitchers. Out of curiosity Manpreet asked one of the young girls barely into her teens, ‘Aap yeh kya ker rahe ho?’ Pat came the reply which left us all speechless, ‘Aap ka kaam hai ghoomna-phirna aur humara kaam hai paani bharna.’ In this day and age where living in cities we crib about the water supply cuts for 5 hours a day, here we had tender years of life being wasted in fetching water from perhaps miles away to cater to their daily needs. Could we not be a little grateful for the luxuries the one above has bestowed upon us? Could we, the so called priviledged ones do something collectively to ensure that action is taken at the grass root level so that atleast basic facilities are available to our fellow beings?
Ashish C and I had done this trek before in Oct’07, so we knew more or less where we were heading, but if there indeed is a record of trekkers asking for directions from the localites, we surely broke it both on the way up and down!
By 6.30pm we were back in the crowded and noisy Jabli, where we had a quick bite to satisfy our rumbling bellies, before Paramjeet dropped us all back to our homes.
It was the most unplanned and hastily put together trek we had undertaken, but one which was full of adventure and absolutely joyous day, in which we saw three seasons of the year in a single day.
CATS in news AGAIN :-)
Hey guys,
Get your copy of today's Dainik Bhaskar.. Priyanka has done an excellent story exclusively on CATS and our activities for the coming months... She has covered Rishikesh rafting trip, Solang of May, Leh of June, Mount Kailash Sarover of August (subject to permissions).
Supreet
- 26 May'08
Get your copy of today's Dainik Bhaskar.. Priyanka has done an excellent story exclusively on CATS and our activities for the coming months... She has covered Rishikesh rafting trip, Solang of May, Leh of June, Mount Kailash Sarover of August (subject to permissions).
Supreet
- 26 May'08
CATS in HT today....
Hey CATS,
Grab your copy of the HT City today as CATS can be found in their adventerous glory on page 3... complete with rafting and trekking pics.
Supreet 24th May'08
Grab your copy of the HT City today as CATS can be found in their adventerous glory on page 3... complete with rafting and trekking pics.
Supreet 24th May'08
Wow! Whaaat a party!
The sleepy Kalagram came alive on Tuesday evening, as CATS converged there for the terrace party...complete with manjian (cots), nimbu pani, and snakes (ouch, snacks yaar)! Though the head CAT decided to play kool and arrive late to preside over the waiting CATS, it was a changed scene thereafter...and charged too, as each one tried to know each other through self-introduction.
There were 20 CATS (and there were few more on the wall), who breezed through the cool evening with peppy talk, and numerous asides that had everyone laughing to their hearts' fill.
Dr. Ashok Chordiya shared his passion for birds, A P Singh was bit modest in sharing his hidden talent. Pradeep had his 'memorable experience' with his wife to share over CATS morning forays, and Aashish wants to see his bangles around every lady in Chandigarh. And everyone seemed to recall the rafting experience at Rishikesh, including our IT guy Ashish, Navpreet, and of course, Supreet, while Neerja could be seen quitely enjoying the session.
Col. Chugh, whose face appeared so familiar to me, happened to have had 'close encounters of many kinds' in the past, that refreshed our bonds.
Paramjit kept the evening refreshing with his repartees though dinner menu kept him busy throughout. Shikha of course was rescued at the last minute by the arrival of chicken on the tables, whereafter it was the feast time.
A pleasant evening. Refreshing from mundane routines. So much so that someone was heard saying to have one trek and one dinner every week.
Any takers?
CJ
There were 20 CATS (and there were few more on the wall), who breezed through the cool evening with peppy talk, and numerous asides that had everyone laughing to their hearts' fill.
Dr. Ashok Chordiya shared his passion for birds, A P Singh was bit modest in sharing his hidden talent. Pradeep had his 'memorable experience' with his wife to share over CATS morning forays, and Aashish wants to see his bangles around every lady in Chandigarh. And everyone seemed to recall the rafting experience at Rishikesh, including our IT guy Ashish, Navpreet, and of course, Supreet, while Neerja could be seen quitely enjoying the session.
Col. Chugh, whose face appeared so familiar to me, happened to have had 'close encounters of many kinds' in the past, that refreshed our bonds.
Paramjit kept the evening refreshing with his repartees though dinner menu kept him busy throughout. Shikha of course was rescued at the last minute by the arrival of chicken on the tables, whereafter it was the feast time.
A pleasant evening. Refreshing from mundane routines. So much so that someone was heard saying to have one trek and one dinner every week.
Any takers?
CJ
Feedback Times
It was indeed a beautiful experience in itself, due to the amazing presence of all those who made it to the dinner.
I had a wonderful time….
- CAT Gurneet
Photo Gallery - 1st Catty Dinner
If you thought it was going to be a boring affair.... this wide grin should have spilled the beans by now ;-)
Kalagram ran out of their choice of snacks for us...But CATS kept yapping through the evening :-)
And then there was pin drop silence when the food was served!!
Aaaaahhh.... One Large and Happy Catty Family.....MEOW
- CAT Supreet (21st May'08)
Biker CATS
Meow CATS,
This is getting exciting.
Our fellow CAT Harman has suggested that we start a biking activity within CATS for all of you who like the wind to kiss their cheeks.
CAT Harman has planned an ice breaking session for this coming Sunday, 25th of May. Email us if you are interested in joining the gang of merry Biker CATS.
CAT Supreet
This is getting exciting.
Our fellow CAT Harman has suggested that we start a biking activity within CATS for all of you who like the wind to kiss their cheeks.
CAT Harman has planned an ice breaking session for this coming Sunday, 25th of May. Email us if you are interested in joining the gang of merry Biker CATS.
CAT Supreet
CATS in Indian Express today
Meow CATS,
We are in news again.. Catch hold of today's SimpliCity... Front page story.
CAT Supreet
- 02nd May'08
We are in news again.. Catch hold of today's SimpliCity... Front page story.
CAT Supreet
- 02nd May'08
Meow Feedback - 2nd Blood Donation Camp
Three months on, it was time again for CATS to shed some weight.
CAT Arun was already filling the form in by the time I reached the blood bank. CAT Neerja took out CATS banner from her closet along with the badges which she had kept safely for us since our January blood donation camp. CAT Deepinder was delegated the job of getting our banner up, which this time took the place of pride at the entrance foyer of IPD. CAT Neerja took charge of the reception desk at the blood bank, after having taken a day off, so that she could fully devote her uninterrupted time to CATS. We were pleasantly surprised to see CAT Vishal K trooping in with 5 students of CIHM in tow. We were in business already :-)
Dr Gursimran was next to donate, who had come ALL THE WAY from Jammu (!!). Picture of benevolence, our Rtn Babbi Ji arrived soon and took charge of the resposibility of refreshements. Our Elusive CAT Charanjeet delighted us by bringing in three of his employees to donate blood. This was indeed getting heady. CAT Ashok joined us for a while to cheer us up. Rtn Arvind Mehan (President of Rotary Club of Chandigarh) also decided to join CATS for Heartline. However, he insisted that he be fed first before he gives blood. Rtn Manmohan Singh and Rtn Kewal Seth also dropped by. Rtn Madhu Handa was in for a shock when I literally grabbed her by her arm as she was walking towards the blood bank and coerced her to give blood. We were leaving nothing to chance. We wanted blood and we were not discriminating :-)
CAT Paramjeet came in soon, followed by CAT Hemant and CAT Kapil. He also got his friend Sushil in a true Catty spirit. The less said about CAT Aradhika, the better, for she really does not give you a chance to get a word in anyway. Our camp would have been so dull without her incessant chirping. This is about the time when our camp started getting livelier!
CAT Vasu arrived and left the column of 'Blood Group' blank on his form. During his medical whilst we were discussing various blood groups, he told the nurse to fill 'Universal Receipient' in his record sheet since that sounded such a good deal to miss upon, regardless of what his actual blood group was! He then had to be fed prior to bleeding since he had not eaten anything. CAT Rahat was also sent packing before he could give blood. It was heart warming to see a couple of Fortis employees walking in by themselves after seeing our blood donation banner. Nobody had requested/forced/coerced/bribed them to do so. Their spirit humbled us all.
It was lunch time and I noticed CAT Reenu sitting in the reception of blood bank. We were overjoyed to know that the rest of the 5 people sitting alongside were her colleagues, who had decided to sacrifice their lunch hour for CATS and Heartline. This indeed was our soldier CAT at work. Whilst CAT Reenu's gang were at their best behaviour, CAT Ashish A walked in with CAT Gopika. And we all know what happens when CAT Ashish A is around :-)
He simply lit up the place with his smile. Since it was lunch hour, I had to ensure that they had eaten before any blood could be taken. I asked a simple question off him, 'Have you eaten?' CAT Ashish A shot back promptly, 'Khaan hee te aaye haan!' If this was not enough, now add CAT Rahat. He had already had lunch with CAT Paramjeet, given the blood and was still found eating a samosa and drinking lassi. Our famished CAT Neerja asked for a bite and he said (with a full belly), 'Jo bachega woh de doonga!' CAT Reenu's gang of 5 did not know what to do with CATS. At first they were giggling but soon they had no choice but to burst into peels of laughter with our two merry CATS pulling a fast one on each other, nineteen to a dozen.
CAT Anu A brought in a colleague whilst CAT Aditi can be credited to drag along CAT Uday and CAT Sourabh. CAT Deepinder came when he got free from work and CAT Neerja encouraged Dr Ashwin Garg to owe allegiance to CATS by giving blood first! CAT Jasmit came with his 'Vohatee' Jasmine who celebrated their matrimonial alliance by donating blood together. CAT Paramjeet however has lost his title of being a 'Sober' CAT. He enquired from CAT Jasmine if she knew Punjabi and she unfortunately responded in affirmative. He immediately thurst a medical history form to her, typed in Punjabi!! She was seen toiling over it well after others had finished filling theirs ;-)
By the end of the day, CATS and their friends/colleagues had donated 35 units for the Heartline project. However, as last time, CATS kept going to Fortis the following day too. RK Sharma was our 36th donor. CAT Navpreet also donated with CATS as the beneficiary. However, as soon as I got to know that his aunt was admitted in Fortis for a surgery and needed 4 units of blood, I immediately instructed the blood bank to transfer CAT Navpreet's unit from CATS to his aunt and I told him that his usual band of 3 employees should also donate for his aunt rather than CATS this time.
We close our 2nd Blood Donation with a count of 36 units and I thank each one of you, who made an effort to come to Fortis for donating blood, which would help a little heart patient get better during/after the surgery. So many of you skipped your lunch hour. CAT Paramjeet had come only for a couple of hours, but ended up staying for the day and even dropping me home thereafter. Rtn. Babbi Ji spent the whole day ensuring that each donor went well fed after the donation. CAT Neerja took care of all the paperwork, certificates and pinning throughout the day.
If some of the old blood donor CATS were found to be missing in action, it was a joy to see a lot of new CATS standing tall to contribute. We must recognise the effort made by all the deferred CATS too who came with the best wishes for Heartline children.
THREE MEOWS to CATS.
CAT Supreet
CAT Arun was already filling the form in by the time I reached the blood bank. CAT Neerja took out CATS banner from her closet along with the badges which she had kept safely for us since our January blood donation camp. CAT Deepinder was delegated the job of getting our banner up, which this time took the place of pride at the entrance foyer of IPD. CAT Neerja took charge of the reception desk at the blood bank, after having taken a day off, so that she could fully devote her uninterrupted time to CATS. We were pleasantly surprised to see CAT Vishal K trooping in with 5 students of CIHM in tow. We were in business already :-)
Dr Gursimran was next to donate, who had come ALL THE WAY from Jammu (!!). Picture of benevolence, our Rtn Babbi Ji arrived soon and took charge of the resposibility of refreshements. Our Elusive CAT Charanjeet delighted us by bringing in three of his employees to donate blood. This was indeed getting heady. CAT Ashok joined us for a while to cheer us up. Rtn Arvind Mehan (President of Rotary Club of Chandigarh) also decided to join CATS for Heartline. However, he insisted that he be fed first before he gives blood. Rtn Manmohan Singh and Rtn Kewal Seth also dropped by. Rtn Madhu Handa was in for a shock when I literally grabbed her by her arm as she was walking towards the blood bank and coerced her to give blood. We were leaving nothing to chance. We wanted blood and we were not discriminating :-)
CAT Paramjeet came in soon, followed by CAT Hemant and CAT Kapil. He also got his friend Sushil in a true Catty spirit. The less said about CAT Aradhika, the better, for she really does not give you a chance to get a word in anyway. Our camp would have been so dull without her incessant chirping. This is about the time when our camp started getting livelier!
CAT Vasu arrived and left the column of 'Blood Group' blank on his form. During his medical whilst we were discussing various blood groups, he told the nurse to fill 'Universal Receipient' in his record sheet since that sounded such a good deal to miss upon, regardless of what his actual blood group was! He then had to be fed prior to bleeding since he had not eaten anything. CAT Rahat was also sent packing before he could give blood. It was heart warming to see a couple of Fortis employees walking in by themselves after seeing our blood donation banner. Nobody had requested/forced/coerced/bribed them to do so. Their spirit humbled us all.
It was lunch time and I noticed CAT Reenu sitting in the reception of blood bank. We were overjoyed to know that the rest of the 5 people sitting alongside were her colleagues, who had decided to sacrifice their lunch hour for CATS and Heartline. This indeed was our soldier CAT at work. Whilst CAT Reenu's gang were at their best behaviour, CAT Ashish A walked in with CAT Gopika. And we all know what happens when CAT Ashish A is around :-)
He simply lit up the place with his smile. Since it was lunch hour, I had to ensure that they had eaten before any blood could be taken. I asked a simple question off him, 'Have you eaten?' CAT Ashish A shot back promptly, 'Khaan hee te aaye haan!' If this was not enough, now add CAT Rahat. He had already had lunch with CAT Paramjeet, given the blood and was still found eating a samosa and drinking lassi. Our famished CAT Neerja asked for a bite and he said (with a full belly), 'Jo bachega woh de doonga!' CAT Reenu's gang of 5 did not know what to do with CATS. At first they were giggling but soon they had no choice but to burst into peels of laughter with our two merry CATS pulling a fast one on each other, nineteen to a dozen.
CAT Anu A brought in a colleague whilst CAT Aditi can be credited to drag along CAT Uday and CAT Sourabh. CAT Deepinder came when he got free from work and CAT Neerja encouraged Dr Ashwin Garg to owe allegiance to CATS by giving blood first! CAT Jasmit came with his 'Vohatee' Jasmine who celebrated their matrimonial alliance by donating blood together. CAT Paramjeet however has lost his title of being a 'Sober' CAT. He enquired from CAT Jasmine if she knew Punjabi and she unfortunately responded in affirmative. He immediately thurst a medical history form to her, typed in Punjabi!! She was seen toiling over it well after others had finished filling theirs ;-)
By the end of the day, CATS and their friends/colleagues had donated 35 units for the Heartline project. However, as last time, CATS kept going to Fortis the following day too. RK Sharma was our 36th donor. CAT Navpreet also donated with CATS as the beneficiary. However, as soon as I got to know that his aunt was admitted in Fortis for a surgery and needed 4 units of blood, I immediately instructed the blood bank to transfer CAT Navpreet's unit from CATS to his aunt and I told him that his usual band of 3 employees should also donate for his aunt rather than CATS this time.
We close our 2nd Blood Donation with a count of 36 units and I thank each one of you, who made an effort to come to Fortis for donating blood, which would help a little heart patient get better during/after the surgery. So many of you skipped your lunch hour. CAT Paramjeet had come only for a couple of hours, but ended up staying for the day and even dropping me home thereafter. Rtn. Babbi Ji spent the whole day ensuring that each donor went well fed after the donation. CAT Neerja took care of all the paperwork, certificates and pinning throughout the day.
If some of the old blood donor CATS were found to be missing in action, it was a joy to see a lot of new CATS standing tall to contribute. We must recognise the effort made by all the deferred CATS too who came with the best wishes for Heartline children.
THREE MEOWS to CATS.
CAT Supreet
CATS 2nd Blood Donation - ROLL OF HONOUR
List of Donors:
1. Joginder Singh
2. Pulkit Jain
3. CAT Arun B
4. CAT Vishal K
5. Aman Uniyal
6. Ravinder Singh
7. Dr Gursimran Singh
8. Gulshan Kumar
9. Benu Gopal
10.Anup Kumar
11.CAT Supreet
12.CAT & Rtn. Arvind Mehan
13.CAT Paramjeet
14.CAT Aradhika
15.Sushil Kaura
16.CAT Kapil
17.Rtn. Madhu Handa
18.CAT Hemant
19.Hardeep Singh
20.CAT Vasu
21.Suraj
22.Nidhi Gulsia
23.CAT Anu A
24.Bhupinder Singh
25.Robin Khandelwal
26.Lucky Goyal
27.CAT Rahat
28.CAT Ashish A
29.Ashu Jaidka
30.CAT Deepinder
31.CAT Ashwin
32.CAT Uday
33.CAT Sourabh
34.CAT Jasmit
35.CAT Jasmine
36.R K Sharma
In addition, CAT Navpreet also donated blood for CATS, but I insisted that his blood donation be counted towards the surgery of his aunt, who was admitted at Fortis and needed 4 units of blood.
List of Nearly-Donors (deferrals), who also deserve a place in our Roll of Honour:
1. Naresh Sharma
2. Satkarjit Singh
3. CAT Reenu
4. CAT Mona
5. CAT Gopika
6. CAT Aditi
7. CAT Madhvi
9. Subba Rao
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