Dear CATS,
Having planned an activity we had never undertaken in the past, I was a little apprehensive how would it turn out to be. Would CATS get bored at the farm? Would the weather play truant? How would we cook ourselves at site for all the groaning bellies? Where would we sit? Would we be able to make it organic enough? Needless to say, as always, my misgivings were entirely misplaced.
To begin with it felt strange that a CATS activity was planned for a Sunday for we did not have to wake up at 4am and rush to reach the assembly point by 5am. It felt a little out of place to be wishing everyone 'Good Afternoon' rather than a 'Good Morning'! CATS were late in trooping in despite being given a late start to the day. Then I decided that we should leave to keep up with the schedule and the rest was given instructions to join us directly at the farm. The entourage of 7 CAT mobiles started moving towards Landran with strict instructions to each driving CAT to keep the CAT mobile in the front and rear always in sight. Around 2.15pm we reached Sattva Farm to a warm welcome by our host CAT Gaurav. With a quick round of introductions, we proceeded to our welcome drink; fresh kinnoo juice.
The curiosity killed the CATS so much despite CAT of every age ran amok the field like a little child in a candy store. I had to resort to sounding a loud whistle to bring the flock pack to the base point assembly; an attempt which can be termed to be a complete failure. Just as I would get 3 of them back from the right side of the shed, a few would disappear from the left side back to the fields! Everyone was just too excited to find vegetables growing in various shapes, forms and sizes all around them. Just as I managed to get them all together finally, two CAT Mobiles arrived full of excited CATS. They were lucky to have arrived in time as I had already instructed the Juice Wala to wrap up!
CAT Gaurav lead the pack at 3.30pm for a guided and interactive tour of the organic farm. He offered a detailed insight into why he chose to indulge in the organic farming, what is actually organic farming, how he learnt to grow vegetables without any farming background, benefits of an organic produce to us etc. He went into great lengths to explain the correct way of growing veggies rather than in a commercial fashion to purely maximize profits. He kept asking questions along the way. What is the significance of 'jeev amrit'? in organic farming? Which vital liquid ingredient is bought at Rs.1.50/- a litre to make bio organic manure? Do you know what 'Panchgani' is? Why are potatoes grown in a ridge rather than flat bed? Difference between a green and a white leek. Any CAT who answered correctly, was given a slip which mentioned the prize. For example, CAT AP won a bunch of HALDI (turmeric). Such is the bane of urban lives we lead that even elderly CATS who had spent a considerable time in the fields earlier in their lives, had trouble recognising vegetable pods from pulses pods. It was incredible to see a dozen potatoes grow in a bunch under each serene looking plant. Kittens understood why 'baby potatoes' are called so :)
At 5pm it was time to mingle our 'Pind Diyaan Mutiyaraan'. As CAT Puneet put it, each of the 20 sexy sirens colourfully dressed to kill. CATS excitedly trooped in to be personally introduced to each mutiyaar individually by Mr Sarkaria is the 'Friend, Philosopher and Guide' to each one of them. Not only could you admire them from a distance, CATS were encouraged to touch them, hug them, caress them, even sit in their lap if one wished. CATS could pick anyone from a Chevrolet, a Mustang amongst 20 odd Vintage Beauties lined up in our village farm!
Just as the farm tour and the vintage car meeting was over, a heart warmingly delicious soup and a lip smacking salad nourished the peckish CATS back to meowing around the bonfire. CAT Sanjeev had brought pink hearts to be pinned by each CAT. The game was to avoid saying anything in negative to anyone through the rest of the evening. The moment one said 'no, naa, nahin, not, nothing etc.' you loose your heart to the one who heard you saying so. It sounded kiddish to begin with, but within no time hearts were being exchanged in abundance all around. I lost mine to CAT DV who quickly put my heart in his shirt pocket ;-) Then CATS wised up a little and started asking questions of the unsuspecting CATS to collect as many hearts as possible. CAT Monica was on a mission. CAT Paramjeet won many hearts but did nto insist on hearing them on his sleeve. CAT Mona was chuffed to bits when I won CAT Tony's heart unexpectedly. It was funny with so many complaining, 'maine unn ka dil jeet liya per woh mujhe apna dil hee nahi de rahe!' CAT Aman and CAT Ansh got so upset at being denied the hearts they had won that they burnt their own hearts in the bonfire. CAT Puneet's top had become a display of hearts she had won. CAT Krishan had a game plan of his own. He literally stole the hearts ;-) Hearts were discussed over steaming hot arrabiata and cheese pasta whilst pizza bases were being dressed with barbecued veggies and chicken.
If this was not enough, we also had a session of Helium Sticks whereby neither the male nor the feline CATS were able to bring the stick down. It just kept flying higher and higher ;-) Others gave up but CAT Renee was quite keen to find a partner to bring the darn stick down! Our little kittens in the meantime divided into two teams and created two scare crows. One had a T-shirt on whilst the other one wore a full sleeved shirt. CAT Gaurav quickly quipped that thanks to our kittens, he now had a scarecrow for both summer and winter! Though we had equipment to play more team games lying in the car, it had become dark to be able to play them properly. A round of pictionary had also been planned, but CATS chose for a round of good old antakhshari arond the bonfire after a sumptuous dinner. The gang was divided in two teams and the spirit of singing competition was palpable. Neither of the teams took more than a few seconds to respond back musically.
As some CATS left for the evening, the rest sat around the bonfire for another round of a game started by CAT Sanjeev which looked simple and innocuous but had everyone in splits (or horror) when the second leg of this game began. In the first leg everyone had to introduce the person sitting on their right and tell us one tangible thing about the person being introduced that he/she liked. If CAT Sanjeev liked CAT Kulwant's ring, CAT Gagan liked CAT Manpreet's hair, CAT Manpreet liked CAT Ashish A's eyes, who then liked my ear rings and I liked CAT Amanat's canvas shoes whilst CAT Amanat liked CAT Tanbir's spectacles and so forth. No imagine the state of affairs around the bonfire when CAT Sanjeev quietly issued the instructions for the next round, 'Now you have to kiss whatever you like about the person you introduced!' I wondered if flying kisses were permitted ;-)
The evening would not have been such a great success, had it not been for each CAT quietly stepping in to take on a role in the communal kitchen, as the situation demanded. Right from peeling, chopping, cooking to serving, the whole affair was managed by CATS themselves. CAT Gaurav's employee helped in giving us freshly harvested and washed vegetables. CAT Tanbir was our super efficient head chef, who coordinated all segments of putting such a delicious European platter together at a farm without a proper kitchen. CAT Ashish A and CAT Paramjeet took the mantle of being the deft cooks working under instructions of CAT Tanbir. CAT Ashish A's employee Vinod was the skivvy of the day. CAT Puneet, CAT Manpreet, CAT Rachna and CAT Neerja took charge of the peeling and chopping and dressing of the pizzas. It was amazing to see even first timer Kitten Hridey insisting on chopping the carrots for the salad. Amongst all this, CAT Gaurav and his lovely wife CAT Vandana ensured that CATS had unhindered access to whatever we wanted to explore or need.
Three MEOWS to our host, our head chef and all the picnic CATS who did not forget their sense of humour with them :)
CAT Supreet
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