Today we had a company picnic. My boss-couple is in town and we organized a group trip to one of the beach resorts slash amusement parks around 30 km south of the city. We all met around nine in front of the office, where a rented bus picked us up. Apart from the people that I see in the office every day, there were also a few wives, one husband and a couple of kids. The group divided itself right at the beginning along the sex lines and that's pretty much how it would stay for the rest of the day. The atmosphere is cheerful with certain amount of awkwardness of meeting familiar people in unfamiliar setting. It reminds me on school trips.

The most imortant thing in this part of the world.

The resort is pretty fancy and well maintained. A long sand beach, hundreds of coconut trees, freshly cut grass, little pavilions covered with dry palm leaves, cozy restaurant on the beach, and other stuff that make such resorts fancy and well maintained. We are welcomed at the gate with some orange juice and a sport kit, which includes cricket bat and balls and a volley ball. Men change into their shorts and go running after balls, while women remain in their saris and don't go anywhere. I am a little too enthusiastic about kicking the ball around barefoot while ignoring the burning sand and I get blisters in first fifteen minutes. So much for my recreation for the day (as a matter of fact, I did play some cricket later and even scored a couple of runs, although without running.)

(Risking their lives) under coconut trees.

By the lunch time it is so hot that no amount of shadow or sea breeze can do any difference. I actually like the idea about having lunch in an air-conditioned pavilion, a proposition which sounded pretty strange in the morning. Lunch is served buffet-style and I go for spicy vegetarian biryani with cool curd (yogurt) sauce, some naan, mutton (goat) and chicken masala. Food is excellent and its hot spices call for a cold beer, but that will have to wait. The rest of the day was spent mostly in avoiding the scorching sun and trying not to move too much. It was an easy and slow afternoon and in the evening we headed back to the city.