It was the day of our club elections, after which the District Assembly invitation to Nawabshah was announced. Interests piqued, almost everyone present there agreed to embark on what was about to turn into one of the most memorable road trip RC Karachi was about to make.
Early morning on the 28th of June, we all collected at a pick up point laden with overnight bags, lunch boxes and an icebox crammed amongst the 11 rotaractors on board, and hence began the road trip to Nawabshah, with what turned out to be the Highest Attendance in the DA!!
For most of us, it was the first experience of taking a road trip into Sindh, and each farm or orchard was treated with looks of utter delight. Singing and chatting our way to Nawabshah, we reached our destination 6 hour later to be immediately greeted by our gracious host, Rao Al Sufyan.
Playing the polite host, he immediately saw to our comfortable accommodations in a near by hotel, where we prepared for the upcoming conference.
Meeting the regional rotaractors, interacting with them on a one on one basis, making new friends and most of all the information and cultural exchange that was all taking place was over whelming
Actually, the most overwhelming part was when RC Karachi vied for a Nawabshah rotaractor that we had just met, to win the Rotaract lapel after the interactive session. None of us had any idea that such a simple move on our part would strengthen the bond between RC Karachi and RC Nawabshah to an extent that it would make a mark on our memories forever.
As soon as the District Assembly was over and after the delightful mango fiesta, the lot of us stepped out on the roads in hunt of dinner, not knowing that we were due at Lal Qilla for an Installation ceremony that did include dinner J
That’s where 2 rotaractors of Nawabshah, whom we had a discussion with during Natash Mian’s session, found us looking utterly lost and out of place near our hotel. The kind duo gathered us all back into one place and escorted us to the Installation venue, late but better then never!!
After another, (pretty long) Installation ceremony, the aroma of food reminding us of home began to waft through the serene open air and for a moment, each of us thought the whole table could hear our stomachs growling.
Forgetting all sense of propriety for those few moments, we lunged ourselves into a hearty meal and ate our wa y till it was time for the performers to make their appearance.
The band was a whole new surprise package. For a moment we thought it was a CD playback but the Signature band and the following artists just rocked the whole arena.
A typical Karachiite weakness, be it males or females; is to just nudge our way towards the stage if there was good music. And then the time flew by as we sang on top of our voices, danced and cheered the dancers to the amazing talent we never knew lay in those artists.
Where the music was bowled over by the singers, the entertainment provided by the dancer aka Govinda, along with the stand up comedians was truly mind blowing and had us all laughing till we ached!
The night finally ended with all of us charged up and headed back to our hotel craving hot tea, but to everyone’s dismay, the hotel’s kitchen were closed and they refused to let us in to make it ourselves J… though like I said earlier, the Nawabshah hospitality wasn’t done yet!!
Half an hour later, we were surprised when our same local friends walked in at 4am with 3 kettles of the most delicious steaming Doodh Patti and a couple of cups that we took turns sharing and I for the first time in my life I drank 3 cups of tea in one go!!
For me, that was probably a heavenly moment where we couldn’t thank the friends from Nawabshah enough to be so conscious to us needy chai-a-holic karachiites.
The night was then spent awake as all rotaractors mingled and chatted the whole night through with members from RCK metropolitan and others sharing the hotel.
Early morning on the 28th of June, we all collected at a pick up point laden with overnight bags, lunch boxes and an icebox crammed amongst the 11 rotaractors on board, and hence began the road trip to Nawabshah, with what turned out to be the Highest Attendance in the DA!!
For most of us, it was the first experience of taking a road trip into Sindh, and each farm or orchard was treated with looks of utter delight. Singing and chatting our way to Nawabshah, we reached our destination 6 hour later to be immediately greeted by our gracious host, Rao Al Sufyan.
Playing the polite host, he immediately saw to our comfortable accommodations in a near by hotel, where we prepared for the upcoming conference.
Meeting the regional rotaractors, interacting with them on a one on one basis, making new friends and most of all the information and cultural exchange that was all taking place was over whelming
Actually, the most overwhelming part was when RC Karachi vied for a Nawabshah rotaractor that we had just met, to win the Rotaract lapel after the interactive session. None of us had any idea that such a simple move on our part would strengthen the bond between RC Karachi and RC Nawabshah to an extent that it would make a mark on our memories forever.
As soon as the District Assembly was over and after the delightful mango fiesta, the lot of us stepped out on the roads in hunt of dinner, not knowing that we were due at Lal Qilla for an Installation ceremony that did include dinner J
That’s where 2 rotaractors of Nawabshah, whom we had a discussion with during Natash Mian’s session, found us looking utterly lost and out of place near our hotel. The kind duo gathered us all back into one place and escorted us to the Installation venue, late but better then never!!
After another, (pretty long) Installation ceremony, the aroma of food reminding us of home began to waft through the serene open air and for a moment, each of us thought the whole table could hear our stomachs growling.
Forgetting all sense of propriety for those few moments, we lunged ourselves into a hearty meal and ate our wa y till it was time for the performers to make their appearance.
The band was a whole new surprise package. For a moment we thought it was a CD playback but the Signature band and the following artists just rocked the whole arena.
A typical Karachiite weakness, be it males or females; is to just nudge our way towards the stage if there was good music. And then the time flew by as we sang on top of our voices, danced and cheered the dancers to the amazing talent we never knew lay in those artists.
Where the music was bowled over by the singers, the entertainment provided by the dancer aka Govinda, along with the stand up comedians was truly mind blowing and had us all laughing till we ached!
The night finally ended with all of us charged up and headed back to our hotel craving hot tea, but to everyone’s dismay, the hotel’s kitchen were closed and they refused to let us in to make it ourselves J… though like I said earlier, the Nawabshah hospitality wasn’t done yet!!
Half an hour later, we were surprised when our same local friends walked in at 4am with 3 kettles of the most delicious steaming Doodh Patti and a couple of cups that we took turns sharing and I for the first time in my life I drank 3 cups of tea in one go!!
For me, that was probably a heavenly moment where we couldn’t thank the friends from Nawabshah enough to be so conscious to us needy chai-a-holic karachiites.
The night was then spent awake as all rotaractors mingled and chatted the whole night through with members from RCK metropolitan and others sharing the hotel.
Finally, dawn broke and with a heavy heart yet cherished memories, we made our way back to our awaiting vans, yet escorted by our host Sufyan and bid farewell to Nawabshah, which had in just one day become a home away from home.
In our hearts and minds, we all brought back bits of that wonderful place with us, where people are infused with care, affection and concern. I am without a doubt that every one in Nawabshah, be it young or old, has the spirit of common welfare, wellbeing and goodwill in their hearts.
In our hearts and minds, we all brought back bits of that wonderful place with us, where people are infused with care, affection and concern. I am without a doubt that every one in Nawabshah, be it young or old, has the spirit of common welfare, wellbeing and goodwill in their hearts.
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