September 2005 - SUMMER PICNIC Herons Bonsai Nursery

IIT London Chapter 2005 Summer Picnic…

Well over a hundred alumni, family and friends attended the IIT London Chapter annual picnic on Sunday 4th September.

It was like an Indian Summer afternoon - hot and sunny, quite something for London in September. There certainly was the atmosphere - with the beautiful aroma of the apple, pear and plum orchards nearby and the smell of lovely Indian cuisine. What a setting for alumni to socialise and recall old times on their various campuses.

Peter Chan, who was our host, had got up at 5am to cook the non-veg food and organised the large Bar-B-Q. Incidentally, the venue was Peter’s bonsai farm, on which he runs his vast bonsai business - a far cry from engineering.

We were pleased to have with us Mr. Pawan Kumar from panIIT. He flew in from Bangalore just for this event and updated us on past and planned IIT-related events. Mr. Sharad Tripathi came from Paris and briefed us on the efforts underway to create an “IIT-EU” community. Mr. Raj K. Jain, Chairman IIT-LC, in his speech thanked everyone for coming and contributing to the event. The gathering unanimously thanked Peter Chan and his wife Dawn for their hospitality.

The Summer Picnic has become an annual event for IIT-LC since its founding in 2000.

The berry picking afterwards

On the way back from the picnic, there was a notice by the roadside to pick garden fresh corn, berries, and beans in a nearby field (for a small payment). Apparently, several of us got interested in the offer and eventually about half the picnickers were spotted wandering in the field, gathering farm fresh corn and juicy berries.

Certainly a day to remember.

Pranay Kohli