It all starts with a phone call / message asking "are you in for the OTR on *details*....?" and you get the usual replies
"maybe"
"ofcourse"
"yeh koi poochne ki baat hai"
"depends"
"who else is coming"
"mera jeep workshop main hai"
"mera jeep do saal se ban raha hai"
"i'll come if xyz is not coming"
"i may come later"
"someone drive my jeep"
"what's for dinner?"
After a few hours of Q&A we finally have our people list.
Why is people list important?
Because Ravi Nayar and his pretty wife Carmen are organising the barbecue food and we need a head count plus the veg / non veg count.
Mostly everyone and their dog are coming in on the saturday night but a few could not make it due to other commitments. So Gogi, Jignesh, Imran Ladak and Sanjay Kale come in straight for the OTR on Sunday morning.
The venue is a private place around 200kms away from Mumbai and approx 5-5 1/2 hour drive by the jeeps considering the traffic and ghats.
There are three groups that would leave on Saturday.
Group 1: Ravi Nayar to reach the venue and scout around for an ideal BBQ place
Group 2: Leave a bit later. I take gogi's jeep and pick aditya and drive to the venue. Since gogi is already in pune side for work, he would get join us in the morning. Ouseph from Autocar India joins us enroute.
Group 3: The others who are trying to get Ravi Sharma's jeeps mechanicals sorted and leave the last. Unfortunately the jeep could not be done on time and they come by Ankit's Yeti and Amol's Pajero.
Ravi Nayar and his faithful volvo XC 60
It's one full stocked vehicle. BBQ grill, freezer, table, camp lights, tents, the works.
Carmen and Ravi took great pains to get everything ready the day before.
The Menu:
Prawns
Chicken
Salad
Potatoes
Mushrooms
Corn on the cob
Bacon sausages
Cheese Garlic Bread
Papad
Assortment of Drinks
Three vehicles (a volvo, a mm550 and a thar) were strategically parked and a tarp stretched over in case of rain.
It took us a while to get the coal burning since the intermittent drizzle spoilt it for us. But a lot of fanning and hungry stomach determination finally set the coals going.
Step 1: Putting the coals on a metal sheet with paper on top:
Step 2: Adding fuel to get the coal going:
Step 3: Finding a fan to get all the coals going:
Step 3a: Holding umbrella to prevent drizzle from interfering:
Step 4: Carmen starts preparing the food in the meanwhile
Step 5: The fan has started and the coals start glowing
Step 6: Some hungry boys try to go closer to the fire (under the grill) to get their food cooked fast
Step 7: Finally the BBQ starts going:
Step 8: Happy foodies!
And of course, nowadays there should always be one "awww" moment
: