A return ticket between Hawaii and Kolkata costs anywhere between 1.5 lakh to 2.5 lakh INR, economy, with a flight time of a minimum of 31 hours, that includes at least 2 painful layovers. Any takers?
Well, well, it is neither very ‘boss friendly’ nor pocket friendly, a proposition. So, on the first of July, at DI, we transported ourselves to Hawaii for a night, without hurting any of the above-mentioned foes. ALOHA, the spirit of Hawaii, in association with t2, was a night where one enjoyed the vacay with friends and family, including the kids. Everyone was greeted with Hawaiian style vibrant garlands and wrist bands. The little 8-year-old Sierra, with contagious excitement and enthusiasm, said that she felt she was on a beach! Could anyone disagree with her? Indoors@DI was colourfully adorned with balloons, festoons and paper streamers. There was joy in the air.
Music flowed. Christabel and Alisha, our two beautiful comperes, had a firm grip on the crowd with games galore and prizes aplenty. They set the mood, to get everyone on the floor dancing to internationally loved songs over the years, played by DJ Shakey. The duo, along with the DJ, truly generated the spirit of Hawaii.
The first prize of the evening was given to beautiful Brinelle and radiant Roshan as they were the earliest birds on the floor donning their dancing shoes. The crowd followed. Might I mention that the duo stayed on the dance floor till the end. Numbers ranging from Brown Girl in the Ring to Coco Jumbo to Mysterious Girl to Despacito to Shape of You to Love Story and many more were played.
Chris & Alisha came up with a very interesting game they named “limbo” wherein they had a rod held between the two of them and one had to dance underneath it by bending the spine backwards, face up. The kids made a bee-line for it until the girls had to ‘raise’ (read lower) the bar to just about 6-8 inches from the ground! Sierra, Divyansh and Devaansh were declared winners though our competent comperes decided to reward all the participating tots. Sweet! For the adults, this game required fitness laced with courage. But that was no deterrent for the eager members to prove their worth. They too decided to go under the bar, thankfully, only literally. Some crawled through (not the rule) while others slid down using their back and heels for support. Many ladies, smartly, removed their high heeled shoes to ‘reduce’ themselves vertically by a few inches! Vineeta Kanojia, a guest, went home brandishing a bottle of wine she won quite effortlessly. Shayne Hyrapiet was undoubtedly the best man at it. He summed up his experience in just one word - “painful” even though his smile, bottle of wine in hand, said otherwise.
A few years back the Hula hoop was a craze among school-going children. Spinning brightly coloured hoops was the subject of the next game, bringing the passion back among children and ladies alike. One had to do so in rhythm with the music, Christabel mentioned. The letter J has no hoop in it but coincidentally all the prize winners have names that begin with it, namely Jemima, Jada and Jayden. They won chocolates encrusted with fruits and nuts as the fruits of their labour.
Next up was a challenge that brought several kids to the floor. One had to dance within the periphery of the leis that were given to all at the entry point. The adults rushed back to their tables to relish their abandoned drinks, after stealing a quick glance at their big feet. Skyla and Preeti, emerged as the most talented and skillful dancers though we had a tough time making an honest judgement.
The evening reverberated with laughter and mirth among a lot of dancing. Aninda Paul, nestling a scotch in hand, said it appeared as though he was back in Goa, with nostalgia in his eyes. Anandarup aka Raja said he couldn’t have enough of the emblazoned décor. Young Kaira was seen munching a chicken burger, she described as soft and juicy. Couldn’t agree more with her. This was a rare evening that, I bet, was savoured by little children, teenagers and adults alike. It was heart-warming to see such a large number of not-so-young boys dancing on the same platform as their parents and their little siblings.
The spirit of Hawaii was enlivened by most members dressed in floral shirts or skirts. Some among them were dressed to kill! Christabel and Alisha must have had that in their mind as they called upon Nicola Gomes and Shane Hyrapiet to vote for the best dressed lady and gentleman respectively. Anita Kanga, looking smashing in a bright orange halter-neck dress, was selected as the best, no questions asked. Leslie was indeed the best dressed man, said the two judges, but he politely refused the prize citing his inability to have chocolates. No one could hold back their grins when Shayne announced that he voted for Clinton Tims ‘for making an effort to find such a vibrant shirt in size XXXL’. While Anita said that she loved the ambience the most, Clinton said he was “knocked out” on winning. May Anita and Clinton cherish the wine with their respective families. Mishal Faiyaz, dressed in a pretty orange gown, carefully careless hairdo and a radiant smile as accessory, looked like a Diva in-the-making. She was declared as the best-dressed kid.
Foot-tapping dance numbers, happy feet and challenging games kept the members too engaged to look at their watches. Kids out-did their bed-time and the teenagers made the most of it. After all, not everyday do they get a chance to spend a night out by the beach, albeit staged, avoiding their parents’ eagle eyes.
We dressed, we danced, we played, we partied. As spirited Indians, in make-shift Hawaii, we devoured and we drank.
And now we thank the organizers and Council members for all the arrangements and the food counters selling scrumptious burgers, delicious finger-food, all-time favourite pizzas and pastas; not to forget cocktails like blue lagoon, litchi Cinderella, fruit punch and mojito to satiate the mind and body.
