Last Friday the 12th of Feb, 2010, a day I don't wanna forget in my life, a day out with my friends, a day of joy, fun, embarrassment and above all a day that once again asserted the providence of my Lord.
I saw a man and a woman in suits at the door who welcomed us in the most polite way. When I asked if there's enough seats for 30 of us he said he'll open the floor for us. He then asked me if we would go for a buffet or add-to-basket. When he answered it'll cost 340 bucks plus tax per plate for buffet I said I'll go for the latter. He asked us to get seated while he went to open the floor for us. By this time my mind was filled with calculations, about the rates of the Chinese dishes I've had and the number of people and the amount we have in hand as well as what I have left in my bank account. I thought I can somehow manage it.
"The first floor is open for you," said the man. We all went and took our seats in the AC floor. The first thing I asked was for the menu. I started going through the list one by one and soon started searching something that is the cheapest. Now I was in a dilemma since my ego wouldn't permit me to walk out, but at the same time the amount we had in hand as well as what is left in my bank account won't suffice. Then my friend Stalin walked up to me and said the only option is to tell the management that we can't afford and apologize and walk out from there.
Finally I made up my mind and approached the man who showed us the way. I told him that it's a bunch of orphanage kids with us and we cannot afford and we are sorry for the trouble. But he was too polite and asked me how much can we pay. I had no idea what to say as I knew it's gonna cost us at least 12000 bucks plus and my friend told me we have only 3500 in hand. I told him we can't afford more than 100 per plate keeping in mind that I had to take them to the park and have to spend at least some amount there. Then to my surprise he asked me if I can give at least a bit more. When I said no, he asked me to take a seat and he'll do the best possible as it's a noble cause.
I went back to the seat wondering what's going to happen. I guess I saw some arguments, at the end of which without a word they started serving us. In between he came and asked if everyone is non-veg. I asked him what my friend Stalin whispered on my ears - to serve the kids non-veg and veg to us volunteers.There came the shock. He told me: "please don't embarrass us, we'll see what we can do." I saw a lot of stuff being served one after the other and was not able to digest the fact as well as the food that was provided thinking about the difference in amount.
Finally, after a wonderful meal that everyone enjoyed, it was time to pay the bill. When asked for the bill he said he'll make the bill for 3000 bucks. They could have thrown us out when they came to know we can't afford their rates. After all it's a bunch of orphanage kids and it's not going to affect their business in any way. But the kindness they showed and the hospitality they provided us with not a tad less of dignity, it's something that's really touching.
From there we straight away went to Cubbon Park. We sang some songs of thanksgiving followed by some action songs. Then we started off with various sports like Cricket, Volleyball and Football. Since girls were not so interested in sports Basilica entertained them with her story telling. And finally we went back and dropped to the orphanage and said goodbye to them. Hope soon we'll have an outing again with them sans Mainland China unless we have enough funds :-)
Apart from thanking the hotel management, I hereby thank Abraham, the one who runs the orphanage, for giving us the opportunity, the kids for the most wonderful moments they shared with us, Deepak, who sparked it off, Stalin for all the pain he took to run around to make it a reality, Rosanna for the invaluable backing, Sabish, Livin and Fraklin for the support, Liju and Xavier (full timers), Syndi, Basilica, Rakshitha, Robert, Albert, Jinu, Olivia, Aneesha, Martina, Lourde, Monica, Malcolm, Mark (for the special appearance and extra effort in bringing the sports equipments) and Preety without whom it wouldn't have been one of the most amazing days of life.
