Planning for QBR VIII

September 2nd, 2008 - The HKs (aka HaraamKhors) had their last QBR (Quarterly Boys Review) in Murud on the Weekend of 29th June, 2008 (also happened to be my b'day). It was time for QBR VIII and if you have been reading my Blogs, you should know sending an intimation for a QBR "much" in advance is an understatement in our group.

Nevertheless, I sent a shout-out to my bumchums and asked them to revert with a possible date, time and venue. I suggested options like Kolad, Bhandardhara, Igatpuri or a far-fetched (or so i thought) Goa in the mid of October 2008. To my surprise, almost 50% of the group agreed that Goa is "THE PLACE" to be at this time of the year. Well, I was all game for it and we started exploring the the mode of transport and accomodation. I guess we had a fair idea of the expenses involved and that didnt deter us from embarking on this trip

Trivia: In my 29 years of existence, this was my first trip to Goa, I know its a shame but better late than never, right mate?

September 11th, 2008 - I shared the Final Itinerary after having explored all options...HKs who confirmed their prescence were yours truly, Karan, Priyank, Parag, Tanveer, Amit K and Amit S

To GOA - 10/16
Mode: Train (Konkan Kanya)
Time: 11:05 PM from CST Station
Duration: 12 Hours

To Mumbai - 10/19
Mode: Bus/Flight
Time: TBD in Goa
Duration TBD in Goa

September 11th, 2008 - Karan and I got on a conf call and we called all the HKs who had pledged for the trip, we couldnt get through to Tanveer and so with lot of hesitation, I booked tickets for 6 of us minus Tanveer. It was a very historic moment considering the plans got finalized so quickly and we had at least 50% participation (or so i thought). At that point, 56 tickets were still available for booking and I hoped some of the HKs would squeeze in on their own

September 14th, 2008 - Thats exactly what happened, Tanveer finally e-mailed and was ready to book the ticket on his own and he did that in less than 10 Mins, that was a first (Service Level Met) for Tanveer, I must admit

Next came the shocker, Hemu sent a mail and mentioned his younger bro was getting married on the same dates as we were planning the trip. Now I expressed my inavailability and aghast (for telling us so late) in no uncertain terms but was not sure of the other HKs, at that point nobody seemed like dropping off and so the trip was still ON

September 16th, 2008 - Second shocker, Priyank opted out citing personal reasons, now we were down to 6

September 18th, 2008 - Now came the news from Kris that fired us up, he knew of a contact (presumably influential) who could arrange for a bunglow with A/C rooms, transit in Goa and water-sports etc. On the same day, Amit S was trying to reach his contact and now it was all looking very positive and we knew this trip is going to be a BLAST!

September 21st, 2008 - Turns out, Kris's contact is also a common friend of Tanveers and Tanveer called the contact and set us up. There was no finer details but we knew the accomodation has been arranged. So far so good

October 1st, 2008 - We had 14 days to go and now we started discussing how we were going to meet and where do we board the train from. It was obvious, Parag (coming from Pune) and I (from Vashi) should meet up and board the train together. Our natural choice was to catch the Train from Panvel (other options were CST and Dadar). I asked Parag to come to my place and we could have dinner together before we reach Panvel. For the HKs in the suburbs, CST or Dadar was an option

Tanveer's ticket was for a different coach (he booked on his own remember) and we needed to figure out how we could get him in our's, well this is India and getting to "ADJUST" is no big deal

October 9th, 2008 - Tanveer shared the details of the accomodation and it left us in a trance... a bunglow booked with A/C rooms, options to travel in car/jeep inside Goa, private boat for sea trips and water-sports. Bunglow close to line of beaches and close to Kingfisher Villa. Hmm...sounded like a 90201 address in Goa. We couldn't wait to get going, at the same time there was this underlying scare that someone may just drop at the last moment and our worst fears came true...

October 14th, 2008 - Amit S sent a communication that he cannot make it on account of his office work over the Weekends. On the same day we had our final Conf Call with the remaining HKs and we were in for a double whammy, Amit K also dropped out citing reasons to host his client visit. We were now reduced to 4 and words can explain our utter misery at this development. I ended up cancelling 3 confrmed tickets on the train. No explanation is good enough for the HKs who dropped out but the rest were determined to make it happen, even if it came down to 2 (definately not alone)

With that the planning was over and it was time for D-day...Goa here we come...