Monthly Archives: May 2024

OCA- NA. Get together.NEW YORK.

Sent in by Vijay (Kuttu) Singh :

I came to New York to represent OCA India, being Secretary of the Association.So let me give you a complete low down of this trip. This journey was indeed memorable. It started in Delhi with a concept of Jaspal Sawhney,which was followed and brought to reality by Ajay Sawhney & Ajay(Maxy) Bhumitra with the hardwork of the young OC Ashish Katyayan. I landed at JFK in the middle of the night,since the Virgin Atlantic flight was a few hours late. At the airport was Laxman,Ajay Bhumitra’s driver to pick me up and take me to his flat in Manhattan. All were asleep since it was 1.30 am ,but Laxman gave me a full bowl of chocolate icecream to eat. As day breaks Maxy takes me for a walking tour of Manhattan all the way to Central Park. By the afternoon Shelly Bhumitra is there from Princeton,to drive us around in his new Volvo. Next day,Maxy checks me into Lexington,a few blocks away from his flat,an iconic Hotel,where Marilyn Monroe had stayed. D day comes with the OCA- NA lunch at Kimberly Hotel,a 5 minute walk from my hotel. Here I met old friends like DK Stokes, Pompeii,Arun Bhumitra,Vivek Srivastava, Skinny Dewan&Ajay Sawhney.The best part was meeting new friends like Guram,Tony Rana,Monish Kapoor,Arun Bhalaik , Shubam Anand , Nishant Parsad , a finance wisard was keen to know about the scholarship scheme which OCA India is working on. The youngest OC was Akashdeep Verma,who came all the way from Toronto and we had Ramandeep Singh who was the most friendly and helpful to all the ladies around. Ashish Katyayan the young tech savy livewire came in late arriving at Maxy’s home where the party shifted after 4pm. Next day, Shelly Bhumitra drove Arun & me to the iconic Princeton University .It was an eye opener to see this historic University. This get together of Old Cottonians in New York was indeed an experience of a life time,seeing so much enthusiasm and love for our Alma Mater.Do hope this is carried forward for years to come. Moved on to Los Angeles ,where another OC get together was hosted by Arun Bhumitra,about which I have already posted. Cheers…it’s great to be a COTTONIAN.

…..

ATTENDEES AT OCA NA LUNCH Name of OC
1 Ajay Bhumitra
2 Smarth Galhotra
3 Arun Bhumitra
4 Hanit
5 K Vijay Singh
6 Ajay Sawhney
7 Vivek Srivastava
8 Rouble Kaul
9 Shelly Bhumitra
10 Arun Bhalaik
11 Kunal Kamra
12 Ramandeep Anand
13 Amrinder S Cheema
14 Akashdeep Verma
15 Manav Soin
16 Nishant Prasad
17 Aman khanna
19 Shailja Chopra (Bhasin)
20 Ashok Stokes
21 Prithvi Legha
22 Siddharth Mehra
23 deepak stokes
24 Mohnish Kapur
25 Maninder Guram
26 Anupam Sachdev
27 Vijay Dewan
28 Shubham Anand
29 Ashish Katyayan
30 Pradeep Yash Rana
31 D.K. Stokes
32 Inderbir Gill
33 Ayesha Karki
34 Jai Dipikar
35 Avarail Rai
……
The OCs in LA who missed the New York bash..were hosted by Arun Bhumitra ,Class of ’66 at his colossal office in Torrance.We had Paraminder(Pari)1975,Anil Sud,1969, senior most was JS Brara,1965, Mokshinder 1968 and the junior most was Jazzy Sihota 1980.Suprisingly most were meeting for the first time, but with in minutes we were bonding as true Cottonians over bottles of beer.Than we moved to El Torito,a Mexican restaurant next door, where the end was the best ,with bread pudding.After over 3 hrs of fun & gossipI handed them over the Mugs & Coasters,courtesy OCA India.They have now formed a whtsapp group for South California ,hoping to be touch more frequently.

The OCA- NA lunch at Kimberly Hotel, New York was a grand success with 46 attendees. OCs DK Stokes from Eureka, Pompeii from Boston, Guram from Houston, Arun Bhumitra from LA, youngsters from Toronto and many others came from all over.

“Questions, Descriptions .. Answers and the Luminous Green Letters on white paperT R A L E E ( please..)- we pilgrim hitchhikers..”

Who are you
Why are you here
Where have you come from
Where to …you go ..
When did you smile
When did the rain fade away..
When did it return with a hush
When did the grass turn green lush
When too did the  🍀 🍀 turn green three n’four leaf…?
Questions ..
We stood on the edge of town
reminiscing
our days of flower children
hitching rides to Kathmandu and Manali
with floppy hats, medallions of peace, Hare Rama-Hare Krishna Kurtas, flares and kohlapuris…
hair of course-long as George the Harrison..
..we see another saintly soul with flowers long hair and bojangles
standing with his donkey 🫏 Jack.. a sad intelligent soul.. both waiting for nothing but unbelievable faith .. and a placard “ give Vietnam back to the Irish  🍀 “..
keeping demons at bay
with
green jolly giants they say..
.. Charles Manson was a monster ..
claimed he was a Michelin star chef who could make the best blue-cheese-celery-rocket-soup by wading through mountains of garbage and selecting the finest ingredients from the quagmire of insanity..just a cross jinxed thought that came to my mind .
as we waited and waited overtly patient for bus 266 that never came..
Kilfountain-Dingle-Castlemaine to Killarney was our route with the bus that never came ..
..now standing at the edge of town as pilgrims on Camino Road..
..fair chance nothing would happen ..
Yet.. a lady fair swung towards .. braking at the kerb..
Gods were kind to’erd us
Aye..she too was one
Yearning-welcoming-spirited on the road through the high mountain pass with curves n’ bends she drove towards Tra lí-Tralee ..
..teaching history with warmth n’smiles so Irish  🍀 🍀 🍀🇮🇪
Learnt much we did as the crisp cold air added to the lady’s love for country, cows, sheep, the mokes jacks and jennys..and folks and peregrinos we..
She-spoke-we-listened, descriptions and bands that rocked our soul ..
Ever-she-was-she-was a wonderful lady fair n’about the banshees, chieftains and Bally ..St Brendan the Navigator I mapped his voyages in my mariner’s compass…
.. all roads lead to the end to start again..
This-lady-fair-Irish-dame added pastel shades, old glacial lakes, the mountains, the dales…
Descriptions .
with some regret we arrived ..
with some regret we said adieu
we saw her leave on four wheels ..
we knew her name the first..
should we still search for her amongst the small wanderers
waiting for Answers..
or return to Dingle .. yet again
to miss the Bus to Killarney
we…waiting for her ..
on the road to Tralee..?

to a Pilgrim, A Goddess
to an Irish Brother Cottonian..
to that Lady-Fair-Irish-Dame..
her name was Gayle..

Bonnie “ Vivek “Bhasin
.. never STOP walking ..
7th May 2024


The morning is still velvety dark..
The storm has passed and a new moon appeared with Venus Arcturus Dubhe and Polaris
the darkness awakes the pilgrim..
he has been dreaming of the poppy fields the vineyards and the almond trees he saw yesterday as he walked in deep reflection..
Now this is a new start on a dark morning as he rises
His body a wee bent
it’s time to move on to a new end..
It’s time to walk further go higher ..
His body a wee bent
but as yet
His soul is intact ..
.. he never stops walking ..

Bonnie
On the path from Villafranca to Torremeija