Picnic rush to bid adieu to the 2023 final sunset in Jamshedpur 

Mail News Service

Jamshedpur: The Sunday sun had yet to break out of the dawn timeline as a fourth luxury bus came to a graceful halt below the Gurudwara Hillock along NH 33 near the Dimna crossing. Tourists alighted from the bus and as if by intuition, walked up to the three ‘hot lemon tea’ vendors for the alluring cup of warm soother at dawn. The buses carried West Bengal number plates and obviously, the passengers were chirping excitedly about the ‘aims and objectives’ of a picnic in picturesque Jamshedpur on the final weekend of the year – 2023. The initial four luxury buses must have grown into 400 plus with their ‘animated’ human loads spilling on to the alluring picnic spots around the Dimna Lake, lower Dalma regions, Joyda riverside, Jubilee Park and some even to Betia Park (Bhatia Park) in Uliyan at Kadma. The human instinct is distinctly of the hunting type and there are people who hunt up places to live the essence of picnics for a few hours away from the drudgery of routine living.

Dipika, Aloke and their three children had arrived in a group from Baranagar in Kolkata on a picnic trip to Dimna. While the children, Romi, Rathin and Rumi were busy ‘freezing’ the Dimna Lake environs in their cell phones, Dipika and Aloke were walking along the wooded pathway along the lake’s embankment in an attempt to relive the initial days of togetherness. Butting in at this juncture seemed a bit harsh but they did not mind. “Picnic is just an excuse to get away from the crowd and really live life even though for a few hours. We decided to visit this fairyland and are not disappointed. Dimna is indeed beautiful. Every member of our group is relishing the moments. Apart from the breakfast routine, we have brought cooked food. It is just a matter of heat and serve. We did not wish to spend these very precious moments in cooking. Instead, we are moving around the place and enjoying every part of nature painted on the canvas of Dimna,” expressed Dipika while Aloke seemingly dittoed.

Just at the foot of Joyda Budha Shiv Mandir that locals say is as old as time, tourists from Ghatshila, Jhargram, Mecheda and Balichak had spread themselves along the golden banks of Swarnrekha River making for a merry crowd, ecstatic, boisterous and living every moment of the last Sunday of the year. Sixty-year old Banani Haldar from Bansberia near Jhargram had come with her grandson and neighbors. “Ever since my husband passed away about a decade ago, life has become insipidly routine. It was only after my son, daughter-in-law and grandson relentlessly requested me for an outing that I agreed and so here I am. I am loving every moment. I’ve just come down from the old Shiv Mandir. It is so peaceful at the temple. This riverbank too is so tranquil in spite of the crowd. I am feeling so blessed.”

The most populated picnic spot on earth on this day was the Jubilee Park where, seemingly, mankind in its entirety had descended. Hardly a blade of grass was visible as picnic groups covered the green carpet. Jyoti Kumari, Keshav Roy, Juhi and Rahul (names changed on request) were zigzagging their way through the thick multitude of groups of picnickers towards the Jayanti Sarovar for a slice of silence away from the ‘joyous din and cacophony.’

“Yes, we did come here for a day out and just chill under the open sky amidst the scenic Park. As things stand here now, we do not even feel like eating our packed sandwiches, parathas and sweets. We have a mind to get away from here and go home. We knew it would be crowded but never in our wildest dreams did we expect such a sea of human heads,” they expressed dejectedly.

Yes, there was a huge crowd at the Jubilee Park but, may be, the feelings of other merry-makers here were not so harsh as those of the young ones. One has to adjust and those who did, enjoyed.

At the end of the day, the review would remain incomplete if the role of the police was not lauded. The men and women in Khaki and those of their fraternity in civil dress did a wonderful job in man and machine management. Admittedly, there were instances of traffic bottlenecks at many places in the city but they were not so irritatingly persistent. Traffic did move at a slow pace but it did move and that is what counted at such testing times. It is definitely kudos and hats-off to the police administration for standing up successfully and valiantly to the stiff challenges of new year-eve times.