The Picnics of Yesteryear

Some of the fondest memories I have from my childhood summers are the family outings. 

As school holidays approach, there would be this murmur in the air, like plans where coming together. The house phone would be buzzing and mum and my aunties would be discussing dates, places someone told them we should go visit and of course the best part - what dishes they’d all be preparing. Because lunch was always prepared and taken along. Theme park trip? Visiting a farm? Taking a trip to a forest or wildlife park? The beach? Any where. We were always ready and prepped with car-boot’s full of food, refreshments and snacks. 

And it wasn’t just our family, together with my dad’s sister’s and brother’s family (that’s already about 25 of us) it would be other families and family friends too, often 30 to 40 of us, adults and kids. Every summer outing was a real adventure. And I’m not just talking about the place we were visiting, it was the logistics of organising a picnic every time. These meals were a key part of each outing, because it didn’t matter where we went, the adults would found a nice big area, whether it was on the grass or that bit of grass next to the car park - they would always find somewhere for us to set up our feast. 

Next, we’d lay out the ‘picnic blankets’, often these were massive blue tarps and other table coverings or huge flat sheets. Because they’d be so many of us, each household would make sure to chip in and bring a covering of some kind so we can create a nice big area for us all to set up our picnic. 

The Food.

The food at every picnic was always well planned. My mum and aunties shared the cooking duties, each picking something that didn’t need to be heated up, was easy to serve and wholeheartedly filling after a day of exploring! 

We’d have everything, classic Gujarati dishes like thepla, rotla (millet flatbread), shaak, athanu (homemade pickles), dhokla and samosa. But we’d also have mum’s famous bhel puri. Then there would always be some sandwiches. Either simple bread-pickle-cheese, or one with a homemade filling made of grated fresh ingredients like cucumber, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes mixed together with cheese and a hotchpotch of spicy sauces! These sandwiches really are some of the best, and we still make these! 

These picnic’s are a part of my core memory growing up. I might not remember much about the places we visited as a kid, but I remember the picnic. The moment when after a long car journey and a day of exploring, we all came together for a couple of hours, regardless of what any onlookers thought of our huge group. 

Bittersweet Memories.

These memories all came flooding back to me because I recently came across a bag full of these photos. Whilst I can’t even remember who was taking the photos, I’m so glad they were captured. Over the years, as the small kids became adults, the outings began evolving from day trips to trips abroad, local and destination weddings, dinners with new families and commitments with friends. 

During 2020, during a global lock down, we once again found ourselves craving for time together. Every year around August, Hindu’s celebrate a month-long festival dedicated to the lord Shiva, called Shravan. During this month, we celebrate numerous festivities and one of the ones that I always look forward to is a day called Satam. I have written about this before, read here - it’s a day that in some way, brings together religious belief with science. A day when we give our hobs and cookers a break and consume only cold food, usually prepared the day before.

Usually, this is a day when you even avoid other hot appliances like the washing machine and iron (thank god I say haha!). So for this special day in August 2020, a bunch of us got on the phone and planned a family picnic. We couldn’t meet at any one’s home so why not?! On a a sunny evening, we grabbed the food prepped the day before and headed to a local park. We set up our blankets and brought along footballs and playing cards.

A bittersweet moment, I managed to be the one to capture it just as the summer sun set behind us.