Sunday 15th September 2024 at 12:30 to 4:00 pm ay Parson’s Pig, Crawley

We had a good attendance with 29 members present, including some spouses. The guest speaker, Malkit Singh Rooprai, was warmly welcomed by everyone. There were 19 members from ESS including spouses; 5 from Duke/Jamhuri, 2 Ngara Secondary, 1 from Technical, 1 from Delamere/Upper Hill and 1 from Highway.

After the starter, Malkit Singh Rooprai spoke about his car journey across several African countries. It was a most interesting presentation where he chatted about his variety of experiences across different cultures, languages, landscapes, animals and people. He was greeted warmly wherever he went and described how he coped on his own for several months away from home and family, in different climatic conditions and unfamiliar situations. He had to deal with a variety of mobile SIMs, currency, languages and rules for visas and routes. The session went on and on as he had to answer so many questions from a very interested audience! Finally, after the Main meal, had a very enjoyable Karaoke singing session where Vijay, Dipak, Bhagwant, Ashok, Gurdip and Ashok entertained us all with their singing!

The Starters, Mains and Desserts were delicious and the service was excellent. We finished with Tea and Coffee. Finally, we all had a good look at Malkit’s fantastic vehicle and took several photos of the car. The feedback for the afternoon was, as expected, delightfully positive. It made the long journey from London truly worthwhile.

Thank you all for your co-operation and support as well as your warmth and grace. I certainly enjoyed everyone’s company, the lovely location, food, karaoke music and of course Malkit’s adventurous safari across Africa! I am most grateful to Anita, Vijay, Karam, Malkit, all the singers and all of you who applauded so encouragingly and made the function a happy and successful one.

Jayant Tanna - Chairman, ESS Alumni