THE BIG 500!!!

the lucky ones.

Mandwa was bleeding blue on Sunday, though there wasn't any World Cup match being played that day. From a distance, one could see a dark blue congregation moving from the Mandwa port towards the parking and the auto stand. a congregation of a 100+ people who either looked very fresh or hungover from the night before. What you would not miss was the excitement on their faces and the loudness in their voices either way.

Yes! We hit more than a hundered hashers to celebrate Bombay Hash's long journey from 0 to 500 runs. And boy, did we make it special!

Yes, most of our morning runs are a couple of hours drive out of the city but this time, we took it a notch up. We put the 100+ hashers into a boat which headed to Mandwa, an hour's ferry ride through the Arabian Sea. The staff onboard the boat was in knots when they saw us do our thing. I remember this one particular moment when a hasher shouted, "Osama, Madarc#@d" and the guy behind the food counter of the boat had an expression as if this boat was gonna ram into an oil rig and everyone would die. Later, he realised that 'Osama' was actually his competition on the ride with all the boxes of Candies doing rounds.

The run:
Ah! What a delight. A long stretch of the beach to start with; serene, quiet, peaceful with only the sound of the hashers talking. At the end of the beach was a watermelon stop; a refreshing welcome. The sun was playing its role to the best and its always sunny on the beach right? The run then moved onto tarmac and eventually ended at Countryside Farms.

You would think there would be chaos with a 100+ (cant keep stressing enough on this) hashers in one place. It was like a mini concert. There was a music system, a crafts table serving puffs and sandwiches and wafers (which was empty by the time I finished the run... errr... walk). Screwed Driver manned the beer stall and ticked off against the names of the hashers who picked their beers, eventually followed by Bonsai and a few other hashers volunteered.

BH3 also has an inspirational factor

BH3 gains popularity everytime we host a National event. We hosted Nash Hash which was a hit, huge hit in itself and we managed to get a lot of hashers looking for more. One of them was Fucktronics aka John (Chennai Hash).

Fucktronics was so excited to attend the milestone run of BH3 that he decided to fly up from down South and be with us in our celebration. To make sure nothing goes wrong, he flew down 2 nights before the run on Friday itself. Now, what do we do when we have a hasher visiting from another planet? We entertain. Sadly for Fucktronics, he chose the company of a hasher who is famous for his mishaps and the ability to come for a run after being stupenduosly drunk the night before. No names... :P

Fucktronics got drunk Friday night and thought he didnt get enough. So he met the same hasher again on Saturday night and got more drunk and left at 4am with a promise of being at he jetty at 7.15 sharp.

Sunday morning, 8.00am; neither did he appear nor was he answering his calls. Finally, John, wakes up from being passed out at 10.30 in the morning and is PISSED at the fact that he couldnt make it. However, like I said, BH3 can inspire. Fucktronics decided that today wont be the day that goes down in history like this. Bugger reaches Gateway, boards the first ferry to Mandwa he can lay his feet on and is with the hash just minutes after the circle starts. Dedication.

Well, he was iced for his dedication and so were other deserving and non deserving hashers who played their part with dignity and a lot of beer.

Hares were applauded, two timers were welcome, sponsors were consoled and then the anthem was sung.

Food was a different affair today. We decided to give the usual biryani some rest and decided to go with a lovely spread lunch, courtesy 'Bombay Hash House Harriers'.

Oh Oh Oh! We also gave out blue tshirts for the run. They would double up as Bleed Blue tshirts and hence will be officially worn everytime the hash clan decides to support the Indian cricket team.

With that thought in mind, we wrapped up the celebrations of 500 and headed back to civilization.

500 celebrations did continue in forms of various after parties that night.

On On!

Nash Hash 2015, Nashik

Friday morning, 

11:43am...

The staff at ibis tried to be as professional, with us, as they could but by the arrival of the last 'Hash' bus into the hotel, they knew they were in for a wild ride. The receptionist was smiling ear to ear and the manager gulped down an energy drink in anticipation of the chaos which was about to unfold.

What seemed like a quiet Friday morning was a concert once you went past the doors of the Banquet Hall. Every slang apart from the gentle 'hello' was used to greet each other. "No business in the hash." LIkewise, no being formal on the hash eh? Hashers finished picking up their lunch and headed to have their goodies bag. Errrr... *finished picking up their heads and had lunch on their goody bags... 

.

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wait.

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FINISHED PICKING UP THEIR GOODIES BAG AND HEADED FOR LUNCH... yeah, this makes sense.

2:27pm...

Another 'eyes wide open' moment for the staff and other residents of ibis; Outside the main entrance of the hotel are a 100+ men, women and children wearing flashy green tshirt with the picture of Osama next to an Indian women with big a full bosom. Yup, Osama and Bollywood Boobs were the star attraction of the run. 

The buses left for the run venue, a 30 minute drive where the first run of Nash Hash 2015 was flagged off. The short(6km), medium(8ish kms) and long(12ish kms) run were laid through some breathtaking surroundings. We passed villages, lakes, small patches of lands growing grapes... oh, there was a hill climb too. :P

We headed back to the hotel as the sun started its descend and took the mercury along with it. Between the time we got into the bus and got off at the hotel, the temperature had dropped by a couple of degrees, atleast.

7.30pm till God knows when...

Dj Monty sure made the night for us. The party started early and soon turned into a Bollywood frenzy. The bar was stocked with enough rum, whisky, vodka and beers to sink a ship. Everywhere you turned, you'd find a hasher dancing, drinking, dining or just going crazy in the lawn outside. 

Saturday...

(The concept of time is now a blur... however, some time while the sun was up)...

The uncoming events of today didnt stop us from partying hard on Friday. Yes, there was a hint of a few hangovers in the air but the spirits were still high. Even before we boarded the bus for our day at the Grover vineyard, hashers were strolling in and out of the hotel with chilled Kingfisher cans in their hands. 

This time, the buses headed straight for Gover-Zampa Vineyards. On the schedule was a run, a tour of the vineyard, awesome lunch by the vineyard and discounts on all the wines they had to offer. While a lot of runners gunned in the direction of the long run, many stuck to the short run to get back to where all the action was.

The circle...

This circle can easily be tagged as 'The Global Circle'. Once again, GM's and RA's from all the participating hashes poured in with their jokes, songs and proceedings of the circle. Hashers were called on the ice in various categories. 

A very impromptu christening of Patricia took place in this circle. The hares, Screwed Driver, Horny Yeti, Shivaji and Patricia were asked to introduce themselves. While everybody gave their hash names, Patricia, not having a hash name, said, "Just Patricia". 

Now check this out; all the hashers must be on the same page cos everybody heard that wrong. And as one voice, everybody said, "Desperate Pleasure?" 

Before dear Pat could even convince them that that is not what she said, Beep Beep took a vote and Pat was 'Desperate Pleasure' for her life.

Sally, Fucktronics, Baby Dick, Wreckless and a few others were the stars of the circle as they belted out interesting songs and skits one after the other.

Ahh! What a day it was. By evening, all the hashers finished their wine shopping and headed back to the hotel to prepare for another mind blowing musical extravaganza in the Banquet Hall.

However, the craziness didn't stop only with the party and the music. Just as we thought we had had enough of surprises and fun, opens the door of the Banquet Hall and steps in a girl with a beard and hairy legs and a guy with a tool the size of a human arm. Followed by one peppy sardarji and a saree clad lady. Heads turned and the laughter was roaring as hashers realised that these were none other than Fartashaty, Fucktronics, Popcorn and Rooster dressed up for Mr and Miss Nash Hash.

Yo Adrian took over the contest and asked the participants to do various things with a banana; lets just say, hash horrors had a lot of questions to ask their parents that night. :P

Yet another late night party which didnt stop as the music stopped. Spotted in the lawn at nearly 3 am were a few hashers with beers, cigars and a bluetooth speaker; singing and dancing to the tunes of the 80's and the 90's.

Sunday 

(Seriously, you gotta be kidding me if you expect me to know the time)...

With the kind of incline that the hashers were made to go up, this, in no way, was a hangover run. However, this run did take us back in time. Running through a heritage site, with no markings allowed, the hares Sunil Fadia, Manoj and Shilpa pulled out a fab last memory of Nashik. 

Caves, ancient sculptors and a bit of history summed up this run on a high note. 

Down downs were peppy and quick as most hashers had to head back to Bombay to pack their respective trains and flights. 

Nash Hash 2015 ended with hashers walking away with a lot more friends and a bundle of memories they would talk about for days to come. 

Delhi hash has finally taken the onus to host Nash Hash 2016... hurray! looking forward to it.

3 Hash houses down south join hands for an unforgettable weekend in August. Venue: Kodaikanal. Guys, you DO NOT want to miss this one.

Sponsors:

Osama

Bollywood Boobs

Cumagain

Aryaman

Naysa

Zain (Hard Liquor)

Johnson & Johnsons (Gimme More)

Obelix

A big thank you to Kingfisher for making sure we never ran out of the beer.

Shout out to Ibis for the hospitality.

And to all you lovely hashers, without whom, this event would not have been so successful.

Happy New Year and have a hash filled 2015.

On On!

run # 487 Aman Lodge

Aah Matheran! What a beauty you are. And Aman Lodge is the beauty spot on the beauty. Right? Right!

It is obvious that we are going to take advantage of the hospitality provided by Abbas. And we do not let him down ever.

An early morning train ride to Neral followed by a cab ride up the hill is all you need. And keep your eyes peeled once you cross Kalyan, cos you dont wanna miss the fog layered fields on either side on the train.

The drive to Matheran is another thing worth the experience, especially if you are taking a local cab. There are points where you will scream out of fear for your life (thanks to the steep uphill turns and the wheels getting so close to the edge of the cliff). But these guys know the roads so dont worry,

The run:

Ahh! Matheran always mangages to please. The red sand, the rustling of leaves in the woods, sound of horse shoes on the road as they pass you by; its all good. The run was another long affair but the hares managed to show us a part of Matheran that we had never seen. I have been there so many times and feel that I have seen it all but am always wronged by the Matheran special hares; the bawa gang.

Thus, after a 3 hour (walkers / runners) stint and through a REALLY uphill patch, we knew we deserved our beers.