Mandawa Visit Report | BITS Gold 2020

REPORT OF THE TEAM THAT VISITED MANDAWA ON 29 JANUARY 2019 TO ASSESS SUITABILITY OF THE RESORTS FOR HOLDING GR 2020 OF BITS 1970 ENTRY BATCH

A. BACKGROUND

As decided by the Steering Team of the GR 2020, a visit to the Rajasthan town of Mandawa in Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan was planned on 29 January 2019 to assess the suitability of two resorts situated there for holding the Golden Reunion of the BITS 1970 entry batch sometime in February 2020.
The team comprised the one and the only redoubtable Big Boss, Sh. Arun Kumar, Sh. Vipin Kumar, the generous NRI, the burly and formidable advocate, Sh. Ashok Sikka, the protector of cows since BITS days, the dairy aka Sh. Rakesh Kumar Gupta, and the humble and the ex-lowly babu – yours truly who has penned this report as that is his métier.
Besides these members there were two more members in the team who assisted it. These two were Sh. Mahadevan Subramanian, from USA and Sh. VV Ramana from Hyderabad. They gave valuable inputs with regards to the special needs of prospective attendees from abroad and from South India respectively.

B. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN AND ITS LOCATION

Mandawa is a small town in Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan about 270 kms from Delhi and less than 171 kms from Jaipur known for resorts built for a relaxing and rejuvenating holiday. The road from Delhi is great except for a small stretch of about 10km near Jhunjhunu. If one starts early in the morning in order to beat the Delhi traffic one can easily make it to Mandawa in about 4 hours as we – meaning Ashok and I – did in Ashok’s Toyota 4Runner.
If one starts from Jaipur the time taken could be shorter unless one is careless or shall we say clueless about the route to be followed as the team from Jaipur appeared to be. They arrived later than us by about an hour. For one hour Delhi Team enjoyed the hospitality of the manager of the resort under the wrong impression that Ashok was Arun –the impression we thought we should not correct if we were not to be interrupted rudely in the sumptuous breakfast that the manager laid out before us. It was only after the Boss’s arrival on the scene that we were given a mighty rebuff by the manager who refused to acknowledge our presence in the team. But by then the damage to the resort’s breakfast had been done by the Delhi Team.
There is nothing of note in the town except havelis and desert that surrounds them. It is a small town with a population of about 10K. However the town makes up its lack of any tourist attraction by building and renovating a few of its old style havelis into thriving resorts. We visited two resorts situated no more than a kilometer apart and held discussion with its manager one Sh. Sunil Sachdeva. The discussion and negotiations were held by the Boss with strict instructions to the others not to meddle in his efforts to get a good bargain for all of us. The resorts were Desert Resort and Castle Resort.
When Delhi Team reached the resort it found that the resort was in the process of bidding good-bye to the 200 guests of a marriage party that had taken over the resort for 3 nights. And so there was a lot of commotion in the resort and the dining area where breakfast was being served.

C. SUITABILITY OF THE RESORTS FOR OUR FUNCTION GR 2020

The team visited both its resorts during 5 hours it was in Mandawa. And based on what it saw as regards its physical and human infrastructure, it is of the considered opinion that it is eminently suitable for holding our Grand Reunion 2020.
The availability of rooms in both the sister resorts under the same management is sufficient to cater to our requirement. The Castle resort is slightly better built and furnished but staying there also requires one to be able to climb a few floors. There are 48 rooms on GF and 27 on FF in Desert resort and 20 on GF and 70 on FF in Castle.
The distance between the resorts is no more than a kilometer though the road to the Castle resort passes through narrow roads with sharp bends making journey there on long buses difficult.
There is no dearth of open space for parking or for any function.
The arrangement for drivers can be made in the city @ Rs. 300-400 per day with meals and bedding. To be borne by those who bring them.
There is a district hospital at a distance of about 29kms in Jhunjhunu. And a medicine shop in Mandawa.
Those interested can visited Salasar Balaji temple at own cost after the GR is over. It is about an hour’s drive from the resort. It is a famous religious centre.

D. CONS OF THE RESORT

Wi-fi in resort is not available.
Good music system and sound technicians cannot be arranged locally for the musical nite.
Running of hot water through solar water heaters.
Pets not allowed. Human pets are allowed though.

E. CONCLUSION

The team felt that the resorts are great for our needs. The GR 2020 can be easily held there.
The teams left after leaving the onerous task of working out the final deal with Mr. Sachdeva in the safe hands of the Big Boss. The BB will formally inform the Steering Team of what finally was achieved by him in terms of package. The cost will be announced in coming weeks.