Last Sunday ie on 5th June, when over lunch gathering at our place, my friend Abhijit's daughter Madhura told us about World's Largest Potluck Party to be held at Ahmedabad on 12th June 2016, as an official attempt to get into Guinnes Books of World Records, we were amused to hear that.
Ok. We have got our own potluck group of 6 couples and turn by turn every month,
we get together at one's place. The menu of salad, steamed, fried, baked, nonveg & dessert is distibuted among 6 couples & the hosts alongwith one item that comes their way, have to arrange for drinks & light meal.
Its a lot of fun & with variety of tasty recipes on the unfold every month alongwith an array of interesting chats on various topics, we eagerly look forward to our pot dinner on weekend evenings.
But, World's Largest potluck was something we had never thought of, let aside heard of. The idea itself was electrifying & got us all pumped up.
Madhura, threw some more light on it. The current Guinnes World Record (till 12th June) for World's Largest Potluck was for a gathering in Florida, USA with 1275 participants.
This information caught fancy of one Rohan Bhatt who is at the helm of affairs of a facebook group called Foodaholics in Ahmedabad. He along with his team of buddies sprung into action and arranged a potluck in Dec 2015 wherein they got 520 entries which enabled them to get into Limca Book of Records.
Looking at the response and knowing that Ahmedabadies are basically foodies, he and his team sensed & smelt the possibility of achieving the feat by breaking the US record and on 12th June 2016, the dream that they saw and inspired many Ahmedabadis to share it, got manifasted into reality.
The rules were simple. Every one who wanted to be a part of this world record attempt was supposed to have himself / herself registered till 7th June. On the D day, one should come with any food item - home cooked or readymade, soft drinks enough for 6 persons ie 6 portions of the item.
So we were all prepared - Chaitali - my wife, made mutton (सुकं मटण) & Sharvaree - my daughter made mashed potato cheeze sandwiches. I latched onto one of the four dishes made by Madhura ( she is a professional baker operating from home) and we reached the venue at 6:30 pm. Having started at 6 pm, latest by 7 pm, the entry was supposed to be closed.
At the venue, a larged board saying "You are entering a Record Breaking Zone" was there to welcome all. The atmosphere was electrifying with so many foodies having come together with one dream. There were people in all age groups but obviously, the youth brigade outnumbered others.
There were systematic arrangements with everyone who had preregistered as per rules, was being allowed inside the venue with a badge having barcode which was being scanned to record the no of participants. The thumping of the music beats & songs was adding to the enthusiasm & it was a heady cocktail of music & food aroma filling the atmosphere. The event was being well compered by RJ Ekata of Radio Mirchi Ahmedabad and her bursting enthusiasm was engulfing one n all.
Inside, tables were laid down neatly arranged to place one's food item and there was a tag placed wherein one was supposed to write down the name of the person, name of food item & item category ie vegan, veg, contains eggs, non veg, low fat, sugar free, lactose free, organic, jain etc.
So the entry got closed and everyone was ready with the empty plate, spoon & glass provided by the organizers, to move around & sample various food items.
The annoucement was made & people started moving around.
It was crazy fun - so much variety of food - sandwiches, cakes, cookies, chat items like panipuri, bhel, basket chat, thepalas, khakharas, chicken, mutton, rice preps, sherbats, cold drinks, some delicious speciality savoury dishes & desserts. I wish I had at least two stomachs. The food was all delicious.
But, more than the food, the warmth with which unknown faces were meeting n greeting each other, offering food to each other & praising the food, was a sight to behold & cherish.
No agendas, no expectations - a mere warmth towards another person. Probably this secret ingredient made all the food items extremely tasty.
The eating or should I say gorging on tasty food got over & then the announcement was made about the final no of participants attending the record breaking event & whoa - the number was 1855. So the previous record of 1275 was taken over by a landslide margin and a new world record was created for the World's Largest Potluck Party with 1855 participants. The crowd went wild on hearing this. On a hot & humid June eve, even the cold breeze was waiting to hear that news cause as soon as the announcement was done, a pleasant cool breeze started all over - as if congratulating us all.
The official certificate would be issued by Guinnes Book within 45 days but thats just a formality. The new World Record was made & we were very happy n proud to be the participants making our own little contribution to the achievement.
The event was organized very nicely taking care that there won't be any litter left at the venue. There was no wastage of any food. Every one left the venue feeling very happy & feeling proud to be a part of a world record.
Someone may come up with the need & purpose of such an event raising the social utility aspect of the same.
However, having seen the event & being a part of it, I would say that some things should be done without any such context just to feel the love & warmth that human beings naturally feel towards each other.
A great record breaking evening it was - which will always be remembered by us.
-- Manish Mohile
Ok. We have got our own potluck group of 6 couples and turn by turn every month,
we get together at one's place. The menu of salad, steamed, fried, baked, nonveg & dessert is distibuted among 6 couples & the hosts alongwith one item that comes their way, have to arrange for drinks & light meal.
Its a lot of fun & with variety of tasty recipes on the unfold every month alongwith an array of interesting chats on various topics, we eagerly look forward to our pot dinner on weekend evenings.
But, World's Largest potluck was something we had never thought of, let aside heard of. The idea itself was electrifying & got us all pumped up.
Madhura, threw some more light on it. The current Guinnes World Record (till 12th June) for World's Largest Potluck was for a gathering in Florida, USA with 1275 participants.
This information caught fancy of one Rohan Bhatt who is at the helm of affairs of a facebook group called Foodaholics in Ahmedabad. He along with his team of buddies sprung into action and arranged a potluck in Dec 2015 wherein they got 520 entries which enabled them to get into Limca Book of Records.
Looking at the response and knowing that Ahmedabadies are basically foodies, he and his team sensed & smelt the possibility of achieving the feat by breaking the US record and on 12th June 2016, the dream that they saw and inspired many Ahmedabadis to share it, got manifasted into reality.
The rules were simple. Every one who wanted to be a part of this world record attempt was supposed to have himself / herself registered till 7th June. On the D day, one should come with any food item - home cooked or readymade, soft drinks enough for 6 persons ie 6 portions of the item.
So we were all prepared - Chaitali - my wife, made mutton (सुकं मटण) & Sharvaree - my daughter made mashed potato cheeze sandwiches. I latched onto one of the four dishes made by Madhura ( she is a professional baker operating from home) and we reached the venue at 6:30 pm. Having started at 6 pm, latest by 7 pm, the entry was supposed to be closed.
At the venue, a larged board saying "You are entering a Record Breaking Zone" was there to welcome all. The atmosphere was electrifying with so many foodies having come together with one dream. There were people in all age groups but obviously, the youth brigade outnumbered others.
There were systematic arrangements with everyone who had preregistered as per rules, was being allowed inside the venue with a badge having barcode which was being scanned to record the no of participants. The thumping of the music beats & songs was adding to the enthusiasm & it was a heady cocktail of music & food aroma filling the atmosphere. The event was being well compered by RJ Ekata of Radio Mirchi Ahmedabad and her bursting enthusiasm was engulfing one n all.
Inside, tables were laid down neatly arranged to place one's food item and there was a tag placed wherein one was supposed to write down the name of the person, name of food item & item category ie vegan, veg, contains eggs, non veg, low fat, sugar free, lactose free, organic, jain etc.
So the entry got closed and everyone was ready with the empty plate, spoon & glass provided by the organizers, to move around & sample various food items.
The annoucement was made & people started moving around.
It was crazy fun - so much variety of food - sandwiches, cakes, cookies, chat items like panipuri, bhel, basket chat, thepalas, khakharas, chicken, mutton, rice preps, sherbats, cold drinks, some delicious speciality savoury dishes & desserts. I wish I had at least two stomachs. The food was all delicious.
But, more than the food, the warmth with which unknown faces were meeting n greeting each other, offering food to each other & praising the food, was a sight to behold & cherish.
No agendas, no expectations - a mere warmth towards another person. Probably this secret ingredient made all the food items extremely tasty.
The eating or should I say gorging on tasty food got over & then the announcement was made about the final no of participants attending the record breaking event & whoa - the number was 1855. So the previous record of 1275 was taken over by a landslide margin and a new world record was created for the World's Largest Potluck Party with 1855 participants. The crowd went wild on hearing this. On a hot & humid June eve, even the cold breeze was waiting to hear that news cause as soon as the announcement was done, a pleasant cool breeze started all over - as if congratulating us all.
The official certificate would be issued by Guinnes Book within 45 days but thats just a formality. The new World Record was made & we were very happy n proud to be the participants making our own little contribution to the achievement.
The event was organized very nicely taking care that there won't be any litter left at the venue. There was no wastage of any food. Every one left the venue feeling very happy & feeling proud to be a part of a world record.
Someone may come up with the need & purpose of such an event raising the social utility aspect of the same.
However, having seen the event & being a part of it, I would say that some things should be done without any such context just to feel the love & warmth that human beings naturally feel towards each other.
A great record breaking evening it was - which will always be remembered by us.
-- Manish Mohile
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