Was it just another Hopper Night? It was the most awaited hopper night of the year! Well, not all things are easy to start off with. There was chaos, mayhem, disorder, stuff lying around all over the place. You name it however you wish but this was no easy task to pull off. It required a team, not just any team, but an amazing team. Let’s get to it now, shall we?
The preparation for the event was the first step. There were many things that had to be taken into consideration, and like all parties that are supposed to happen, Mid Town wanted to capture the perfect magic of great food, conversations that flow freely, the entertainment of board games and after-dinner dancing.
Preparations were underway, Midtowners were at work. Busy busy busy. It was hectic from the night of the 26th, people were running everywhere to make sure that things had to go smoothly. Cleaning up the venue, cutting up the wooden boards with the event name, planning out the band, setting up the food and finally the décor. Slowly but steadily there was progress with the work. The night was young and there was so much to do but eventually, everything was set up and a few last-minute touch-ups were what remained. Apart from the Midtowners, we had amazing help from Rtr. Rashmika (RAC Wattala) and Rtr. Keith (RAC ACBT). With their help and amazing ideas, the decors blossomed into something even we Midtowners did not expect.
Finally, the
day was here. It was a crisp morning and the work was still under progress. The
chairs were arranged, the lights were being put up and a few last moment
changes were happening along the way. Everything was set up and it was ready to go but towards the evening there were
signs of rain. We Midtowners were worried. The question arose, “Will the rain
be a party pooper?” Just as how fast it poured, and just as fast there was no
sign of the rain again. Everything was set up
close to perfection, and now all we had to do was wait for the arrival of our
guests, and for a final touch we came up with two more ideas to give more color
to the settings. We lit up the road with fire lanterns along the pathway to
make it look quite scenic and made up the words “HOPPER N8” with wood and
inserted lights to make it have a glow effect. We were ready to go!
People were turning up by the numbers and soon it was a full house. The party
was on! Soft music was being played in the background, conversations were
flowing in, under two patio tables people were relaxed playing a game of Uno
and “Omi” which a Sri Lankan game played with a standard 52 deck card pack. A
few feet away there was an intense game of chess and
further away there was quite a crowd having a go at Carom. While all of this was happening in
the garden few people decided to try the indoor board games such as Taboo and
Jenga. Taboo is a game where you will be given
a random word from a stack of cards and you have to act it out or explain it to
your team without using a set of words, and Jenga while at first was
progressing in a relaxed way and then became intense when the wooden tower
started getting shaky.
An hour later there were sounds of rumbling
bellies all around. That could only mean one thing, the aroma of the food was
too good to pull people away from whatever intense games or relaxed
conversations they were into. Egg Hoppers, Chicken and Vegetable Kottu with delicious Chicken
curry and Traditional Sri Lankan ‘Luni-Miris Sambol’ were served. Lo and behold the queue for the buffet seemed like
it was never going to end. People were returning for second servings. The food
was of exquisite taste and the taste buds were
asking for more!
After the food was done the real night began,
to open it up Rtr. Chirag started off with a stand-up comedy to lighten up the
mood and had the crowd laughing. Next, we had a magic show which was done by
Rtr. Binal which had the crowd enthralled. He pulled off quite some amazing tricks and there were “WOWs” all around! With
that being said the mic was open to all invitees who were backed up by
the band led by Rtr. Thushan. Next up we had Rtr. Chirag
sing us a few songs, and he took the crowd off their feet and onto the dance
floor! It was happening, for sure. The night was getting better by the minute.
Then came onto the stage a beat boxer. People
did not anticipate what came next. The encore was amazing, the performance was
even better, and he finished it off in super style. The Sri Lankan classics
were next and with that not only the crowd on the dance floor but the entire
crowd even those in the garden were on their feet. It was a crazy atmosphere!
Crazy yes, because normal is boring. It was indeed a beautiful night. Dancing
in the open skies under stars was just heavenly. As the songs were coming to an
end, people kept shouting “One more! One more!”. The screams of “one more”
lasted up to 10 songs into the night.
People did not want this night to end but as all great things come to an end, this fabulous day had to as well. It was something out of the ordinary Hopper night parties we all go to. In short it was just a magical night that the Rotaract Club of Colombo Mid Town pulled off. Hearts were ecstatic, minds were overjoyed, and it was a night like no other had ever experienced on a hopper night before!
“Drink and dance and laugh and lie, Love, the reeling midnight through, For tomorrow we shall die! (But, alas, we never do.)”
Viva La Rotaract!
For more Photos: https://www.facebook.com/516963321716053/posts/2526215660790799/ https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2521193064626392&id=516963321716053
By Rtr. Abdul Kaliq | Email: abdlkhlq@hotmail.com
