Graveyard Shift Party

     Looking in hindsight I often  think whether I could have done  things differently. Maybe, maybe  not. One such instance which remains unforgettable for me was the Graveyard Shift theme party. I had  just reported to Bidar on posting. There was a farewell party to be organised for a Senior Officer who was moving out of Bidar, on promotion. I was made incharge of the party, ostensibly to make me familiar with the place as well as with our team. There was some confusion  about the schedule of  the party. By the time  clarity was available and dates fixed , the main party hall available in Officers Mess was booked for some other event. 

     As the outgoing officer for whom farewell was planned was engaged on other dates,  we didn’t have choice of any other dates for the farewell party,  other than the one we had fixed. The only other venue where party could be organised, with some additional effort being put in, was Trainee Officers Mess. The same was booked for our party.

     In the morning on the day of the party I went to check on the  party location, to assess the requirements towards decorations and seating arrangements. To my horror and surprise  I found out that the Trainee Officers Mess  lawn had been dug up at many places  with pits of approx 5-6 feet depth. Later on I learnt that the pits were for laying the foundation for new Mess Building. The excavated mud hadn’t dried up indicating that it was dug out in the last couple of days only and nobody had informed us of this development.

      I immediately informed the situation to my Senior Officers  who  came over and saw the status . While we were deliberating what to do someone suggested why not make the party theme as a Graveyard Shift theme party.It was an out of the box solution for an impossible looking situation , a eureka moment. In quicktime the decorations were done  on the dug up lawn, which included  crosses and epitaphs for the ready to use graves. The music system and lighting were  put in place. After the arrangements were done,  myself and  Delta, my junior ,went back to our rooms for lunch.

      At approx 4pm I was awoken from my sleep by  loud noise of  gusting winds along with heavy rain and thunder. It was the first gale of the season , and the first gale  is always a strong one. I waited for the winds  to subside and rushed to Trainee Officers Mess. The scene  enroute  was a scary one . Trees had been  uprooted  at many places, one tree had fallen on the main gate of the Mess and had blocked it . Trees had fallen down on cars damaging them. The power lines had been hit by the uprooted trees and they lay hanging down to the ground. 

      After a short while the rain and thunder went away as fast as they had come .But now we had very less time in hand to retrieve the situation and get things ready for the evening party.I asked Delta to go to the old city  in Bidar,  to get as many Gas lamps he could get.  I also got an alternate pathway cleared towards the party site. We recovered the situation just in time for the party to begin. 

   With all the destruction around , later I got to know approximately 40 trees had been uprooted in our campus , the party location looked matching with the party theme"The Graveyard Shift ".The Guests started to arrive and they were introduced to the various graves , and to surprise them one officer had been kept hidden in the six feet deep pit. The illuminated Gas lamps , and the fact that there was no power supply elsewhere around that area made the place feel eerie .Still everyone enjoyed the party and the guests were happy and elated with arrangements done for them   inspite of the adverse weather conditions.

   The outgoing officer had gone on promotion and he subsequently took over a senior  appointment at an Air Force Base in North India.After four to five months after the eventful party night I got to know  that the officer whom we had given farewell was no more. He had a fatal heart attack.I literally froze on hearing the news.

     Few years later,  I had moved out of Bidar by then , got to know that the theme for farewell party to the person who had suggested the  theme on the eventful day ,some years back , was again suggested as Graveyard Shift.