Long time no see....I've been procrastinating a lot lately..I've been thinking of writing something on this space for ages....but that’s about where it ends. Thought not transformed into actions....Is that me?? I hope not!!
I was in Mumbai recently and happened to attend a "wedding"...The quotes tell u that it was indeed a wedding with a difference...and i mean that in the best sense of the word!! It was by far the best planned wedding I've ever attended! And this is 25 years of experience speaking in attending drab and boring wedding parties! PK/KK....if you are reading this, take a bow...I know who are the exact people who're gonna be planning things for me!!!
The flight out from Calcutta to Mumbai was at about 0930 in the morning...I, much against my usual routine, had to get up rather early to catch the flight!! Early for me = 07:00 am!! I have grown to like Air Deccan after my initial harrowing experience...It is very cheap (if you book on time) and gives u an option to eat and drink what you want to...unlike other frill-full airlines! The flight took me to Bombay in about 3 hrs. As I landed there, the excitement grew along with a strange sorta apprehension! I called dad who made me speak to the 'father of the bride' who in turn wanted me to reach their residence. My cousin was staying there as well!! The bags took an eternity to come out. I could've gone back to Calcutta and come back in that time! I took the bag and stepped out into the world called Bombay...I'd heard a lot....I was finally there. Thinking of Calcutta gave me a lot of heart....If I can survive here, I can survive anywhere!! I took an auto who weaved through traffic as bad as the traffic in Calcutta and took me to the place. It took me all of 15 mins!
Walking into the house, I wondered if anyone indeed would know who I was...Luckily I met my cousin PK even before entering. He had just come back after yet another shopping trip with his wife to be, KSK and his B-I-L. I was proud of myself for the excellent timing. Now, KK belongs to a gujju family....it was all I'd ever imagined a gujju family to be like....and more....almost seemed a family right out of one of the regular hindi Sitcoms...obviously these were the happy times for our family. Chirpy....extremely chirpy.... concerned.....and extremely friendly!! Not for a moment did I feel outta place even though I didn't understand any gujarati! I guess my interactions with the bengali speaking janta in Calcutta helped me a lot.... The food that afternoon was divine...Maybe because it was my first decent home made meal after a long time. I stopped only coz I had to not because I wanted to!! I don't remember meeting my entire family together in a long long time. This was one such occasion was so glad seeing all of them together...
I had to meet this another friend of mine that evening....it'd been a longgg time since we'd met last...Cafe mocha, the pani puri at juhu, the sea side...it was all awesome!! Had a great evening. The night was meant to be even better....Dinner at my cousin's place...KM. KM is my bua's daughter...hadn't met her in a long long time as well. I was apprehensive yet again...I took an auto rikshaw to her place. Bombay traffic in evenings is horrendous! a distance of 5 kms took me around half an hr! The evening was more of a "family getting together remembering old times" event! Now I like hearing stories about me and my childhood....but not when they get embarrassing. DO all families like doing that? Add to it the fact that I was almost the youngest ...yes, youngest at 25...(my sis wasn't there). We had some awesome chicken and divine icecream! Naturals they tell me was the name of the brand...i loved the roasted almonds!! The stories, the whiskey, the chicken and the ice cream lasted till about 12 in the night when everyone realized that tomorrow was yet another big day!! So we split.....feeling dead tired!
Day 2 began rather early for me...one of my friends was to come down n meet me at the andheri station. I reached there well in time.....in spite of the early morning bombay traffic. The sheer number of people that I saw in Andheri that morning was extremely scary! I don't think I've ever seen so many people...totally unperturbed by each others' presence! It was almost a belittling experience. Mumbaikars for one are great with directions....I asked one person and was there...more often than not!! I had to meet my cousin and Family (CKF) at the airport and travel with him to Lonavala and meet up with everyone else who'd already gone there, the same morning. The drive to lonavala is the most beautiful one...awesome roads, beautiful surroundings, the ghats...its mesmerizing! Thank God for the expressway, we'd have been there in 2 hrs but for the traffic jam! It took us almost 4 hours to reach....the party was on. CKF looked visibly tired! They went straight to the room. And I to the venue. It was awesome to meet people after ages. And I mean after ages...I was surprised that so many people actually knew me even though I didn't remember too much about them. Almost a bit of a shocker!
The night was supposed to be an ice breaker night for the 2 families with the idea being that everyone should know everyone else...and it went off well. KSK and family showed how good a dancers they were by performing awesomely well choreographed sequences and we on the other side showed that dancing need not be choreographed as long as u enjoy the music and let go of urself!! (Psst: We were pathetic though...I have a video;)!)
Day 3 started off with me getting up early to see the sunrise....It was beautiful even though I was rather late. Standing in the balcony and looking at the sun coming up behind the hill infront, I couldn't help but feel lucky to be there...The place we stayed at, Fariyas, is a resort- a weekend getaway for a lot of mumbaikars. they have an awesome pool and even though I'd forgotten to carry my swimming trunks I managed to convert one of my shorts into swim wear and enjoyed the pool for almost an hr before the sumptuous breakfast. I had made quite a good appetite for it till then. I hogged on the salamis, the sausages, the eggs, the fruits and the juices. I probably looked like a person straight outta a food starved place.
The wedding was at 11. It was an Arya Samaj Wedding with most of the rituals in Hindi. It was a small affair- ended in about 1 hr. It was the best ceremony I’d ever attended. Short, simple and understandable. I slept the rest of the afternoon and the evening was just a formal dinner. By the end of the day I was soo sleepy that keeping my eyes open was proving to be difficult.
Sunday was when we came back to Mumbai. Mom came back early and caught a flight back to Delhi whereas me and dad came back later. We were with KM and family and had lunch with them at Ruchita’s wonderfully cozy one bedroom appt. Home food after such a long time tasted divine and I had to force myself not to hog ...yet again!!! I dropped dad at the railway station and took my flight back home the same night.
The 3 days did a lot of good to me. I was a little bogged down with work or maybe the lack of it …. This acted as such a welcome break! I was looking forward to meeting people..a lot of people after a longgg time….and I wasn’t disappointed. I met long lost family members, had great grub to eat and all this at a wonderful place. I was left craving for more by the time it ended. As they say….all good things have to come to an end for them to become memories….this sure would rank tight up there!!
Looking forward to “more” memories…….Nowz not forever……is it?
I was in Mumbai recently and happened to attend a "wedding"...The quotes tell u that it was indeed a wedding with a difference...and i mean that in the best sense of the word!! It was by far the best planned wedding I've ever attended! And this is 25 years of experience speaking in attending drab and boring wedding parties! PK/KK....if you are reading this, take a bow...I know who are the exact people who're gonna be planning things for me!!!
The flight out from Calcutta to Mumbai was at about 0930 in the morning...I, much against my usual routine, had to get up rather early to catch the flight!! Early for me = 07:00 am!! I have grown to like Air Deccan after my initial harrowing experience...It is very cheap (if you book on time) and gives u an option to eat and drink what you want to...unlike other frill-full airlines! The flight took me to Bombay in about 3 hrs. As I landed there, the excitement grew along with a strange sorta apprehension! I called dad who made me speak to the 'father of the bride' who in turn wanted me to reach their residence. My cousin was staying there as well!! The bags took an eternity to come out. I could've gone back to Calcutta and come back in that time! I took the bag and stepped out into the world called Bombay...I'd heard a lot....I was finally there. Thinking of Calcutta gave me a lot of heart....If I can survive here, I can survive anywhere!! I took an auto who weaved through traffic as bad as the traffic in Calcutta and took me to the place. It took me all of 15 mins!
Walking into the house, I wondered if anyone indeed would know who I was...Luckily I met my cousin PK even before entering. He had just come back after yet another shopping trip with his wife to be, KSK and his B-I-L. I was proud of myself for the excellent timing. Now, KK belongs to a gujju family....it was all I'd ever imagined a gujju family to be like....and more....almost seemed a family right out of one of the regular hindi Sitcoms...obviously these were the happy times for our family. Chirpy....extremely chirpy.... concerned.....and extremely friendly!! Not for a moment did I feel outta place even though I didn't understand any gujarati! I guess my interactions with the bengali speaking janta in Calcutta helped me a lot.... The food that afternoon was divine...Maybe because it was my first decent home made meal after a long time. I stopped only coz I had to not because I wanted to!! I don't remember meeting my entire family together in a long long time. This was one such occasion was so glad seeing all of them together...
I had to meet this another friend of mine that evening....it'd been a longgg time since we'd met last...Cafe mocha, the pani puri at juhu, the sea side...it was all awesome!! Had a great evening. The night was meant to be even better....Dinner at my cousin's place...KM. KM is my bua's daughter...hadn't met her in a long long time as well. I was apprehensive yet again...I took an auto rikshaw to her place. Bombay traffic in evenings is horrendous! a distance of 5 kms took me around half an hr! The evening was more of a "family getting together remembering old times" event! Now I like hearing stories about me and my childhood....but not when they get embarrassing. DO all families like doing that? Add to it the fact that I was almost the youngest ...yes, youngest at 25...(my sis wasn't there). We had some awesome chicken and divine icecream! Naturals they tell me was the name of the brand...i loved the roasted almonds!! The stories, the whiskey, the chicken and the ice cream lasted till about 12 in the night when everyone realized that tomorrow was yet another big day!! So we split.....feeling dead tired!
Day 2 began rather early for me...one of my friends was to come down n meet me at the andheri station. I reached there well in time.....in spite of the early morning bombay traffic. The sheer number of people that I saw in Andheri that morning was extremely scary! I don't think I've ever seen so many people...totally unperturbed by each others' presence! It was almost a belittling experience. Mumbaikars for one are great with directions....I asked one person and was there...more often than not!! I had to meet my cousin and Family (CKF) at the airport and travel with him to Lonavala and meet up with everyone else who'd already gone there, the same morning. The drive to lonavala is the most beautiful one...awesome roads, beautiful surroundings, the ghats...its mesmerizing! Thank God for the expressway, we'd have been there in 2 hrs but for the traffic jam! It took us almost 4 hours to reach....the party was on. CKF looked visibly tired! They went straight to the room. And I to the venue. It was awesome to meet people after ages. And I mean after ages...I was surprised that so many people actually knew me even though I didn't remember too much about them. Almost a bit of a shocker!
The night was supposed to be an ice breaker night for the 2 families with the idea being that everyone should know everyone else...and it went off well. KSK and family showed how good a dancers they were by performing awesomely well choreographed sequences and we on the other side showed that dancing need not be choreographed as long as u enjoy the music and let go of urself!! (Psst: We were pathetic though...I have a video;)!)
Day 3 started off with me getting up early to see the sunrise....It was beautiful even though I was rather late. Standing in the balcony and looking at the sun coming up behind the hill infront, I couldn't help but feel lucky to be there...The place we stayed at, Fariyas, is a resort- a weekend getaway for a lot of mumbaikars. they have an awesome pool and even though I'd forgotten to carry my swimming trunks I managed to convert one of my shorts into swim wear and enjoyed the pool for almost an hr before the sumptuous breakfast. I had made quite a good appetite for it till then. I hogged on the salamis, the sausages, the eggs, the fruits and the juices. I probably looked like a person straight outta a food starved place.
The wedding was at 11. It was an Arya Samaj Wedding with most of the rituals in Hindi. It was a small affair- ended in about 1 hr. It was the best ceremony I’d ever attended. Short, simple and understandable. I slept the rest of the afternoon and the evening was just a formal dinner. By the end of the day I was soo sleepy that keeping my eyes open was proving to be difficult.
Sunday was when we came back to Mumbai. Mom came back early and caught a flight back to Delhi whereas me and dad came back later. We were with KM and family and had lunch with them at Ruchita’s wonderfully cozy one bedroom appt. Home food after such a long time tasted divine and I had to force myself not to hog ...yet again!!! I dropped dad at the railway station and took my flight back home the same night.
The 3 days did a lot of good to me. I was a little bogged down with work or maybe the lack of it …. This acted as such a welcome break! I was looking forward to meeting people..a lot of people after a longgg time….and I wasn’t disappointed. I met long lost family members, had great grub to eat and all this at a wonderful place. I was left craving for more by the time it ended. As they say….all good things have to come to an end for them to become memories….this sure would rank tight up there!!
Looking forward to “more” memories…….Nowz not forever……is it?
4 comments:
yup... all families do tat... they get together and it seems like the only reason for them doing do is to embarrass the living daylights out of u...
im glad, first off, tat u enjoyed urself... and the food. its awesome tat u had tat chance to meet ur family (a large part of it!). i wish i hd one of those moments...
i relly lkd their idea of the perfect wedding... a yr ago, i wud hv been abl 2 tell u xactly wt i wanted - every single detail... but now... well nows a different story altogether so ditch tat subject...
im glad u hd this break... cuz the good it did u is noticable in more ways than one.
wishing u many more memories such as these...
waow...dis one reminded me of mah cousinz wedding last year!!it was soo much fun...:)
n tanuj...y do u hav to write about food??its 12:30 am n m soo hungry...n hearin about naturals icecream...which i wanted to hav fo a long time now...i feel like kickin ur ass...lol:)
n dis one gave me a wonderful idea....y not d three of us write about hw we think our marriage should be??sounds fun to me...:)
tell me if u guys game fo it...only then will i plan to do smthing as crazy as dat!!
I love this post... I could feel with you while reading it... man, you hogged so much...
@ mann
yeah...it was a good break. Any break is a good break! Everyone in the family was happy to see me...I was seeing some people almost after 10 12 yrs!!I'm sure u'll have such moments as well....
I want u to read gunjan's comment...she has a question that i want YOU to answer!
@gunjan
I can't help it yaar...shaadis mean food. don't they? have u had naturals icecream?? I'm game for all crazy things...!!
@buls
What could u feel...the food goin in:P. I loved each second of the hogging;)!
Post a Comment