Day 3 - early morning

[ In the pic, from left : Archana, Shilpa and Anu ]

I woke up to some strange annoying noise; I seemed to have slept for less than a minute and it was already time to wake up ! I was stiff when I woke up because of the uncomfortable posture ( I din't want to smudge the mehandi). It was probably around 5:30am. I was groggy and din't want to wake up. But there was so much noise in the house ( made by those who slept early and woke up early - unlike us), that we could not sleep peacefully. I went down and asked for a cup of tea. My mother was already ready !! She asked me to take off the mehandi. I thought it would be an easy task and went towards the big sink in the back of the house, when I suddenly remembered that I was not supposed to use water. Oops. I was supposed to use oil and scrape off the mehandi ( which by now was dry).

So, I started scraping, and scraped and scraped. The stupid thing was taking eternity to come off. Now I regretted putting so much mehandi. After 15 minutes, only 10 % seemed to have come off and I was very annoyed. One of my aunts suggested using a butter knife to help me scrape. So, I tried that and it hurt. Ouch. Now, my sensitive skin was red. Finally I almost burst into tears and my mom came to the rescue. She asked me to sit and helped me remove the mehandi. After a while, it almost came off. Then some others helped me. My mom instructed me to get ready soon and come to the mandap. She was already leaving to arrange things with my dad. I said ok.

Next challenge: how do you take a shower when you are not supposed to use water on the mehandi. Plastic covers solved the problem. It was messy. It had Archana and Anu in splits.

The next challenge was hair style. Seetha mami helped me with it and put a nice plait with the help of artificial hair. I could not stop laughing when I saw myself in the mirror. I wore a beige valkallam silk saree. This was the only time I wore gold jewellery. I hate gold. I refused to wear it. Finally I agreed to wear it for just one occasion - the vrata puja in the morning.

Did I mention breakfast ? I did not get any as usual. The kitchen was obviously closed. I was hungry as expected and was grateful to the cereal bar that I had with me. I was looking forward to the breakfast in the mandap which was supposed to be good.

My friend Prasanna landed from Chennai and called me. We asked her to take a taxi and come to the mandap to avoid repeating Archana's experience.

Anu, Archana and I were ready to leave to the mandap. It was 8am.

Day 2 - Evening - Mehandi

[ In the pic - from left - Poornima, Shilpa holding Ria, Vani and Archana]

A bridal mehandi specialist was coming late in the evening because of the last minute confusion. For all others, three girls came to put mehandi. They came home by 4pm. I asked my cousins and A to put mehandi before everyone started arriving. We all got ready and I got busy with arranging for the evening. I wore a burnt orange color skirt and a black silk top. We had caterers for dinner.

My house was already bursting with people. Just when everything was going on fine, there was a power cut !! There was never any power cut in the last few days. There was sunlight, so the mehandi troop marched out and sat outside in our patio near the garden. It was noisy and a lot of fun. After a while, when there was no sign of the power coming back, I began to panic. Everything would flop if there was no power !! I had taken many scented candles and this was a good time to use them.

After what seemed an eternity, the power finally came back. The girls were busy putting mehandi and the line seemed never-ending. I think the mehandi girls were there till 9pm after which they were too exhausted to put for any more people. I am sure there were more than 40 people who put mehandi. My house was decorated with serial lights; the lights on the coconut trees were very fascinating. The food was excellent. I was instructed to eat soon before they start putting mehandi because it is difficult to move around after that. So, I promptly ate. The food was excellent. I don't remember all the things on the menu; there was Raj kachori, small samosas, some special kind of pulav with bread crumbs, raitha, parathas, some vegetable sabzi, curd rice and hot jelebis. He was making the jelabis in front of us. I am not a big fan of this sweet but it was very tasty when tasted fresh off the pan. My friends, Vani and Manu had also come by then. Then the groom side people came for dinner. I ofcourse claimed that I had not eaten. hehehhe.

The bridal lady had not shown up and it was almost 7:30pm. Where was she ? Everyone but the bride had mehandi on !! I went to call the lady and discovered my land line was dead !! Would everything go wrong on the same day ? Anyway, I decided not to panic and tried to look for my cell. In the meantime, the lady came and she promptly got to business. It took her a little over 4 hours to put the mehandi. She did a great job. I had 3/4th of my hands done and a little on my feet. She even hid a little puzzle for Vikram in my palms ( he was supposed to find his name is less than a minute - he lost the game; a few of the letters can be seen the pic of my palms above). She also drew a heart with our names.

I was stiff with sitting while she put the mehandi. As I did not have much time to keep it on ( just overnight), she asked me to put tiger balm over the mehandi every few hours so that the heat gives it a good color!! She left a little after midnight. My cousin Anu and A gave her company in the car as M dropped her home. I could not even move without help. Sigh. It was time to sleep and A and Anu helped me to bed. It was a very funny situation and I started laughing at my state. We kept talking for a while before finally dozing off. I kept waking up every few hours to put tiger balm.

Day 2 - Jan 18th - Morning

I was forced to wake up because of all the racket created by relatives. We were having a sumangali puja in the morning. Many relatives had already come by then and my house seemed to be bursting with people. Adding to the confusion were workers who came to put up shamiyana and pandals. I was hungry soon and decided to see whats cooking. Alas, due to madi rules ( shudhh) I was forbid to go into the kitchen. I realized soon that I was not going to get any breakfast. Sigh. I get very cranky if I miss breakfast. And my morning cup of tea. Finally after pleading, I got a cup of tea. But....that only made me even more hungry ! My mom told me that lunch would be served very soon.

By then it was time for Archana's arrival. She was coming by Shatabdi express from Chennai. I could not go to the station cos of the Puja. Everyone was busy so we decided to send just the driver, M. He had a cell and she had a cell. I decided to write a placard with her name and give it to M. When I came downstairs with it, my dad told me that M had already left. I was very irritated...how would he find her ? Anyway, I thought the cell was always there. Then I called A to tell her that only M was coming. And I got a msg saying her phone was switched off. I tried after a while ; by this time the train had surely reached Blore; but I continued getting the same message. Then, I guessed something was wrong. I called M on his cell and that was unreachable !

How was M going to find A when both their cell phones were not working ? After sometime M called and said he could get thro A's phone. I told him to stand near the ticket counter and hoped A would call me soon. She did and told me her phone was not activated for roaming; I told her to go to the ticket counter and described M and the car. Then I waited. M called told me that no one matched the description I gave ; then I told him to stand near the phone booth itself as A would surely call from there. They called again. Both were calling from the same phone booth but could not find each other ! This confusion continued for an hour and they NEVER found each other. Finally, I told A to get an auto and come home. M returned too. A finally reached home. We finally got to eat after 1 pm. So much for 'early' lunch.

Post lunch, my cousins, A and I sat and chatted in my room. After a while, we decided that we should practice for the dance the next day. My cousins, A and S were dancers and the rest of us were not. We convinced them to teach us a few steps. We turned on the music, woke up everyone upstairs and started dancing. It was a lot of fun. Madisar maamis joined us to add to the fun. It was tea time soon. We then got ready for the evening Mehandi session and dinner.

Day 1 - Jan 17th,2006 - Tuesday

Murphy's law says that when something can go wrong, it will. This is particularly true while planning for a wedding.

I woke up on Tuesday morning to the usual confusion. One of my biggest complains about my trip to India was that I could never sleep till late in the morning. I was forced to wake up early. Sigh ! Anyway, coming back to my story. I got a call around 11 am from the lady who was supposed to do the Bridal Mehandi. She asked me when I was going to send the car to pick her up and that she was waiting. I was like, huh, the ceremony is tomorrow; why would she come the day earlier. Then turns out she had the wrong day in her diary. Grrrr. She was booked already by more than 2 people the next day. I was very angry with her especially since I booked her long back. We tried to work around with the time, but it looked like a hopeless situation.

So, I was in a nice situation. 24 hours before the ceremony, the Mehandi lady ditches me. We were expecting more than 30 people for just the mehandi and some more to stay on for dinner. Anyway, I had expected something would go wrong and kept a back up just in case. So I made a few more calls and fixed another person. Did she come finally ? The answer to that would be in my next post.

Then, it was time to get ready for the evening dinner. This had the least confusion compared to all other days. We were expected at 8pm in Vikram's house. A car load of relatives had left and reached on time. I was a little late thanks to the pandemonium created over dressing for the occasion. The more people to assist, the more the confusion. I had picked a yellow saree for the occasion and had matching high heeled shoes. I had decided that I should not look short in front of Vikram. I was very pleased with my high heeled collection. All that collapsed while getting ready for this dinner. :-(

Turns out the sarees are not really designed for tall people, esp, ones with heels. So when I wore the heels, the saree was very short. Boo Hoo Hoo. I had to make do with flat chappals. And it was too late to go and buy new shoes.

Anyway, we reached the party. I was introduced to another bunch of relatives. All I had to do was smile. I was hungry but could not eat properly because I had to constantly meet people and as a result I was too hassled to do justice to the food. There were a few typical Manglorean dishes which were very new and interesting for all of us. The smiling and hello sessions went on for a while and we finally left a little after 11pm.

On the whole it was a nice evening.

First month anniversary

How time flies ! I've been married for a month today !! I've decided to finally start writing about the wedding. So, the next few posts will be an overdose of my wedding. :-)

I started planning my wedding long back. I did not want to do something stereotype. I went to India 6 weeks before the wedding and was busy from the day I landed. I will also write a post about shopping and other issues related to the wedding soon. My mother and mother-in-law were very supportive and helped me in realizing my "dream" wedding.

A wedding is not easy to plan especially if you are fussy about a lot of things. We had a five day wedding. The events were as follows:

* Day 1 - Jan 17th - Dinner party hosted by Vikram's parents @ Vikram's house
* Day 2 - Jan 18th - Sumangali Puja (morn) and Mehandi (evening) followed by Dinner @ Shilpa's house
* Day 3 - Jan 19th - Vrata Puja and Engagement in the morning @ choultry
Sangeet/Dance in the evening @ choultry
* Day 4 - Jan 20th - Wedding in the morning @ choultry
Reception in the evening @ choultry
* Day 5 - Jan 22nd - Cocktail Party and Dinner hosted by Vikram's grandparents @ Grandparents's house

I will describe each of these events in detail. Most of the events were uncommon in a typical South Indian Wedding. I was helped by cousins and friends for all the events.

I always wanted a meaningful wedding and not something which resembles an ordeal. It is usually seen that everyone other than the bride and the groom have a lot of fun. I did not want to miss out on having fun in my own wedding.

The wedding was a grand success. I was very happy when many people told me that it was one of the most memorable weddings that they had attended. I was very amused when some told me that they were 'inspired' to get married 'again' just so that they can have the same kind of fun. I was very flattered when some unmarried cousins and friends told me that they would like to have their wedding on the same lines as mine.

More...yet to come....

Bagalooru Days - Part 2

Bangalore is a fast changing city and I noticed a couple of things about it. I wonder if this is a common trend in all major Indian cities !

* Malls - There seems to be a Mall craze. Last year, I saw The Forum and Bangalore Central. This year had new inclusions like Garuda Mall, Eva Mall, Sigma Mall and some smaller malls. The malls have all the famous branded stores. I found them to be very expensive. And very crowded. Looks like the new hang-out place for families and friends is the mall ! The good thing about these malls is that they are clean and have many facilities. Garuda Mall even has a cookie store just like the malls here.

* Multiplex Theatres- If there are malls, can theatres be far behind ? The Forum Mall has India's largest multiplex, a 11 theatre multiplex called PVR Cinema. The theatre reminded me of AMC theatres here in the US. The seats were really comfortable. This theatre also has a Gold Class theatre where the tickets cost Rs. 500 per person!!

* Food Courts - My favourite place in the malls are the food courts. I was quite surprised to see a big line for Subway. People seemed to be very proud to eat a sub ! Obviously these people have never been here. Being a veggie, I am always used to limited choice here. But back home, its like paradise, so many options ! I love to eat in the darshinis and samrat stalls - the masala dosa, vada and rava dosas are simply superb. The food courts are always crowded and most of the times it is very difficult to even find a seat.

* Corn in a Cup - Everywhere you go, you will find a small stall selling ' corn in a cup'. Its healthy and tasty. I found many flavors like plain, butter, masala, chinese etc. But isn't it a little expensive ? The cheapest is around Rs. 25/- ! !

* Coffee Shops - Everyone loves to drink coffee. I found new additions to the already existing list of cafes. Coffee Day and Barista are a common sight. I went to a new store called Coffee World this time. And another small store in Forum Mall, whose name I forgot. This was a little different from others, the shop was small and seemed to have a grinding machine and the coffee there had a very traditional South Indian kapi taste. The costs in most of the cafes are formidable. I missed Starbucks.

Was I the only one who felt that most of things were too expensive ? I am not saying that a cup of coffee was expensive; Its just that, for the living standards in India, things seemed to be expensive. Most of the rates are comparable to the rates here. Everyone seemed to spending a lot of money ! Or perhaps the living standard has gone up and I can only relate to the standard that was there when I left India.

Everything seems to have changed. But there is one thing that has not changed -

The pass mark is still 35 ! ! ( hehehehe)

Valentine's day ? ! ?

I can never really understand why so much hype is created on Valentine's Day. I suppose florists and greeting card companies benefit a great deal.

I spoke to Vikram earlier yesterday night and he was trying to annoy me by acting all soppy for Valentine's Day. I strongly believe that I don't need someone to tell me which day I am supposed to send flowers and candies to a loved one. Hey, everyday is Valentine's Day for me !

So I was up till 4am today. It has nothing to do with V- day. I had a homework due today afternoon and a research meeting in the morning. Being a person who does everything in the 11-th hour, I just had to burn the midnight oil. Sigh ! I reached a stage where my mind could not do any more math and so I dozed off only to be awakened by someone knocking. It felt like someone pounding my head. I woke up and realized it was 9:10am. Oh my gosh, I had a meeting at 9am !!!! So began a mad scramble to get ready. I gave up my usual cup of tea in order to save time. I reached my professors office after an hour. Only to be told that I was late and he had some errands to do. He said that we should meet in the afternoon.

And so V- day has begun on a bad note. Not that I care much about it.

And now I feel getting flowers on a boring day might just cheer me up :-)

Plasma and other states

Plasma is the fourth state of matter. I am taking a course in this topic this semester and thought that it would be a little easier than some other abstract courses I've taken. Unfortunately, I've missed many classes because I was in India :-( . I got to know in class today that the first exam is next Monday ! The announcement jolted me out of my sleep. Three chapters and its closed book. Sigh.

And if thats not all; my Prof for the course asked me to turn in the next homework tomorrow afternoon; I don't even know the name of the chapter. When I was leaving, he told me that the solutions for the homework were in a handout that he gave us. I was thrilled to learn that. When I got to my office; the handout was missing ! Talk about bad luck !! I am hoping that it is somewhere at home.

The only icing in the cake is that my weekend was good. I just lazed around; watched many movies; some are worth to review about too.

Break over; Time to look for the missing handout.

How I met my husband :-)

The title is inspired from a column that used to come in some magazine in India...I forgot its name. The column was a big time pass for me.

Before I begin writing about the wedding and all its fanfare, I think a little bit of history and background would add some spice to the description.

I met Vikram more than 7 years ago. It was early morning around 8am on Nov 11, 1998. It was the first week of classes in 3rd semester engg. I had changed my branch to telecom and was busy with all the paper work. I had gone to my class for the first time the previous day and had mistaken the first class to be at 8:20am on that day. As I had to meet the Head of the Dept for some signature, I came a little early. I went to the Dept on 2nd floor and went to HOD's chamber only to learn that he does not come that early to college.

So, I walked back to the corridor and noticed a guy standing near the notice-board. He was tall, dark and handsome. And I was hoping that he would be in my class. I was suddenly conscious of how silly I looked that day. Why is it that when you actually meet a cute guy, you would be having one of the worst-dressed days ? I had an accident the earlier week and so had a big plaster in my hand.

I don't remember who spoke first; I think he did. He introduced himself as Vikram. I could not believe my luck; he was in my class after all. We chatted for a while; turns out he also got the time table confused too and thought there was a class at 8:20am. I learnt that his zodiac sign was Aries. As I was a big Linda Goodman fan at that point, I classified him as a typical Aerian and a flirt. I simply loved his smile and convinced myself to stay as far away from him as possible.

That was 7 years ago. Time does fly. We became best friends soon. Cupid had struck long back. We have been through ups and downs. After engg, he began to work in different places in India while I worked in Bangalore. Then I came to US to do my MS. The distance away from each other helped us realise the importance of each other. There have been days when I have wanted to give up everything and go back in the first available flight.

After a lot of talking and convincing, we finally got the concent for marriage from our parents. So we finally tied the knot last month.

Thats how I met my husband :-)

p.s. the distance continues even now...hes in Dubai and I am in US. All I can think of now is meeting him soon....

Bangalooru Days - Part 1

Following the bandwagon of cities reverting back to their old names, Bangalore will soon be renamed as Bangalooru this November. The Government was so busy making this important decision that it did not have time to reflect upon less important issues like improving the infrastructure of the city.

When I reached Bangalore last month, I was shocked at the traffic. I was visiting Bangalore after a gap of 11 months and things seemed to have got worse. Those who have spent hours stuck in these traffic jams know what I am talking about. Getting from one end of the city to the other will take atleast 2 hours during non-peak hours ! Adding to the confusion is the ever -changing road topology -there are so many one-ways, I wonder how people remember the routes. To make matters worse, the one-way roads are blocked whenever a VIP visits ! And this is called traffic management !!!

Where there is traffic, can pollution be far behind ? I fell sick within a few days after landing in Bangalore. The common cold is really common. The garden city is slowly turning into a concrete jungle.

My last comment is about the Bangalore International Airport - Will it ever go beyond just the blueprints ? The current HAL/Intl Airport is a joke. The airport is dirty, small and crowded. I have to warn other homesick people who land in this airport; after dreaming of the city for years, you would naturally take a deep breath as soon as you land. And do you the smell the fresh Bangalore air ? No way, that no longer exists. What you do get is an unhealthy mix of various air-pollutants. If you do manage to survive and get inside the airport, you would be greeted with smells that indicate that no one cleans the restrooms. :-(

Sigh ! My beautiful city has turned into a nightmare !

Back from India !

I got back yesterday. The jetlag is very bad this time. I finally came to school in the evening.

Everybody is asking the same question, ' so, how does it feel to be married ? ' ... and my answer is the same ... ' no big difference ! ' . The wedding went off very well and I will write about it in detail.
I had a lot of fun in planning many events, shopping etc. The 5 day wedding was very tiring ! Vikram and I took some time off after the wedding and went to a beautiful place called Kumarakom in Kerala. I have lots of pictures to upload.