Panicker's Wedding Bells...Ding! Dong!

Hei ho…hei ho…one more down and two more Velonies go!!!

There are the juicy details…

I reach Chennai on the evening of 5th,which was the evening of Shikks’ Sagai so she sent her driver to pick me up from the station. The driver promptly deposited me in front of Shoppers Stop (babs, you remember we shopped there the last time we were in Chennai) the place was closed but in 10 min Suni and Suresh were there to pick me. Once home, Suni fed me to a healthy diet of home cooked (courtesy excellent culinary skills of the maid) food and fresh episodes of Desperate Housewives.

Next morning we were supposed to go leave the house by 8 but it took me one hour to drape Suni’s sari which we first tried by doing it upside down because both the sides were the same. The pallu was coming on the right shoulder instead of the left…Suni kept insisting that it was the right way and if I had listened to her instead of following my instincts we would have had a fashion fiasco walking, talking at the marriage. We referred Suni’s marriage photograph and finally called Suni’s mum for her opinion. Finally we got the sari logistics right and left the house at 9 ….Suresh had work the entire day so he was unable to come for the marriage and the evening reception.

We reached the venue at around 10 AM, for the main part for the ceremony. Shikks was looking so serious that we could hardly recognise her. In fact I thought we had stepped into the wrong marriage hall. Then we saw Sonith and Rolla… she was looking so lovely with the mustard coloured sari and the Marathi headgear complete with the false hair and jasmine flowers.

Sometime during the ceremony Shikks stepped down from the marriage stage. We pounced on her…we even managed to take snaps with her....he he he.

Sudeep was totally chilled out. He didn’t scruple even to wave at us during the ceremony. We got to see the tying of the mangalsutra and poor Sudeep had to struggle through all that head gear and flowers and he had to put two of them on her. There was a very funny thing that happened…it was before the exchange of the garlands. The pandit had given a garland to Shikha’s dad and told him to give it to Sudeep. Her poor father misunderstood and proceeded to put the garland on Suds and our man was actually bowing down to receive it. Suddenly Sudeep’s dad frantically came and said –No No No…the groom has to put it on the bride!!!!

The whole wedding was long, long and long…even after we had lunch at 1:30; she had to change for the third time and there were still more ceremonies. This time she was in the white mallu sari and was looking divine.

The lunch was veggie and we mistook the ‘Yam Chops’ to be beef fry because it LOOKED like beef fry and it was done like beef fry, but it was only yam!!

The evening reception was better. We met Deepti and her 6 month old baby, Akshara, Maccha, Deepak and his fiancé, Tresa, Sandeep, Tarun minus wife and of course Sonith. The draping of Suni’s sari was again courtesy mua…hmmm…I should start charging for my services for the next wedding…we had a good time bonding with each other till Suresh started calling Suni to remind her for a movie night show…Suni-Suresh have a weekly custom of catching the night show on Thursdays. This time even I was a part of the company.

We finished the dinner buffet in a jiffy and rushed from the reception venue to Inox.

We watched ‘Aaja Nachle’ in City Plaza (I think, that's what it is called).

Babs, you will remember this place. It was the lousy shopping complex shaped like some architectural wonder with invisible exists and NO AC; shikks, you, and I went there to the last time we were in Chennai.

And guys, irrespective of what the critics say, the movie was very good. I actually enjoyed it…we got home around 12:30 and after Suresh finished his midnight dinner; we slept at 2:00, up at 5 for my morning train.

You know what, it was raining through out my visit in Chennai and it rained the worst on Friday morning when I had to leave!!! Sheesh…

Btw, kindly admire the only snap that came out well in my camera phone, of Shikks and Suds.



I got one of Litty’s 21 diamonds pendent too!!! glitter-raz

More on Reme's Day...

Ann…you lying skills have been honed to perfection!!!


Please see my POA as in how-it-was-till-now:

Morning: Flowers from "You know who" aka Cimi, Suni and M

Afternoon: Lunch with "You know who"- MRavi, Pavan, Ananthu and a girl named Sinchana

Last Night: Rebi called at 11:30 PM. Cake cutting with "You know who"- Cimi and Sunita at 12

Night: Dinner with "You know who"- Cimi, Sunita and Debbie (No ‘you-know-who’)

Man…this sounds like a dark fiction movie…

Besides, Ann the mean one…DUMPED ME!!! Yes, she dumped me today. She, Paroma and I had made plans for today’s lunch but NOOOOO…she decided she wanted to stay at home and for what…to Koochie-koo with her laptop at home.

No wonder you didn’t get invited to lunch…you weren’t EVEN there!!!!

I was hoping to be wished face to face by at least…at least, one Veloni but No…it is not in my destiny for that to happen

Wah!!!!

Reme's B-daay-Yay!!

From Ann's pen...

Filling you guys in on her POA which I am aware of:


Morning: Flowers from "You know who"

Afternoon: Lunch with "You know who"

Evening: Cake cutting with "You know who"

Night: Dinner with "You know who"


Post that I don’t know what the plans are ... and I don’t think we will want to know further details on the same...

Remi has now gone for the long lunch ….. I was not even invited and I was so upset that I decided to stay at home and not go to office...

Anyways… once remi is back we shall know how the lunch was…

Veloni Hyperventilations

From Veloni A's pen...

Oh my God…. Briiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii… I am in a state of shock………….. I m so happy that u are settling down with a nice sweet guy….. this is so cute…. Please get married in the first week of May so that I can also be there…. i seem to be missing quite a lot of the fun…. Btw… it will be in Bangalore, na…. Will keep you in our prayers… don’t think too much now… u will be very happy with him I m sure….

But….. Pl pl pl pl… have it in the first week of May….

Mail in some photos…. Of his !!!

So cool for Mischi… my God.. its seems to be the good news time for your family… when is she due…. How is she keeping… does she have any nausea problems…. How is she managing work with it….

From Veloni R's pen...

Omigosh!!!

Congrats Brini. This is such good news…I am so happy for you!!!

What is his name? Send us a photo of him… (I solemnly swear that I have no evil intentions) I am sure you have one in your camera phone.

I am so happy for you.; this person is God-sent answers to all your dreams- remember, you used to tell us that you wanted to go abroad one day , you like guys with coloured/cat eyes, always marry an Anglo….It's like he walked off your wish-list…

Love you sweetie…god bless and sure will keep you in our prayers.

Wish congrats Mischi from our side too.

From Veloni Su's pen..

Briniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Iam so happy for you! Actually I was on this long boring call with my team member next to me ,I only saw the subject"Hot News",was really dying to get off the call and see the mail! Wow Brini Iam so happy for you,have you mentioned his name somewhere in the mail? I can't seem to find it! Anyways I really think from the way you described him to all of us,he is a really nice chap and you both are meant for each other!!! And you becoming an aunt,that is double good news!

Iam sure your parents must be thrilled!! And btw pls begin to enjoy Country Music,I just love Country:-) Will definitely keep praying for you!

Take care

Got to rush,another long call :-(

From Veloni L's pen...

Brinelle, congrats baby…very happy for you. I can see that you are truly madly deeply in love . The way you have described him, we feel we have already met. Please tell him ab us.

First meeting in church and rosary as his first gift….ha ha ha .Ann used to tell me othat one guy would come to tame the wild horse that I am….But I think it happened in your case. Opposite sure do attract.

Australia????So we Velonis are spreading our reach.

This is one of the best things we have heard in sometime now.

One more in the pregnant women club????Convey our wishes to Mischi. Send me her no…she is in UAE, right?

From Bab's pen...

Congrats Brini ( Sexy Star……….lol…………. ) !!!!!!!!!!!!! This is indeed very good news !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am now imaging you in a white gown !!!!

Wish you all the very best and ………….send us lot of snaps !!!

Brini's Rings n Bells

Sorry for not mailing in for so long. Been busy with a lot of stuff. Now let me start off with the good news. It sure came as a shock to me…but den wen its meant to happen it happens. Well ul al know how my parents hav been on d hunt for a bakra for me so last month dis guy came home and things have kinda taken d turn towards rings and bells he is an anglo Indian…lik I always wanted. He was working on d ship and right now is tryin to go to Australia. He shud hopefully b getting his visa next month. His sis already works in Australia. Currently his parents r on a 1 yr visit to Australia. So I haven’t met his folks. He is a very nice guy. Quiet understanding and caring. But vr so diff in so many ways. He listens to COUNTRY music oh my gosh. He doesn’t lik my type of hip hop and trance. I keep makin him listen to my music…poor dude he must b goin deaf wit it. But he is quiet a sweet guy. He told me dat wen v go to Australia he wud tak me out to discs ha ha cant wait to c dat happen. So d preparations r kinda startin off. D wedding is gonna b in may god willingly. V may not b able to hav an engagement as his folks r not here. They wud come only in march wen hopefully he wud b in Australia by then. He is quiet fair and has cat eyes…really nice clear eyes. A lil on d rounder side and a bit taller dan me. Oh gosh der r so many things dat r so diff in us. But I guess opps attract. Guys pls pray for me.. I hope dis is d right guy. I hav met so many blokes and found something or d other wrong wit dem. Dis guy seemed to b quiet diff so I guess its for d best. He is quiet diff from normal anglo’s doesn’t seem to hav too many bad habits. I sometimes feel he is too gud for me. I think I might corrupt him. He doesn’t use much bad lang. ha ha now u must imagine how tough dat is for me, but I try to control my tongue wen im wit him most of d time. D 1st time he took me out d 1st place v went was church. Dat was so sweet of him. Wen he met me for d 1st time. He actually got me a silver rosary and chocolates. My parents r quiet impressed wit him. He seems to me lik a big adorable teddy bear. Hmmmm

Now for d next gud news…mischi is expecting. She shud b due sometime next June round about d same time as u ann. I don’t know if I wud b here den if everything goes by well. Lets c. deyr dam happy abt it. Mischi has also got another job der and has started work. D co is so gud dey r gonna giv her 3 mnths off to come here in may for d weddin and d delivery.

Roschi took a lil sick earlier dis month. She came down wit a bad case of jaundice. She is recovering right now and has resumed work. It did drain out a lot of energy from her. But she is much better now. She is not allowed to eat salt and oil and stuff lik dat. Now dey hav relaxed her diet a bit so she can eat more variety of food.

Shiks, I wont b able to come down for ur marriage coz ders gonna b a lot of running around to do b4 he leaves. And I don’t hav much leave either as I had taken 10 days leave wen I met wit d accident. But I wish u and suds al d success. Am so happy for u guys.

Sometimes I cant believe dat im actually gonna get married. I always thought dat it was something very far away. It sure gives me d jeepers. Kinda scared kinda happy and anxious too. Al u married women any advice for me. It gets a bit scary at times to think abt how life is gonna be. But he is quiet reassuring.

Wel dats al for now guys.

Litty's Ventures

Currently I ravel with 2 guys in my team, we start at 7 to reach here at 8.30, which is not bad….You can start this late when you drive ur own vehicle, I mean if you take cab services I may have to start much earlier, pls pray that I get to make some arrangement with a cab guy, right now all cabs are full in the evening I reach by 7.

My boss is supposed to be a task master, thats what every is talking about these days. As of now, sunil packs my lunch box and wake me up the last moment, so I can catch maximum sleep (the way I crib about not getting proper sleep) evening we try to sleep by 9.30/10, so basically it is bathing, cooking, sleeping (and reme, nothing more!!!!!)anyway counting my blessings, atleast sunil has no issues with me not doing cooking etc, fact tht these guys are taking me in their car etc. I am also worried ab work, since I am back 2 analytics, so sad all my effort 2 get out was gone under the drain.

Reme, r u going to m’lore or ur halli farm house?pl give instructions 2 cimi on what she is supposed 2 talk (manoj etc), pl give ur mum a big hug from my side.

Ann, moi is not alone, god has given u a partner…..spend ur weekend with him, have u started decorating ur new home?

The Family Way....

We are going to have a BABY!!!

You’re all going to be Velaunties...

Gasp! Sob! I can hardly believe I am saying this….

NOT I, But….

Our own, baby of the Veloni Spinsters, Ann Thomas-Georgy is 7 weeks pregnant!!!!

Our first Veloni baby is due in June 2008

Let’s hear it for Georgy and Annie…and wish them all our prayers and good wishes during their ‘carry’ing time.

Ooohh...I think it’s time we make up our own version of ‘9 Months- The Veloni Way’. What say Shikks? Any ideas girlies….

PS: Ann was too shy to announce this to you guys but you are all welcome to pull her leg at will….also send her any and everything she might need to know about her-new-self and pre-born-babies, which might help her along the wayJ

Brini's Debacle

As penned down by Brini

Sorry couldn’t mail in earlier. Something unfortunate had happened to me. Last month on d 19th wen I was going home I met wit an accident. 1 of my friends was dropping me home. We had just crossed Bomanahalli and wer approaching silk board wen a dog crossed in front of us. In order to avoid hitting d dog my friend braked and v skid and fell. Der was a lot of loose sand on d road due to d flyover construction. Luckily wen v fell der wasn’t any traffic behind us else it wud hav been quiet a diff scene. Some people came and took us off d road and put us in a rick. V went straight to St. Johns. It was real scary. I got 4 stitches on my leg, 3 on my thumb and 3 on my lip. My knee was also in a bad shape. My face was also bruised up. V both injured our right side completely and our face on the left side. I don’t understand how dat happened. My friend has broken both hands. He got 3 rods put into his right hand and has also damaged a nerve in d same hand. He also fractured his left hand. Luckily he was wearin his helmet. D helmet is completely smashed on d left side. I was on 10 days leave. It hurt a lot. Had to go and change d dressing every other day and d medicines burnt a lot. I had both my hands in bandages as my palms wer completely bruised. D ring dat I was wearing on finger kinda sliced my thumb. Der was a half a centimeter gash on my thumb dat dey had to stitch up. Thankfully everything is healing up now. D wound on my foot is taking time to heal as it is by d bone. But I guess I shud be fine soon. I sure did get hell from my parents. But am just glad things weren’t any worse. D irony is dat d bike just suffered a few scratches. My friend took d entire brunt of d fall. Its quiet surprising dat neither of us remember actually falling. It just seems to b a void in my memory. I only remember getting up and crossing d road. I lost my shoes somewhere on d road. D auto guy who brot us to d hospital was a such a nice man. He took d bike and kept it wit him and even came to visit my friend in d hospital a couple of times. He is recovering. But it wud tak round about 2 months for him. He wud need to go for physiotherapy later as a nerve in his hand is damaged and he cant move his wrist and fingers properly.

Rebi, suni, I hope u guys had a nice b’day. Sorry couldn’t cal u rebi on ur b’day. But I hope ul had a nice day. I bumped into Ramanna ytday. Had gone out for dinner wit my sis and a frnd and bumped into him @ edge in Koramangala.

Shiks am sure u must b getting al excited. D website is quiet cool. Wanted to check out d games on d site, don’t think I can do it from off though. Wil go home and check it out.

Chikko's Pre-Marital Bliss

As penned down by Shikks

We've made updates! with only 2 months left, stay tuned for more additions including photos, media downloads, and more at www.sudeepandshikha.com

Also, please try and make it for the pre-wedding ceremonies on december 5th..it's just family and close friends..i would love for y'all to be there. all the details are on the site. don't forget to sign our guestbook!

Le Ann Celebrity

Briniology

As penned down by Brini...

Life is just settlin in here. Kinda missin my old office. Its not d same atmospehere around here. U cant shout and scream and act crazy out here. So I gotta keep my self on a leash most of d time. I work out of d Bomannahalli office. It’s a lil btr off dan d one on MG road. Dat place is more lik a dead town in texas. U can even hear d wind howl der. Its so silent. No one talks around der. Dis off is more of colour and a bit more of noise. So am just in d process of instigatin people to mak some noise here. Der is 1 other anglo Indian who works here(let me specify dat she is a lady for d :-) b4 any eyebrows raise) I hav a cab pick and drop in dis office, I need to come til forum in d morning and dey drop me off by St. Johns woods in d evening, so it isn’t much of a walk in any case.

V had our 24/7 annual day last Sunday. Inspite of being an ex employee I invited my self over and scandalized d audience der. J gav some people something to dream abt at nite J ( dat was just me being me and boy did I enjoy it) Was gr8 fun to b bak amongst known crowd again.

My sis wud b leavin for abu dhabi in about 2 weeks or so, once she gets here visa. Dats gonna b a tough good bye for us.

Went on a major shoppin spree dis weekend. Dilip had lost 1 of my jackets so he had decided to replace it wit another 1 so, my sis got me dis real neat leather jacket dat I cant seem to get out of even if its boilin temp outside. It kinda makes u luk very sophisticated.

Well dats al from me for now. Hope to catch up sometime soon. Luv to al of ul

Annie's Tirade

As penned down by Annieeeee...

Brinnnelllleeeeeeeeeee, It is so nice to hear that thing have become ok…. Hope you continue to add ur bit of color to ING Vyasya…. Soon they may actually change their brand color ffrom white and orange to some vibrant ones being inspired by you…. Also please don’t take another call from that Jay idiot…. He can find some friends of his own weird type…

Liittyyyyyyyyyyy… Good to hear from you after a long break… we had almost got used to chatting with you in the afternoons…. Btw…. Veloni’s ….. Litty has started making fish curry and all already within 2 months which I have not managed to do in the last 2 years…. We have reach such an extent that poor Georgy is actually starved of fish till either my mom or his mom comes home and makes an everlasting stock of it for him…… Don’t worry about work now… sure u will get a good job there…. And then u will be waiting for the time u will get a break from work…

Suni…. You will definitely do a god job managing your nephew…. After all this is good practice for you… practice makes perfect…. ;) so I hope this practice is a precursor of full time roles of a similar kind….

Rebi… how dare u snatch away my boss from me…. I had just begun to learn so much here… now my life has taken one full circle and it has reached the beginning again…. Where I started off...

Remi … We have nothing much to share except our endless sorrows which we do over our internal office communication channels…. We don’t need to pour it over veloni mails tooo…. We could write a saga most probably on our tryst with i-flex… when I say saga… it encompasses varying emotions like, drama, tragedy, comedy, sorrow….. It’s pretty entertaining for outsiders…..

Shikks….. Hope you have a blast for your birthday….. and pl fill us in on all the details…. How is the wedding preps going on…. How is work with u….

Lastly with me… things are going on as usual… nothing much… have been traveling like crazy… Shuttling between cochin and Hyd…. Work was going on welll, till Rebi decided it should be otherwise…

Was at home Hyd last weekend… so relaxed a bit there… am off to cochin on the 16th of August… and back on Sunday…. Life’s like that…. My niece is one brat… my sis and bro are developing muscles trying to put her to sleep cause she only sleeps when they rock her to sleep…. My sis now wants to compete in weight lifting… and she feels she will be capable of that very sooon….. J…. This actually put the fear of God into me….

Btw….. I finished reading the Harry potter last book…. And the ending is verrrrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyyyy ………. I wont tell u… since I know remi has not read the book but I am tempted nonetheless….

Suni's Soothing Serenade

As penned down by Suni...

I was seriuosly dozing off at work,was trying to keep myself awake with cups of tea,but you did the right thing by mailing all of us at the right time! Litts don't get tensed on your job hunt,Iam sure you will get a good break at the right time(sounds familiar I always keep telling you this)!

This is the time you should enjoy with Sunil,spend as much time together with him,I know it becomes a little irritating to stay at home all day,but take this as a right opportunity to explore the other side in you,may be you could try cooking(not the regular dishes,experiment on Sunil,he won't say much since you guys are newly married),do different things at home etc!! I may sound boring,but these are things I have slowly started to crave to do but just don't get the time to do it these days.

I know you must be missing home and parents,but think of it that Dubai is only 3.5 hrs from India, anytime your parents can visit you guys or guys can make a visit and it is a mini kerala there!

The news from my side is that Shareen(my sis in law) is expecting any time,Mummy will be coming down on Aug 15th,if Shareen delivers before her due date,I will have to take care of my nephew (Josh) which I love to do.... At work,it has reached the saturation point, some people in my unit have quit, so there is more work for the people left behind!

Litts, Barclays Dubai is hiring big time now, do send your CV in there, my boss is also moving to Dubai, I will send him your resume.

Want to make a trip to Dubai sometime end of Oct for just a week,Elisha will turn one year,in case I get leave and GOD willing we get tickets and everything goes fine,then there is a chance of me meeting you there(let us see,will let you know)

She's BACK with a BANG!

As penned down by Litty...

Happy friendship day.....
News from my side is that I am slowly getting used to married life (!) and trying to understand what it means to be a homemaker. Most of you know that I was least interested in taking up household chores and responsibilities.....

Well, those lovely days are a thing from the past. There were days when I used to return from work to find hot water in the bathroom for me to refresh myself, a table fully laden with good food ('good food' used to be dal and rice, but it was full of Vitamin L). Now Rebi, Vitamin L stands for Vitamin Love (so that u dont have to send a mail asking "what on earth is Vitamin L"....) My faithful wife Reme did take good care of me for the past five years. Now I am a wife myself and I am not sure if I am taking that much effort as Reme did for me.

Then there was chirpy Ann, who did everything possible to get me a backdoor entry into i-flex so that we could continue our gossip sessions live, free of cost. Not to mention our girls night outs whenever Georgy was out of town!!! Hope the baby making process is going on fine since your second anniversary is fast approaching (!!!)

Rebi and her occasional Coffee Day outings. This is how I had access to what was happening with rest of the Xime junta like Abey, Ayesha etc. Not to forget your shocking red sunglass that you used to wear on such occasions.

Brinelle Popen, we earnestly hope that you pop-in more for those lovely Bangalore coffee day gossip sessions. Congratulations on your new job…..Senior HR executive, too much!!!!

Tharakan…….We have missed you “deep down in our hearts” so much after you moved to ‘home sweet home chennai’.We are yet to see snaps from your African Safari. So where are you next headed? Antartica? I am sure Colombus and Vasco De Gama combined together have not visited so many places as you have.

Chikkuuu…..Advance bday wishes (I know I am a bit too early. We need a detailed account of your last spinster bday. How are your wedding preparations going on?

Thanks for the wonderful bridal bash in Bangalore, I enjoyed every bit of, right from being blindfolded and taken in an auto rickshaw, to loosing our way to Ann’s place, the music, the candles, the JASMINE, the Litchi cake facial, lovely Chinese dinner, Ann’s Urban yoga clothes, Rebi’s fundoo sandals from Dubai, Brini’s long long silver chain on her jeans and last but not the least the lovely bag, diamond pendant and the cooking instructions that you guys gifted me.

But most of all I miss taking Reme for shopping and ended up spending four times more than her, coming back and settling accounts with Reme’s trivial Arithmetic skills.

That is a long enough mail to keep you all from snoozing in office…..I promise to mail you all more frequently. I am still very homesick and nostalgic about my spinster life. Please pray for me that I get a decent job and I am able to manage everything here. Also pray that my kids (whenever they happen) don’t turn up like Reme…Please I need your prayers.

The End and the Beginning (in that order)...

The last Friday, we celebrated Litty’s long due Bridal Shower…

And it was a wonderful surprise for Litty…

That Friday after rigorous planning and scheming…we froze on Friday 29th June, 2007.

That evening we duped her into thinking that our roomies had a fabulous dinner planned for her in some secret restaurant. We blindfolded her at our place and both of us got into a pre-informed rick (so Litty wouldn’t know exactly where we were headed).

Littyet, being the smart girl that she is quickly guessed where we were heading because of the long journey and her 6th Velonisense….

Then Disaster Struck!!!!

Reme and her impeccable sense of direction….lost her way and had to remove the blindfold from Litty’s eyes for guiding to Ann’s place.

In front of Ann’s front door, the blindfold was again put on Litty and the door opened to a mystical place, bathed in candle-light with soulful music serenading the guests and pretty nymphs (ahem?) gently cascading confetti on the new bride…..

From there on we had a small cake cutting ceremony when the barbarian in Ann reared its ugly head. She took a hunk of cake and brutally smeared it all over Litty’s face… Poor Georgy who saw it all was appalled! Anyways it was Litchi cake and made up for a nice facial.

Then we felt the indescribable need to deck up Litty with Jasmine…as a reminiscence of her wedding day.

This was followed by some very nice Chinese grub. One must admire Ann’s courage, that despite a leaky potty she still stubbornly had some CHICKEN soup.

This is followed by a nice long session of ‘Life Lessons’ of……

Oops, that fell to the censor’s scissors…


(Interlude)


Tomorrow afternoon, Litty leaves for Dubai-The Land of Sheiks…we will all miss her…terribly!!

Especially maybe the two of us at i-flex, who nearly had her all for ourselves…

This is, to the end of a Chapter in Veloni L’s life and start of a brighter and even more memorable Chapter …which Litty herself must pen down that we may all read and see…right, Littu?

Guess, she’ll reply only when she reaches Dubai...

Poetry

When Life Begins Anew?

When the world begin anew
the flowers will burst aglow,
and sinews glisten with dew;
will the past forget to see,
the burning hope or the fading dream...

Or what will man profit this world?
If he lived for his own
and none for him was bourne.
Will he cry and seek to weep
upon his perdition, the price his leap...

When the heart stops to listen
its rhythmn and it's calling.
Will humanity now look to see,
does it not matter if
it seeks not its destiny?

-20 July 2007
Bangalore

Littu's Marriage Vows...

Aloha Girlies…we finally came back from Litty’s fairytale wedding and here is the fabled tale!

2nd June arrived and it was glorious Saturday. Ann and I book ourselves on the 5:30 pm on bus to Trivandrum…which finally arrived at 7. We kept ourselves occupied with some chitter-batter till both of us knocked of to sleep with the intention of waking up for dinner. We slept so well that dinner-time came and went and we didn’t know about it till next morning.

We reached Hot n Humid Trivandrum at 10:30 in the morning, when Litty and her brother came to pick us up. Litty was already looking the part of a bride decked up in gold...
When we reached home, aunty warmly welcomed us with a glorious breakfast of appam and chicken stew! And what a stew it was... With 6 appams, a glass of tang and tea, a chunk of banana halwa and a lone banana, happily jostling for space in my tummy, I knew right that I was going to enjoy the wedding immensely.

We had a small nap after breakfast and got up again for lunch... after being food-deprived for more than 12 hours; you could say we needed all the nourishment we could get.

That evening was memorable one, where everybody and anybody who knew Litty came over to wish the bride and her family… Mallini (who had stayed with us for a few days while we were in our first hostel) came to see her too. She’s expecting her first child in Oct. The evening ended with a grand dinner of...More APPAMs (they called it ‘LIVE’ then as it was being freshly made) and chicken stew, followed by halwa and tea to wash it all down.

That was the last night Litty slept as a spinster...

Since Litty had to be at the beauty parlour at 5:30 am in the morning! All three of us spent the night together at her aunt’s place; who lived nearby the parlour.

Next morning began at 5:00 am. Litty woke up early to ready herself and because of the excitement, Ann and I slept light and awoke to Litty’s departure...Litty saw Ann's head emerge from under the cover and she rebuked- GO back to sleep!!!. We obeyed.

We didn’t sleep much after that, but gradually got ourselves out of the bed at 7. We made our way to the parlour where the last touches to Litty’s make-up was being put in place. She was looking divine...in a white and gold embroidered sari embellished with crystal work. To say that we felt nostalgic would be an understatement. I guess it was then it finally dawned on us that Litty was ACTUALLY getting married and going away...

All three of us were then carted back to Litty’s home, where there was a small prayer and a ‘Dhakshina’ ceremony where Litty had to gift a lemon in a pan leaf to all the people who mentored her through out her life...
Nah! the Velonies Spinster didn’t get one but I suppose she can gift us something else in return for our hostel MENTORSHIP (aka Life Lessons)...

Ann happily got in everyone’s way to get her own photo coverage of the ceremony as you can see from the yahoo album I circulated earlier. After Litty left in her bridal car for the church; from being at the forefront of the action, we somehow managed to get left behind…. It was a deja vu from Ann wedding when Brini and I got ourselves locked up in room while the rest of the crowd had left for her nuptials only this time it was Ann and I; while everybody else left in their respective cars we us happily waved at them go by. Tinku (Litty’s bro) did some excellent Disaster Management by getting another car while one of Litty’s aunts drove us to the stop where a bus was waiting to take us to the church.

From there began a long and arduous journey to the little village in the middle of a forest...where Litty’s wedding was to be held. We were entering the official rubber plantation country with trees of either side of the bus. We hoped that the climate would get a little cooler because of the trees...but it did NOT. Sweating form every pore in our body, we made it in time for the wedding. There too Ann was in her full form, snapping away to glory and trust me, she had some real acrobatic poses up her sleeve to get the best shots…he he he!

The wedding was at 11:30 and by the time the clock hit 1; Sunil and Litty were man and wife!!!! It was charming ceremony with most of the mass being sung which is a trademark of the Orthodox masses.

We headed to the reception which was a little way off from the church. There we drank some hot water which did nothing to quench our thirst and then downed some lime juice which did.

Thanks to Tinku’s intervention, we managed to enter the reception through a secret entrance from the side to get the best view of the couple and the best seats. After the initial prayer, we feasted on chicken fry, beef fry, appam and chicken stew, rice and curd curry, some yummy vegetable cooked in curd, spicy fish gravy, pickle, chutney, salad and topped it off with an ice-cream (which we incidentally had in the car during our journey to the train station).

Since we had to catch the return train at 3:15, we hurriedly swallowed our lunch and left the hall by 2. We reached the station well in time for the train which finally came in at 4. There too we had a brief burst of exercise when we galloped at full speed to find our AC compartment.

Did I mention that we were the most ridiculously dressed individuals on the railway platform...yes, in our full wedding regalia; we elicited quite a number of strange looks from the by-standers.

Did I mention that our bogey was swarming with kids...tiny tots of nothing, and yeah, there was a mouse skirting around the place too...

Did our misery end here? Nope...

We were hungry within an hour of being in the train because of our light lunch and the hectic sprinting on the railway platform and what made it worse was, because we were in the AC compartments, none of the banana-fritter vendors or the chai/coffeewallas were allowed into the compartment. All we had to munch were Marie biscuits (I bet Rebi’s smiling now), which was a cold comfort as it did nothing to alleviate our hunger pangs. We tried to get down at one of the smaller stations to buy chips but before we walked a few steps, the train started moving and again we burnt some more of our precious calories to catch the running train. It was the first time I got into a moving locomotive…it funny how an over imaginative mind can conjour up the worst case scenarios possible in case I missed a step. We continued like this in penance till about 8:30 pm when we reached the Thrissur station, to buy our dinner which consisted of egg curry parota. I don’t remember food tasting so good…

All in all, it was a wonderful and uplifting experience to see one's dear friend, who has not only been a part of our lives but also my roommate for 5 beautiful years get married and start a new begining.

GOOD GOOD NEWS!!!

As penned down by Ann...

It that time in one’s life… when you move on from Miss to Mrs…. From a young girl to a young woman…. From spending time at beauty parlors to cutting veggies…..

It’s a new phase…. With new interesting learning ;) (we all know what that is)….. and Guess who is taking the plunge…..

IT IS OUR VERY OWN, VERY SPECIAL…. The one and only Marangoly’s favourite LIttty ET…..

Yes guys…. Litty is getting married to “a guy” of course….

It is some kind of a fairy tale wedding… where the guy comes and get so swept off his feeet, that he sees her and before he leaves her house he expresses his interest to marry her…. And of course “MARRY HER FAST”…..

He actually was amazed by her obvious intelligence and he also specifically mentioned that she looked very pretty in real life… rather than in the photo…

SO it’s the JHAT MANGNI (quick engagement) PAT BYAAH (quicker wedding) scenario….. (translations for Remi’s benefit) …. She is getting engaged on the 28th of May ( The same day I got engaged…. Signs of perfect marriage… ) and getting married on the 4th of June…

So this prince charming is now kidnapping our dear Veloni L…. to the land of the Arabs and the Sheiks…. Dubai….

The only thing that’s troubling Litty is that she is hoping her kids done turn out like Remi…. But I guess that’s something that she may have to live with….

It's Cool when it's Hot... Chennai!!

Update from Chennai.

Babs and I went gallivanting to Chennai last weekend to seek the elusive Shikks of Rhone Island!

Babs’ feelings about the travel was quite obvious (see snap Rebi enroute to Chennai)… anyways after much cajoling and blackmailing; The Rebi-Reme Show set off to Chennai. Luckily, we got the side berth for two; with none in between (snigger, snigger!!).

The sleeping space was obviously created keeping in mind the general Indian Stature- 5 ft-nothings…so the Vertically-Challenged Spinsters spent the night in various space-conserving Yogic poses (let’s take a short 5 sec thought break to remember Suni’s study mode in V Villa).

That night we slept for 5 hours ….check out babs after the night' sleep.



Come next morning, we reached an hour late… Shikks and her poor mum in the tow picked us up from the station and we headed to Suni’s place. Once comfortably settled there I inaugurated my presence by breaking a water glass at the breakfast table, much to the consternation of poor Suresh. We then spent the next 2 hours in our Royal Veloni Pastime- Bathing.

Suni had a date in office so she left at 11, Suresh retired to bed (probably with a Veloni induced headache) and the three of us took of to one of Chennai’s HOTtest (pun intended), new mall... City Centre.

It was a hell. I mean the air conditioning was not working; there was such a cheyrie crowd and the coffee day there, was not serving Babs’s fav cold coffee. Unfortunately, the mall was so treacherously designed that once you enter it, there was no way out….!

We went to the top most floor and there was no exit in sight, we looked and searched and cursed and mopped about till finally we guessed that the secret exit was located at near the INOX multiplex which was jam packed with eewwu-people… it was a traumatic experience coming through…and we don’t want to talk about it (right, Shikks).

We then took a rick (trust me they are worse than the Mumbai Underworld when it comes to extortion) and headed for Ispahani Centre. We had lunch there and then tried to go a Sari shop in Annanagar cause Rabi wanted to pick up some saris for her mum. The auto journey was so long and the Chennai sun so hot that we felt our brains frying, sunny side up.. Just when we could take it no more, Shikks suspected her monthly (ahem) vigil so we gladly took a detour and headed to her place.

Well…it was a false alarm but all the same it was a good excuse to spend the afternoon snoozing away in her room. In the evening we headed back to Suni’s place and she had grand plans to take us to the theatre at the Allianze Francois. Shikks came out in a ravishing red vest that all of us wanted to grab. And that’s how the shopping itinerary for the next day got fixed too.

The play was fun …generally about dysfunctional love and relationships. It ended at 9 and the next event was to dine at Bike n Barrel.

Now Bike n Barrel pub was some thing else. Three years ago when I was visiting Chennai, Bike n Barrel was a chic pub with a classy clientele. With a motor-bike suspended from the ceiling and minimal crowd, the ambience was appealing. I even found a traditional Tamilian family complete with the Kanjeevaram sari sitting in that place.

Switch to today, it is deformed enter-at-your-own-risk zone. There were crowds of not-so-nice-looking-people in local clothing and bleached hair. We just scooted from the site. We headed instead towards a nice Mediterranean restaurant for dinner. It was a very nice evening…a full belly and a full heart. hmmm….

Sunday, was a very lazy Sunday. I think we got up at 11 that morning. We had promised the XIME gang that we would meet up for lunch at a restaurant called ‘Cascade’. And of course, we were an hour late as usual. After the general hogging and snap-snapping, we went for shopping at Lifestyle. Each of us picked up the same knitted vest as what Shikks had worn for the pub-night-out…in different colours of course.



Our last stop was to the train station. We met a mildly corrupt auto rickshaw fellow who charged us Rs.60 for Rs.40 ride….but then beggars can’t be choosers!!