Day 2 Jammu: the cocktail party. Hosted by jiju, and he was the perfect host!! Except for the DJ everyone was lively :P The party started with a few old ghazals…who listens to ghazals these days?? But apparently they found a huge following amongst the crowd. Like the previous day the drinks available were Scotch and Vodka…much to my utter dismay!! The lively bubbly (read beer) was nowhere to be seen. But the starters were awesome and completely filling. It was another day for the dancers in us to show our dancing prowess. The high of the evening was the dance contest between Bala and Jiju. But Jiju inspite of his 10 years handicap beat Bala convincingly. The saving grace for Bala was the fact that he was able to beat a trained dancer, who happened to be the bride’s cousin, convincingly. This dancing session was followed by the dinner and a walk back home with uncle (Groom’s father). The discussion that followed at home was the high of the day. With everyone around, pulling the leg of the groom no end, it was anybody’s guess, who ended up being talking almost nothing!
Day 3: The Muhurat. Another late morning rise, and I did manage to go for a walk in the morning. The breakfast was bread and egg bhurjee!! Something I totally love!! Another cards session followed….then we were called down to apply haldi to the guy!! And guess who was the most enthusiastic?? Jiju again!! The groom’s clothes were literally ripped of his bodyby the savages (read us) when we had to apply mehndi. Followed by another fest of making the groom eat some kind of Jammu uthappam!!
The best part was the afternoon!! :) Went to Pahalwan Di Hatti…to have lassi!! To our utter dismay the lassi was out of stock!! Had badam milk instead and went back home…. The good thing about the journey was the tea we had under the willow tree!!
The evening again was a gala affair….dinner and dhol!! And good enough the bubbly made its appearance!! :)
Day 4: The wedding!!
Preparations began early morning. Went to the railway station to pick up King Kong and another friend of Kapai. Slept in the car :P got home and had a royal breakfast of poori and sabji…amazing achar to go along. Then we had a game of cards. Surprisingly we had a session of cards almost every day!! Settled the bills only at the end. The lunch for a change was pure vegetarian!! Settled inside and rested. Surprisingly the room was so spacious to fit us all and so small from the outside!! In the meanwhile we were all also involved in the leg pulling of balla and bala who were to get married in the coming weeks. All this happened in the sutta breaks on the rooftop.
Uncle had arranged for the wedding headgear for all of us!! And we all made a pleasant sight in them. Bedecked and bejeweled we came downstairs, and the dulha was ready there!! with loads of currency note garlands hanging around his neck!! Dressed up we made a headway to the wedding venue. Walked the initial 1 k.m. and hopped onto a cab arranged for the same.
The venue was a centre of great drama!! The brides’ friends wanted the groom to sing a song for them, which he sulkingly did, but an effort to get the same out from the bride was quickly smothered. The food was great and I had a lot of tikkis which incidentally were made in pure ghee! That was a folly mebbe!! I was so screwed for it later!! Had a good dinner there with the guys.
The next venue was the brides house where the feras were to take place. Was a marathon 5 hours wait for the wedding to get over!! In between we were kept entertainedby balla’s photography (pics of the black night sky, a cable) and bala’s antics! And also the periodic snacks and tea that came along. Had around 5 cups of tea!! And then it rained!! Only for a while though…and we had fun trying to run for cover. But all’s well that ends well. We all headed home amongst a lot of fanfare. Reached home at 5 in the morning!! King Kong was slated to take an early morning train…Koshy, Anju and me were to stay back for the further trip to Srinagar. And also there was the reception dinner to attend the next day.
Day 5: King kong left early morning, Vishi, Bala and Balla followed in the afternoon. We all had a nice breakfast in the morning of chole-bhature and rested all day!! We had a tough time getting our stuff out of the guys room :) which was now to be converted to the nuptial room. We helped in decorating it too. The reception in the evening was amazing!! There was a fish dish, almost like grilled fish but made with a lot of ghee…was the dish of the evening!! Lost count of how many fish I devoured!! Another nice thing on the offer was fresh lime soda!! The groom and the bride cut a huge cake and the cake made amazing dessert!
Headed home and slept in the hall downstairs coz the erstwhile guy room was now transformed into the nuptial room!! We slept at around two in the morning, all anxious because Srinagar beckoned us the next morning :)
Friday, May 1, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
The Wedding Diaries
The journey begins
I was still finishing the coffee almond ice-cream from Baskin & Robins when Anish came. Strange co-incidence he the earlier time he had come…I was again having the same ice-cream!!
It had been a real long day at work…and Anish finally confirmed at 11 pm that he was starting for Mumbai. All this while, I was talking to Koshy about the timing of the train and the originating station. And Anish had got stuck at work. Once he came in, we started talking about the things that were to be expected in Jammu. Then we started on an hour long chit-chat about the people in our batch already married and the impending wedding of other friends. Gradually we dozed off.
Both of us woke up at 5:30 (an oddly-unearthly early hour) and started getting dressed after taking a shower. The journey was going to be long…so we also used deodorants in excess :P reached the station well in time where we were joined by Koshy and Rachel (hereafter referred to as Anju, she prefers her pet name)
The first day of the journey was pretty much uneventful. We were accompanied by a gujarati family also travelling to Jammu. We decided to play a movie during the day, watched “Stoneman Murders”. The others dozed off while I picked up another time pass movie. We also bought a couple of packs of cards which proved to be our undoing (wait for the undoing story). Towards the night, after having dinner all the 4 of us and the gujju family sat down to watch “Rab ne bana di Jodi”.
I woke up the next morning in Ambala to a pleasant weather (actually Anju hit me hard on my hand to wake me up). Had wanted to get down there and let Anju know about the same. But when she woke me up at Ambala I rued my decision. I could have peacefully slept another few hours. The train so far was rite on time. As we crossed Jallandhar, we started with our game of cards. Anju wanted to make good the losses she had already incurred while playing cards. And here is where our troubles started.
As we neared Chakki Bank, we were stopped in the middle of our game by 2 constables of the Punjab police. One of them asked me and Koshy to accompany him and took us inside the pantry. That was where the interrogation started. We were interrogated about what were we playing, whether we were gambling and all. I did most of the talking which the cop didn’t like :( then started a classic case of “Prisoners Dilemma”. Both of our groups (me and Koshy 1, Anish and Anju 2) were being interrogated separately and our confessions cross-checked. We were threatened with a fine of 20 K which was totally absurd. Then they tried the threatening angle, threatening to get us down at Chakki Bank. “Chittar padenge tere do”!! (You’ll get two slaps from me). After a lot of haggling he agreed to let us go wit a “Minor fine” of Rs.10000. When we expressed our inability to repay, the bargaining began. We agreed to give them whatever we had and handed over all our money. What followed can best be described as a robbery by the men in uniform. Our wallets were ceremoniously checked for any hidden notes and we were also frisked!! Finally he let us go after leaving us with only 100 Rs in our pockets. The complaint that he was writing so far was torn off and we reached our berths.
By this time the train had got late by 2 hours. We had informed Akhilesh (the guy to whose wedding we were headed) about our misfortune already and by the time we reached Jammu we were already famous!! Mikku (Akki’s cousin) had come to pick us up and we just about managed to fit into the car. Packed in and reached the house decked up like a bride to be! Was met by the rest of the guys there and was immediately sent back to the good old MBA days. After light snacks, I went jogging while the others changed and got ready. The jog took me rel far and by the time I came back it was already dark. Then began the dinner and best of all the starters. Never knew that Wazwan (Kashmiri cuisine) tasted this great!! Tapak-maans (ribs of lamb), fried chicken and nadir monji (fried lotus sticks) formed the starters and I was already full on them!! We chatted around with the family members till late in the night. But it wasn’t over yet!! Then began the dance to the stereo, and bal was at his devastating best!! We all enjoyed every moment of his performance. Wound up around 1 a.m. Had to go out in the night to drop the inebriated cooks (good they got drunk after cooking) home. Came back home very tired but still looking forward to the next day….
The kashmiri wedding….End of day one…..
I was still finishing the coffee almond ice-cream from Baskin & Robins when Anish came. Strange co-incidence he the earlier time he had come…I was again having the same ice-cream!!
It had been a real long day at work…and Anish finally confirmed at 11 pm that he was starting for Mumbai. All this while, I was talking to Koshy about the timing of the train and the originating station. And Anish had got stuck at work. Once he came in, we started talking about the things that were to be expected in Jammu. Then we started on an hour long chit-chat about the people in our batch already married and the impending wedding of other friends. Gradually we dozed off.
Both of us woke up at 5:30 (an oddly-unearthly early hour) and started getting dressed after taking a shower. The journey was going to be long…so we also used deodorants in excess :P reached the station well in time where we were joined by Koshy and Rachel (hereafter referred to as Anju, she prefers her pet name)
The first day of the journey was pretty much uneventful. We were accompanied by a gujarati family also travelling to Jammu. We decided to play a movie during the day, watched “Stoneman Murders”. The others dozed off while I picked up another time pass movie. We also bought a couple of packs of cards which proved to be our undoing (wait for the undoing story). Towards the night, after having dinner all the 4 of us and the gujju family sat down to watch “Rab ne bana di Jodi”.
I woke up the next morning in Ambala to a pleasant weather (actually Anju hit me hard on my hand to wake me up). Had wanted to get down there and let Anju know about the same. But when she woke me up at Ambala I rued my decision. I could have peacefully slept another few hours. The train so far was rite on time. As we crossed Jallandhar, we started with our game of cards. Anju wanted to make good the losses she had already incurred while playing cards. And here is where our troubles started.
As we neared Chakki Bank, we were stopped in the middle of our game by 2 constables of the Punjab police. One of them asked me and Koshy to accompany him and took us inside the pantry. That was where the interrogation started. We were interrogated about what were we playing, whether we were gambling and all. I did most of the talking which the cop didn’t like :( then started a classic case of “Prisoners Dilemma”. Both of our groups (me and Koshy 1, Anish and Anju 2) were being interrogated separately and our confessions cross-checked. We were threatened with a fine of 20 K which was totally absurd. Then they tried the threatening angle, threatening to get us down at Chakki Bank. “Chittar padenge tere do”!! (You’ll get two slaps from me). After a lot of haggling he agreed to let us go wit a “Minor fine” of Rs.10000. When we expressed our inability to repay, the bargaining began. We agreed to give them whatever we had and handed over all our money. What followed can best be described as a robbery by the men in uniform. Our wallets were ceremoniously checked for any hidden notes and we were also frisked!! Finally he let us go after leaving us with only 100 Rs in our pockets. The complaint that he was writing so far was torn off and we reached our berths.
By this time the train had got late by 2 hours. We had informed Akhilesh (the guy to whose wedding we were headed) about our misfortune already and by the time we reached Jammu we were already famous!! Mikku (Akki’s cousin) had come to pick us up and we just about managed to fit into the car. Packed in and reached the house decked up like a bride to be! Was met by the rest of the guys there and was immediately sent back to the good old MBA days. After light snacks, I went jogging while the others changed and got ready. The jog took me rel far and by the time I came back it was already dark. Then began the dinner and best of all the starters. Never knew that Wazwan (Kashmiri cuisine) tasted this great!! Tapak-maans (ribs of lamb), fried chicken and nadir monji (fried lotus sticks) formed the starters and I was already full on them!! We chatted around with the family members till late in the night. But it wasn’t over yet!! Then began the dance to the stereo, and bal was at his devastating best!! We all enjoyed every moment of his performance. Wound up around 1 a.m. Had to go out in the night to drop the inebriated cooks (good they got drunk after cooking) home. Came back home very tired but still looking forward to the next day….
The kashmiri wedding….End of day one…..
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
The debate...
Now here comes the issue of whether it’s only the money that matters. More often than not it’s more than just the money. The social stigmata attached with being unemployed is huge enough to deal with. One good thing companies follow while deciding the firing dates is the fact that more often than not it’s a Friday. Imagine a person getting up on a Wednesday, getting dressed up and realizing just about when he is to turn the ignition on, that he was fired only the day before. At least on a Saturday the feeling is a little reduced, coz you weren’t anyway going to work. But here we are getting a little away from the initial point that how one takes the entire decision, taken by someone who doesn’t even know who you are, how you have performed, about firing you.
Initially when I came to know about the severance package paid in our firm, there was a sudden excitement!! Would you believe getting fired, suddenly began to sound exciting. Thoughts of pre-paying the home loan, a Europe trip began to form in the mind. But what after that? Will I be able to cope up with hours of boredom stuck up at home? And will the social stigmata of being unemployed….be too much? The burdens of the loans that are on the head…the impending wedding bells….have heard a lot about all set marriages being put on hold because of the recession. Being a banker, which was a privilege a few months back suddenly, becomes a disqualification for being a groom! Yet another silver lining!! The good thing is, being single helps!! And here in a situation like this it sure comes as a benefit!!...no dates, no money spent on wooing someone….and better still…no relationship…no expectations!! Another way of justifying my single status.
A good bargain would be to get fired and get a job in the first month!! Not only does it leave you richer but also re-instates the steady cash flows to keep going. The severance package would be more than the bonus you would expect in atleast another 2-3 years. So you end up a winner. But still wishful thinking!! Isn’t it?
Initially when I came to know about the severance package paid in our firm, there was a sudden excitement!! Would you believe getting fired, suddenly began to sound exciting. Thoughts of pre-paying the home loan, a Europe trip began to form in the mind. But what after that? Will I be able to cope up with hours of boredom stuck up at home? And will the social stigmata of being unemployed….be too much? The burdens of the loans that are on the head…the impending wedding bells….have heard a lot about all set marriages being put on hold because of the recession. Being a banker, which was a privilege a few months back suddenly, becomes a disqualification for being a groom! Yet another silver lining!! The good thing is, being single helps!! And here in a situation like this it sure comes as a benefit!!...no dates, no money spent on wooing someone….and better still…no relationship…no expectations!! Another way of justifying my single status.
A good bargain would be to get fired and get a job in the first month!! Not only does it leave you richer but also re-instates the steady cash flows to keep going. The severance package would be more than the bonus you would expect in atleast another 2-3 years. So you end up a winner. But still wishful thinking!! Isn’t it?
The axe falls....
To begin what I started a long time back, seated in the office chair. The news had been trickling down for almost a month now, and then this happened. It wasn’t that we were expecting this but we were probably taken in by the suddenness of the act.
Going back in to the office after the customary after lunch walk, we saw the first signs. She walked down the stairs talking to someone on the phone. That was probably the first indication, but there were reasons for doubt too. I walked into the room as usual, and there were a few hushed discussions going on between the people there and I could smell fear in the air. The room reeked of fear. But what was the discussion about? Was it about the numbers, or was it about who is going to get out. But the new was enormous once it came out. A guy whom we had taken a couple of years back, for a huge premium kicked out. To say the least I was shocked. The other two were relatively insignificant, but it was P who was the shocker. I still couldn’t believe that it’s the same guy with whom I had a great one to one talk in the last office picnic. He was the one who gave me guidance about which home loan to take. Yes he was famous for his outbursts on the brokers, yes he was known for hi volatile temper but he was unarguably the best. Never had I seen a man of his integrity and composure when dealing with those around him. He knew when to heat up and when to calm down.
But what concerned me more than all this was the fact that A was still to come with new about her team. A and me share the same birthdays. By this time the news that so far had been from the horses’ mouth had become a confirmed one from confirmed sources. But Gori Bi was the last to know about it. And we were told as if it was common news, BAU (Business As Usual). And so it went. The 5 o’ clock tea came and we got back to our Parle-G/ginger tea routine. And as soon as it began, it was over.
The whole process was so brutal and quick, no one, not even the people directly affected were in any pain. They had their own fat severance packages to take home. Huge enough to satisfy all their need for atleast one year. Or in other words LAU (Life As Usual). There want enough time for them to say their final byes, the final handshakes or to the deserving few the final jhappis. Made me think…who next?
Going back in to the office after the customary after lunch walk, we saw the first signs. She walked down the stairs talking to someone on the phone. That was probably the first indication, but there were reasons for doubt too. I walked into the room as usual, and there were a few hushed discussions going on between the people there and I could smell fear in the air. The room reeked of fear. But what was the discussion about? Was it about the numbers, or was it about who is going to get out. But the new was enormous once it came out. A guy whom we had taken a couple of years back, for a huge premium kicked out. To say the least I was shocked. The other two were relatively insignificant, but it was P who was the shocker. I still couldn’t believe that it’s the same guy with whom I had a great one to one talk in the last office picnic. He was the one who gave me guidance about which home loan to take. Yes he was famous for his outbursts on the brokers, yes he was known for hi volatile temper but he was unarguably the best. Never had I seen a man of his integrity and composure when dealing with those around him. He knew when to heat up and when to calm down.
But what concerned me more than all this was the fact that A was still to come with new about her team. A and me share the same birthdays. By this time the news that so far had been from the horses’ mouth had become a confirmed one from confirmed sources. But Gori Bi was the last to know about it. And we were told as if it was common news, BAU (Business As Usual). And so it went. The 5 o’ clock tea came and we got back to our Parle-G/ginger tea routine. And as soon as it began, it was over.
The whole process was so brutal and quick, no one, not even the people directly affected were in any pain. They had their own fat severance packages to take home. Huge enough to satisfy all their need for atleast one year. Or in other words LAU (Life As Usual). There want enough time for them to say their final byes, the final handshakes or to the deserving few the final jhappis. Made me think…who next?
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
long lost family...
Beginning this blog for nth time...its high time I write something and go about to end it eventually...have had umpteen number of botched attempts at writing ONE complete blog...but never materialized...but that was till today :)
Specially with so many things happening in life, this was bound to happen sooner than later... So here I am, beginning what I hope will be a long lasting affair with blogging (since I haven't had much success with affairs) And this is a recollection of whatever happened in January :) I should've started earlier....the beginning of the year was an opportune moment...but that was when I began with this new thing, keeping track of the cash I spent... have been keeping accounts for some time now...but was restricted to monitoring only by bank account and re-distributing it into various heads....but this time around I wanted it to be an even more detailed analysis!! so here goes another sheet into the template....showing the way the cash was spent too... The end result, a good enough excel sheet that enables me analyze my pending patterns!! Also helps me remember what I’ve lent to whom! One resolution done (oh.. I didn't tell you it was one of my resolution :) ) All of a sudden out of nowhere I have developed this pain in the left leg...strange it is! It occurs only when I am sitting!! Horrible pain..makes me feel like wanting to cut my leg off!! Imagine the pain being so horrible that I think about cutting the left leg!! My shooting leg in football!! (For those who don’t know....Football is religion for me) showed it to a doctor and he came up with this problem in the back..something related to the spinal vertebrae rubbing against each other....and recommended me to undergo a MRI scan (Magnetic Resonance Imaging something like that) but that gave me an opportunity to go home for a second opinion!! A welcome break away from work. At home I was told that one of my cousins was getting married...had lost all touch with their family ages back....and what turns out to be better news...they were all in Mumbai! On reaching back Mumbai I got in touch and that is when the floodgates opened!! I was getting calls from all the people of the LOST family...(would you believe that I go a call while running the marathon!! and YES, I did run the full Standard Chartered Mumbai marathon, 2009)I found out that I had a set of 5 cousins and their families in Mumbai itself!! Then began the journey!! Going to everybody's house...and getting acquainted with everyone. One good that came out of all this was the fact that I came to know a lot about my mother....whom I had little memory off...was 7 when she passed away. Then came the engagement and the wedding, where I caught up with the rest of the family, and suddenly I was mama, chacha, sala and devar!! (all uncles in English...how ridiculous!! you cant differentiate between relations!!) On the work front it has been a pretty bad month. banking seems no longer is as lucrative a job as it was an year back. Lunch table discussions were about who is gonna be kept and who getting fired. And finally one day the list arrived. I could smell fear in the air. A bloody ruthless firing, 10 mins to leave the office, accesses withdrawn before the hour was over and done with it. No time to say final byes (Should I say Dasavidaniyan?) The biggest achievement for the month was the Marathon!! was aiming at a sub 4 hour time, but got big time cramps between 32-34 kms mark and lost 20 mins in the process. February has come with little promise. We got our shares of the already cut short bonuses, not even enough to buy a laptop! but yeas good reason enough to celebrate at Sheesha :) was joined by a couple of friends and the walk that followed the dinner on bandra bandstand will well be remembered for the laughter that followed all the discussions! Time to pack up....heading back home...more laterz... PS: the end was a bit abrupt...wasn’t it??
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