WHITE MISCHIEF

Well this entry has to start with good news I got today from Norway. This being that the great Norwegian couple Eva Aune Tiller and Stian Espen Iversen finally won the bidding war for their first flat together . I, being Indian, have already booked a room with them for myself and Amrit. A true Indian.

Now for the regular entry which are getting quite irregular. This week I have been to my friends wedding. Yes, another wedding. Well how the hell do you think we sustain a population over the 1.1 billion mark? Answer: we get married and we have kids and voila. I have revealed the secret formula. Of course the secret code is the three little letters "e", "s ", and "x" in the right combination of course...

Sorry that topic always distracts me from my real story. The story now...

The wedding was of my friend Kulbhushan (Kullu), in the hill state of Uttarakhand, in the beautiful city of Dehradun (I wrote beautiful just to please my friend, otherwise everyone knows the only beautiful city in India is my hometown Chandigarh).
















Well what are weddings without alcohol? A t the start of the wedding I didn't know many people but everybody knows what a social lubricant Mr Smirnoff is. So in his great company suddenly all the people I did not know a moment ago became my long lost family members. As usual I did try a few of my regular (I mean the only two) dance moves. As the night's festivities died down and with no fist fights, my friends and I were not satisfied for the night so it had to be a short road trip in the middle of the night through wild forests to the holy Hindu city of Rishikesh.

It was a lovely drive with dense forests on both sides and wild animals - I got a glimpse of spotted deer but with a moonless night and no traffic on the road, reflection from a humble deer's eyes can be a scary sight. The rest of the night was uneventful - what does one expect in a week night when 98% of the city's people are sleeping? As we knew everything in the city would be closed apart from the tea stalls, after a cup of tea it was back in the car and back on the road.


The next day it was decided that we do the same road trip again and then attend the wedding. Road trips took priority even though the wedding was why we had collected in Dehradun in the first place. I'm still trying to figure out what's with boys and road trips. But it was worth it - it was a beautiful trip - beautiful mountains with a river running along side the road, the white water, camp sites on the river banks for the rafters, it was just so beautiful. Guess I will be back there someday and doing the whole trip on the river. But today I had a wedding to attend so it was back to base. This time the driver was my friend JP. I mention his name because I have been doing road trips with him for over 10 years and have never have let him drive. So it was time I gave him the wheel and let him drive. A great driver.

The wedding started with the groom climbing on top of a white horse (yes like a prince and yes, how glad it wasn't me). This prince was in control of everything from his elevated position. According to Hindu custom the wedding takes place at night and so it was appropriate for the priest to take time out gazing at the stars and predicting the bride and groom 's future life. By now it had reached 03:30 in the morning, and we had reached the venue 7pm the previous evening so we waited (and partied) with the groom for the rest of the night and the most of the early morning.
And then at 3:30 they started the wedding vows.

But by this time the writer

of this entry had once again become slave to the red Russians and needed a bed to crash in. So bed it was and goodbye to the wedding party.

Reunited

This entry covers my return to Motherland to be reunited with my husband for our legal marriage. Yes, for the last 6 weeks we had been living in sin, with permission from our families though.

So into Delhi I flew on (Good) Friday morning, having spent the journey conversing with my newly acquired Uncle Narinder. A lovely chappy who ensured we talked about everything under the sun (in this case, above the clouds and quite close to the moon), including my horror experience of losing my passport on the way to the airport that Thursday evening, and then finding it in the nick of time. Yes, I left work in good time just in case there were tube delays and with the help of my friend Hen, I managed to lug the suitcase onto the train. A couple of stops later I had a panic and thought to check that I was carrying my passport. The panic soared when I discovered I didn't. I rang home ensuring mum and dad turned the house upside down in search for it. They found nothing. I had 4 and a half hours to get to the airport. I decided to go home. Emotions all over the place I got home and checked the house myself. No luck. One final place to look was at work. Dad drove me and my luggage to the office. Got there. Found it hidden in a magazine I had removed from my rucksack just before leaving work at 5.30pm. Incidentally, I had nearly thrown the magazine away but decided not to because Toni had bought me it back in March. My husband saved me (as he always does) and luckily that day I was feeling sentimental. With a little under two hours to go before take off, and a time of 45 minutes to get to the check-in desk (before they refuse boarding late passengers) dad drove me swiftly to Heathrow and I managed to get in queue with 15 minutes to spare. Phew, I made it (only just but nevertheless).

Where was I? Yes, landing at Delhi, I embraced the heat and found my husband smiling at me as I walked with suitcase in tow. It was great to see Toni in the flesh again; it had felt like a lifetime since we had seen each other (in 3D). Kullu and JP came to meet me and they made me feel welcome. Toni and I had 4 days of time and lots to do, so we got on without delay.

First stop and a much needed lunch was at Babu and Geeta's place in Delhi. Geeta cooked a big lunch with lots of delicious dishes and chocolate ice cream to finish it off. We sat about discussing life and blogs and even gleaned words of wisdom from the happily married couple. We left for Chandigarh and reached home in 5 hours - not bad timing. With little time to spare, it was straight to the tailors (it's a must, I'm a girl) for sari blouses and stuff. We had Dominos delivered for dinner and I happily scoffed my pepperoni pizza.

Saturday saw us rising late and shopping til we dropped - literally. The sun shone down on us and after a few hours of strolling around Sector 17, we were shattered. We decided that we'd go see a movie on Sunday morning so we hit the cinema for Namaste London which proved to be a very good film. Then we dined next to the (quite) famous Harbhajan Mann - for those not acquainted with this name, he's an actor and a singer in Bollywood and just so happens to be related to Toni. I knew my masis would be extremely delighted that I met him so I got hubby to take some pix so I could show masis when I flew back to the UK.

Then our big day finally arrived: our (legal) wedding. Not quite the glamourous affair as was the 25th February, but as important nevertheless. We stood outside the court at 0830hrs waiting for our witnesses to arrive. Then it was upto the DC's office for some signatures and small talk. Next stop was the admin office where a few more signatures, some tea and a little cash meant that we were finally legal and registered. Congratulations were in order and a bottle of champers to celebrate. With lots of last minute tasks on the agenda, and some much needed rest, we hit the road for Delhi, it taking 7 hours for us to reach. Spending our last evening we shared our tears.

We cried our ways home having said goodbye at the airport. I jetted home to begin the wait for my Toni ji to make his way through immigration and land at Heathrow.

The heart may grow fonder when distance is near, but it certainly hurts in the meanwhile. I can't wait for us to start our life together - it'll be true bliss.