One Week To Go!!

I've been terribly tardy (as always) with updating this blog and now that the wedding's a week away, like dot says, I owe it to my blog audience; so here goes.

I think I can safely say at this point that everything major has been taken care of and the minor things are 98% complete. I've got a salon appointment on the 22nd and we leave for Kochi on the 23rd by the Nethravati Express; 30 hours of nothing much to do. My entire khaandaan is travelling together, and so it should be good. I also will take a book along. I have decided to not do any giveaways for the Mumbai reception. It's just too much hassle and quite a waste. What we are doing is a guestbook and I hope to send 'Thank You' notes with a photograph after the wedding. That'd be a nice gesture methinks.

I had my last trial for the Mumbai reception outfit yesterday and it went well; you'll know what it is when you see it :) Poor dot has been running around like crazy with mummy and now daddy getting everything in Kochi organized. I have to say I am very very proud of the way he's handling all of that. Nodot, I hope you're having a good flight home while I write this.

We put up our Christmas tree and the decorations this morning. There was also the changing of curtains, tablecloths, etc., the whole before-Christmas-before-wedding circus. But I have to admit it is great fun. Mum, Dad and me are enjoying every bit of it.

Last Sunday was my first Syrian Orthodox religious experience and aside of my language difficulty, it was a breeze. I made a confession (seriously!) and received Holy Communion. I'm glad I got it done here, as a backup, just in case the train is delayed and we couldn't do it in Kochi on Christmas day.

Reuben came over the day before and brought us wedding gifts. He actually went and got the monogram on the invitation card to be embroidered onto two bathrobes for dot and me and even got us coordinated towels with our names on them! I thought it was a lovely gesture and I am very very touched. I also received wedding greetings from Princy and Aunty Matty. I must remember to take them along so dot can have a look at them - it *is* his wedding too you know! ;)

Anyway, I've got to take a trip down to the store for some sticky tape. I will try (only try) to update this tomorrow, though I doubt there will be much.

One Month To Go!

While the ticker on the blog is freaking the poor nodot out of his mind, I feel collected, peaceful and excited (but in a calm sort of way). I had the most wonderful 17 days in Switzerland with the family or dot and his family (as he would put it) :) - he kept telling everybody, "my family is here and so is Faye" - yes, I'm probably not technically "family" yet but I feel like a part of the Alexander family and I don't know if that's a good or bad thing. They make me feel special and wanted and loved and I guess that's what families are about. Dot's PhD and meeting nodot were the high points of the trip and we had such a great time. It's a pity it all got over before we knew it but we now have the wedding to look forward to and I can't wait!

Dot has been having major heartache with closing shop and saying his goodbyes to a place that has been home for five of probably the most significant years in his life (and our collective lives) and I hate not being able to be around with him. I have my reasons and when I see how he's struggling, they don't sound good enough :( - I don't know if I'll be able to make it up to him ever - I hope he forgives me.

Nodot and me are so like each other, and meeting him and being around him was more than fun. He is an incredibly smart and funny person, and he lets me play "big sister" which is so cool! But my vested interests aside, he's so loving and so crazy, and a major LBDF Internet junkie. It was lovely to have met you nodot - you make me very happy.

Happy PhD to Dot! You're the love of my life and my trophy :))

It was lovely also to be around Mummy and Daddy (dot's) in their element. I feel so accepted and comfortable - and thanks to daddy for the life lessons :)

On the wedding front, I have to get a suit made for dot and nodot and also shoes. My outfit is getting done and I have to finalise all the bookings and see if they need any additional payments or things they need sorted out. The wedding cards are in and they look lovely. Now begins the writing and sending them off. That's going to take a couple of weeks in all.

I hope to be able to do this every day for at least the last month :) - wish me luck and I'll see you here tomorrow.

Loving and Hating

Dot always kids me about how much less complicated it would've been for me to decide to marry some good ol' Mac boy who lived in "Santacruz" (refer to dot for the story behind this word) and was Roman Catholic and all those other things. He reckons it would be much much easier to take an autorickshaw across to "the west" to see him whenever I missed him and wouldn't involve having to pay 30K, going through the aggravation of getting a visa every time, doing a tiny two-week break and trying to pack in enough of each other to last for the next "dry spell". Yes, I won't deny, there've been the ultra-low spells but when I look at all of it with the benefit of hindsight, I would have it no other way. We've learned (the extremely hard way) to make good every little bit of time we have together...and if you've read my earlier blog you'll see that it's not much at all! Sigh...this love thing!

Anyways, the above paragraph is a preamble to my next sentence (and I couldn't bring myself to give you a blog entry without gyaan). I'm going to see dot (again!!) in little over a week and I can't wait! Also, this trip will be doubly special because I also get to meet nodot whom I didn't think I would meet till the wedding! And, of course, we get to celebrate Dr. Dot too! Yay for everything!

On the wedding front, not much has happened other than my mommie going ahead and booking the rich plum cake I hate, to be served at the reception. But honestly, a lot of people rave about it - I just don't know why, but I hate it. HATE is the word :)

I called up the printer and the cards are still getting done. I told him I needed them to take with me to Suisse and he promised to have them ready. It's unsettling when all you have to rely on is someone's word and like I've seen many times, it doesn't count for very much nowadays, particularly when it comes to after-sales service. Here's a sample of what I'm talking about:

An excerpt from a conversation between me and my assembled computer vendor (v) who supplied my machine and whom I have a one year annual maintenance contract (AMC) with.

Day 1

f: Hi, may I speak with Meena?
v: Nahin madam, Meena madam abhi aayi nahin - late aati hain.
f: Office mein kissi se bhi baat karayiye - I want to talk to an engineer, any engineer.
v: Madam, all the engineers have left on service calls.
f: Okay, can you please ask someone to call me back.
v: Definitely madam.

Day 4 (after receiving no call)

f: Hi, may I speak with Meena please?
v: Meena madam abhi yahan kaam nahin karti. Sorry.
f: I called three days ago and asked about my combo drive and speakers which you took more than a month ago? When will I get them back?
v: Tomorrow madam, I will bring them tomorrow. Main engineer bhej deta hoon aapke ghar pe.
f: Very good, thank you.

Day 10 (still no call and no engineer)
(and this time it's Meena on the phone :))
f: Hi Meena, can you please tell me about the status of my combo drive and speakers. It's funny to not have them for so long and not have a replacement. I need to write some CDs and also need to use my speakers and it is very inconvenient.
m: Madam! They haven't sent you your speakers yet?!! I will tell them and send it tomorrow madam; in fact, I will try my level best to send them to you today itself; if not, then early tomorrow morning.
f: Thank you Meena. I appreciate it.

Day 15 (still nothing)
f: Hi I'm calling regarding my combo drive and speakers?
v: Who's speaking?
f: Faye, from Kalina.
(silence and then a little bit of phone tag)
v: Madam, main peon hoon. Office mein koi nahin hai. Aap baad mein phone keejiye.
(slams down receiver before I can react)

Anyways, this whole thing continued on and on and on till I got only my combo drive back just yesterday, after two whole months - all the while, all they needed to say was that it was at the company's service centre and they didn't know how long it would take - reasonable answer I would think, especially after one and a half month of telling me "definitely tomorrow" :)

So here's to waiting anxiously for the cards to be ready before I leave for Suisse; will they, won't they?

'Jhuum' Lens Musings

Dot was here (in India, with me) for a whole 10 days! - my best (and only) excuse for not blogging for close to two months!!! :) The highlight of this holiday was dot being called JHUUM-LENS by a little Haji Ali urchin - hence the name of the blog. We had a lovely lovely time and I hope to be able to put up the pictures in a photoblog with a commentary sometime soon, pending the full-fledged "leak". If someone somehow related to the "uninitiated" side of the family finds us online, it could cause a scandal dot tells me - and I believe him... we could do without any dramas before the wedding. I suppose I could put up a day-to-day written account - we'll see.

Let's first bring you up to speed on the preparations for ze big day! Lots of work got done in these two months and I see everything taking shape (everything except me that is :)) - I daresay, it's all going good. The stuff that's been done so far:
-Photographer - Dot met him and spent three whole hours discussing what he wanted - we're probably getting a couple of rolls of black and white film and some other "high-end" stuff like that. Our jhuum-lens asked all his questions and got all his answers (we hope) - I'm more than glad he's getting what he wants - everybody's happy!
- EmCee - We also met the master of ceremonies and he took dot through the whole jig and explained what goes on at a mac wedding reception. Dot didn't die too much (thankfully) and methinks we'll be okay with a few changes in programme here and there.
- The Thanksgiving mass - We visited the Mount Mary's Basilica and I was thrilled dot loved it. Reuben's going to organise the liturgy and we'll work over e-mail to keep dot in the loop.
- My outfit for the Mumbai reception - I got the fabric (for my bridesmaid also) and it's with the seamstress now - I should be called in for a trial sometime this week.
- The cards - The invitations for the Mumbai reception are in printing as I write this - the main card has the Mumbai details and there is an insert with the Kochi details - I hope to have them ready in a week or so.
- The cake - I've ordered the wedding cake - it's two-tiered and is going to be ivory coloured with a deep orange/rust-coloured drape - the colour of my bridesmaid's outfit - so it's all like an ensemble (how cool are we!) I got only two tiers because both dot and me are small people and we dont' want to have to stand on our toes to be seen from behind the cake :) We're (hopefully) having date and walnut cake slices to serve with the toasting wine (I'll explain the tradition in a later blog) - thing is I love date and walnut cake but the mumster thinks we should have rich fruit cake which "everybody has" becuase that's the done thing - so I'm really not sure which of the two it's going to be - any suggestions? FYI - rich fruit cake is like a slightly lighter version of Christmas pudding. That reminds me, I need to arrange to have the cake picked up on the day. Also, Plaza has little wine glasses so I only need to make arrangements for the porto vinho.
-The decorator - I have booked the service and need to go over and get a fix on the exact colours and flowers I want.

If there's anything I've missed on the "done" list I'll update you when I remember.

The to-do list:
-Suits for the Brothers Karamazov
-Wedding Rings (we have an idea brewing - keep watching this space)
-Music for the reception
-Cars to ferry us around
-A place for the newlyweds to stay (by themselves, preferably)
-Hotel bookings for the in-laws (it's a funny word, I know)
-"Thank You" gifts for those who come to the wedding

Strangely, it's scary when there's little on the to-do list. Again, I will update it as I think of all the other things there are to do.

Goshers! My fingers hurt from all this typing - thank God for all the conditioning from using IM in our long-distance (mostly) relationship. Come to think of it (and now nodot and everybody else who reads this is going to freak - probably even dot), dot and me have spent all of about eight weeks together, in the flesh (no smirking please :)) though we've known each other for more than two years! Imagine if there was no Internet! Methinks we should give away internet connection packs as return gifts at our wedding!! :))

I'll leave you with that shocker for now. Ciao till later.

Mac The Knife

As it turns out, Mr Plaza Banquets has been taking us for a little ride. The whole "monopoly" situation with the decorators does not exist and he's been trying to work out a "cut" for himself from whoever he sent us to. Mum found that out on a trip she made there, to enquire if he would actually consider reducing how much "royalty" he'd charge us for bringing a decorator other than the ones he suggested. But before she said specifically that, she just mentioned that we weren't too happy with the stuff we saw with Ralph and that the Juhu fella was charging us an arm and a leg. Mr Mac then, looking like he had forgotten our "monopoly" discussion, went on to bring out two or three more cards saying "you can try these; or ask your friends if they know anybody good." Mum didn't say anything else and just thanked him and left. So, we reckon we can now get a decorator of our choice and not worry about the royalty. Hurrah!

I'm off to the Maharashtra State Gazette Office today (it's a long story nodot) and I might also go take a look at some fabric for my outfit. Thank heavens today seems less rainy than yesterday; but you just never know.

My thought for the day: Insecurity is like cancer; the longer you take to detect it and treat it, the worse it gets. And yes, it just never goes away altogether.

Nine Months and Counting

It's been a week since I last blogged and close to nine months since I've seen dot. It's funny how these nine months could have been significant for a multitude of reasons and several different ways our lives could've gone - but that's all academic now, isn't it? :)

I cannot say enough how excited I am about this month and every single day and month here forward! I'm going to be with dot for a good part of time till the wedding and that makes the three months to the wedding so much more fun! Yay! I have two friends (I've known them for like forever) getting married in November and I'm going to be their bridesmaid.....how exciting is that?! I promise to keep you posted with a commentary on those weddings too.

About our wedding, I have posted a couple of invite samples to the folksters in Bahrain and e-mailed the possible content and layout for the printing. I will talk to them soon and find out where they're at.

Once I know dot's travel dates, I can make the appointments for all the people who have insisted they meet us together like the photographer and the emcee, and, most importantly, Reuben. That should all be good then.

I still don't have a decorator (heeelllllppp!) - I went and saw the "non-katlic" (to quote Mr Mac of Plaza Banquets) decorator and he turned out to be one who does it for the industrialist/moviestar kind of parties and he quoted me a not-so-funny 25K for the most basic backdrop that he won't even have to make, just assemble from his collection! Avril and me just curled up and died, and very politely said "we'll get in touch with you; thanks for your help anyway." Whenever you decide to marry and do the whole wedding reception jig, nodot, you will find yourself using this line a lot, trust me ;)

Mission Next - Find a decent decorator and fast!

I was chatting online with nodot yesterday and I apparently (according to him) said something profound. I re-read it and I did think it was profound too. I'll repeat it here so we can dissect and freud it (what say dot? :))
[and yes, I've learned from dot to use "freud" as a verb - hence the lowercase "f" - poor ol' Sigmund)

Here goes -->

When you've got something you love, you look after it.

GO MOTORAZR!

And We Have A Winner!

After looking at lines and lines of HTML (do I sound "pro" yet?) and trying weird combinations with very scary outcomes, we have a ticker at the top that doesn't go away! All this when I should be finishing the 25 pending files from SourceMT before I give dot a wake-up call - yay anyways!

Did I Mention...?

I went back to the gym the day before yesterday. My relationship with the gym can be likened to that of a relapsed addict with group therapy...you hate it, but it's what's best for you - your only hope! :)

Masters, Mistresses and Wedding Bells

My search for the emcee took me through virtually all the ads in The Examiner (Cathotlic magazine with a weird name) with pictures of bow-tied and/or suited gentlemen peddling their talkability (sic) and skill at "making your event memorable". One of my calls was to a certain Mr Mendonca who came across as well-spoken and affable, and, the biggest thing, he was available on our function date. He said he'd like to meet both of us, which I explained might not be possible just now because of dot being away. So I agreed to meet him the next day at his Juhu (for dot - I live to the east of Santacruz station and Juhu is in the west) residence. The meeting was nice - both he and his wife (who he said was his partner in planning) are very kind and warm - they are both teachers - but I still cannot get over how strangely dump-like their place looked - and I don't mean cluttered. But they were very very cooperative and forthcoming, and that was such a change from the others I had spoken to. This means we finally have an emcee - yay!

The other thingie I did was to go and pick up the invitation card samples from Wedding Bells; I will post a picture and also send it across to the folksters and nodot - oh yes, and dot too (wink) :)

Mommie and Papa are going to pick the bandhgala today - so Papa can try it and see if any more fitting alterations need to be made - so that too gets done today and can be struck off the list.

To-Do Today:
- Check with Lillian about the Gulfair buddy tickets.
- Check with anybody about discounted tickets (what are friends for after all?!).
- Update "Wedding" Excel sheet :)
- Try to work on an "our wedding" website - I'm more than at sea with this - to think that a few days ago I felt like the next big thing in webpage design :(

Till later then darlings....

Of Ancient Evenings and Distant Music

The title of this post has nothing to do with the post itself, but I just can't get enough of that book! Yeah so it's soppy and sappy, and probably even kitschy somehow, but it has a certain surreal fable-like quality to it and I'm a fan! Anyways, this post is not a book review, and so let me tell you what I've been up to since I was last here.

At the beginning of the week, I was thinking of what we might do for our invitations, knowing we need two separate sets, each giving the Kochi and Mumbai details respectively, and probably two sets of smaller inserts with the same details for people who need to be invited to both ceremonies. We have a small card-printing shop here in Kalina called Wedding Bells (how's that for typical :)) but, to its credit, it is a very unpretentious place and delivers what it promises - cards. Mum was with me, and from the 500-odd designs and found one we loooved. Its beautiful and I hope to be able to get dot and nodot to see it sometime soon. We might use the same one for the Kochi invitation if the folksters would like. I'm going to send them a sample this week and see what they say.

The other wedding thingie I did was to try to find a compère for the Mumbai reception. Jard recommended a certain Raymond Gonsalves (don't giggle you two :)) and I called the man. Now, he sounded "smooth" but a little too smooth for moi. All he did in the three conversations we had was talk about money. He said he had a base charge for a function up to 10 p.m. and would charge one grand extra for every additional hour that it went on for. Then he said, you see people call me all the time, and if you don't book me with money, I'll have to take someone else's booking on - it sounded fair to me. But then he said, "see I'm going to Calcutta on Monday; try to send the money really soon." - fair again. When asked about the advance payment, he said, "I usually charge a 2.5K advance, but since your reception is at an indoor venue, it might go on into the wee hours of the morning, so you will have to pay me more anyways, and so I'll take a 3k advance. This guy was starting to sound like an extortionist. Then he said, "if you want to call me in Calcutta, send me a text message first; I have all these people calling me, and I don't know if they're important to me - and every time I answer the phone I have to pay Rs.5 because I'm on national roaming". That did it for me. I am not sure I want this guy to do the reception, but Jard says he's really good. Lavina gave me another contact that she was to get but he was booked on the day of her function. His number seems to be "temporarily disconnected". A little bit of a quandary here. I hope to get some leads this week and get it finalized and out of the way.

So the to-do list for this week is pretty much the same - finalize card and master of ceremonies. Oh, and I have to pick up daddy's bandhgala (how exciting?!); I can't wait to see how it turned out! Fingers crossed! I might also go do some research on a seamstress for my Mumbai outfit. We'll see how it all goes.

Till then, I'm off to dreaming about this...

But I am more than happy to have this...

...and I'm more than sure dot will agree. Here's to covered bridges and the rest of our lives! (sigh)

The Outcome of A Little More Keeda

Look at the sidebar of this blog, in between the Previous Posts and the Archives sections. How exciting!!

Ta Dah!

Slow but Steady

As I Was Saying....

I got my cousin, Savio (mum's brother's son), to bring over his bandhgala for Papa to try out, and look how good that experiment turned out! Is my daddy handsome or what?! (And, oh my god! I can now upload photos and even resize and orient them!!) So, Nehru Jacket (I'm learning, the hard way, that sometimes, the best way, is the middle way) it shall be for Dad. His two-shops-half-day trip is planned for tomorrow and we're going to Dadar (for dot - more than one two thirds of the way from Churchgate to Bandra) to Savio's tailor and then coming to Bandra to check out a pair of shoes for dad.

With that out of the way, so to speak, I'll let you in on an interesting project that I would like to enlist your help with. Me and the boy were talking the other day and suddenly somehow figured we didn't have an "our song". Now, I think that's almost tragic and particularly when dot was such a darling to agree to do a little slow dancing ("only if you teach me"). So that's where you come in, particularly you, nodot (dot please don't whinge). You have to help me find an "our song" so that we can (a) show off about always having had a song and (b) do a little jig at the party. Speaking of songs, I have been talking to Allister about someone for the music - he suggested a few names and the kind of music they'd have. I guess we should be good if we can pick the major portion of the music for the evening and let the guy ad lib with the rest. So that's a new "to do" item.

And yes, I wore a saree to church today, and it looked nice (as dot so eloquently put it). The pictures I ended up with were ultra-crappy; so even if it did look good, it's no use, in post mortem. That reminds me to fix an appointment with the photographer when dot is in town so he can go with me and more because I then have my ass covered for all the future "it's all your fault" conversations :))

Nodot, I am extremely sorry about the tee; I am fast losing faith in my ability to pick the right thing - or did I ever have it?

Oh and there is just one more project to talk of before I go - our invitation card. I guess having a separate ones for Kochi and Mumbai will make the inviting less complicated. Let me know what you think and I am also taking suggestions for what the text of the invites should be. I must add here that dot has been more than forthcoming with ideas that I am "obligated" to listen to; sigh...to learn to be be a wife!

While coming up for air as I type this, I'm up to some nifty thingie in another window. Keep watching this space...

When Nothing and Everything Happens

Yesterday was just one of those days....I didn't manage to get anything significant done - not that I had anything major in mind. I did go shopping for a gift for AMR, whose birthday it is tomorrow; didn't get an appropriate gift for her but I did manage to find a great place that would tailor the bandhgala for Papa and he's going to let me know when he can make the trip to the tailor with moi. So that's good; and I didn't forget I had to pick you something too nodot - don't you worry :)

I had a pretty significant late evening though, where I learnt a valuable lesson about not letting my head take over my heart - something I thought I already knew, but evidently didn't :) Ah well, shit happens and sometimes you're unpleasantly surprised.
You live, you learn (with all due respect to Ms. Morissette - great great song, incidentally).

Today, I have to work all morning and I'll probably spend the evening with AMR celebrating her birthday. I am going to be led by my heart :)

I can almost see nodot losing it a little bit at this point in the blog with my abstract (to him) philosopy. Big hug. You can unfurrow your brow now.

Back and With So Much to Say (As Always)

The date of my last post will become the topic of many this-day-that-year specials in the future - like you've probably read and seen and heard a million times over now, it was India's wettest day in about a century and my poor bursting-at-the-seams city just couldn't handle it. I was to write a little description of events had I gotten back online earlier; but, you all know the story now and how things turned out. I'm glad and very grateful we were all safe and relatively unaffected.

Because we didn't have electricity for several days after the deluge, we took a "vacation" to my Oji Mashi's (my mum's middle sister and my godmother) house, and guess what?! We managed to finish all our saree shopping last weekend! I picked out my wedding saree (which is so unlike the one I've said I might like in my previous post, sigh!) and sarees for my two mashis (mum's sisters), one aunty (mum's brother's wife) and my one mommie. Mum and I also managed to get our shoe shopping done and I'm so glad to tick things off my to-do list! Going shopping with my mashis is always a riot. Our latest shopping spree was to buy some upholstery fabric for us and some salwar kameez thingies for the mashis. We went to this famous "shopping centre" in Parel (that's a place close to Dadar - in between Churchgate and Santacruz on the railway line). This place, like all sales, was so full of women that believe that anything with boobs is non-threatening and can therefore be jostled, leaned on, shoved in the small of the back, and talked to in any language and expected to understand - all in the name of a good bargain. (Have I told you before that I like to believe I'm a misogynist?) Anyways, we got what we wanted and I had a fun Saturday with yummy lunch at Gulu Mashi's (my mommie's youngest sister). Useful PR tip for dot and nodot - she is the bestest cook in the family; so you know who to be nicest to.

Saturday evening had me meeting up with Ralph, the monopoly decorator for Plaza Banquets. When I told you that Sebastian D'souza, the manager, was "mac", I obviously hadn't met good ol' Ralphy. He's the nicest, kindest man with hair coming out of his ears (no, that's not the nicest thing) and the most ancient photo albums with even more ancient backdrop decor pictures I have ever seen! Thermocole swans and doves and angels and glittering lettering that read "V 2 R 1" and "SO weds SUCH", etc. He had no more than a faint idea of what I wanted and when I asked him about an archway for the entrance to the hall, he said "I'm not sure how to do it - you might consider asking the venue manager". I curled up and died, to put it very mildly. Anyways, I've a sort of situation on my hands - if I chose not to go with the new Mr. Mac, I'll have to pay a "royalty" of INR 10K in addition to paying whichever other decorator I choose - this is the policy at Plaza. I plan to look up pictures of what I like and show these to him, so he can tell me if it is at all doable. Avril's helping me out with the decor. Between the two of us, I hope we can get a fix on something soon.

I'm not sure if I mentioned earlier that Massi Coelho is going to be doing our pictures and video and I'm very very happy it's him. Massi's wife Adeline was Mum's colleague at Kodak for 27 years (!!) and they're very good friends. He's a fab photographer and I didn't consider him in the first place because I knew he had given up commercial photography; but luckily for us, he's going to be there and I'm glad it's him because he's very sensible and someone to whom you can explain exactly what you want and how you want it and be sure he understands. Yippee - one more thing off the list!

I don't have any significant to-do items planned for this week yet. We might go get my Papa's clothes shopping done. That will take some research and planning because I can't take him to more than one shop for more than one thing and it has to take no more than half a day tops. I will keep you posted - watch this space like you so faithfully do...I love you for it :)

Of Rainy Mondays and Saree Sales

I took yesterday off from this blog for no reason in particular. Today, I feel like blogging and I'm sure it has to do with the fact that I have pending work from SMT (like dot being motivated to clean his house when he has has a paper to write)....but, who cares what the motivation is...here are Monday's chronicles.

Yesterday began with the great dilemma that we suburb-dwellers face when we have to go to town (mumbaiyya for anyplace after Mumbai Central on the Western Railway line) - bus or train. We had to go to a place called New Marine Lines, which is very close to Churchgate (for the sake of dot's orientation). They have a string of very high-profile saree shops which are having their monsoon clearance sales. So Mum and me started going through one shop at a time.

What hadn't counted on was that save for a couple of shops, all the others had just begun the sales yesterday. So every shop was an adventure in getting to the counter selling your type of saree braving hordes of loud, impolite, sweaty G women (yes, I'm racist) - it was so not funny to be poked in the back when you were in the way, to be told "aa drayse che, saadi nathi" when you didn't ask, and to be left holding the door open while a flock of them chattily made their way into the shop when you first opened the door for yourself to get out! Ugh!

Anyways, that said, looking for the saree was fun. This is a very very rough image (the best representation I could find online) of the saree I have in mind - though i'm looking for one in ivory/gold with very delicate and spaced-out "work" (the beads, embroidery, crystals, zardosi, etc.). We saw lots of pretty ones with not-so-pretty prices. Yet, I want to be sure I have seen them all before I buy the one I like best; so this adventure is going to be continued the coming Saturday, with the godmother and her daughter in tow, in the Dadar saree district - wish us all luck again.

Oh and before the saree shops, I did make a wee trip to Alliance Francaise de Bombay to check about the French courses - there doesn't seem to be a short one to fit my schedule, but I was asked to check next month for their new time-tables. Fingers crossed.

After getting back home I called Glenn Dodd's office. Glenn's a very very very handsome-looking man (and he has two daughters my age!) and a friend of mum's from her Kodak days. He's a professional photographer/videographer and I am trying to get him to do our wedding pictures. Unfortunately, he's already got two other committments for the same day and can send an apprentice to ours if we would like. I told him I wasn't so sure because I live with the who's-who of photography and it would remain a cherished breakfast/lunch/tea/dinner conversation topic if I didn't try hard enough to find the "best" photographer (if such an entity exists). So there. Nevertheless, I'm meeting him this evening at six to see what my options are.

I also checked out and compared fares for flights and trains and think the latter might be a more reasonable bet. Three-tier AC - Kanyakumari Express - takes about 14 hours from VT (I know it is Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, but so what) to Kochi (or Ernakulam Town) - have to check with everybody else if that's okay. Anyways, reservations can only be done three months in advance; so we're good.

For today, I'm going to work (boohoo!) and going to try to go back to the gym (sigh). More on everything else later.

Kahaani Mein Twist

Famous last words they say... (and oh my god! I have learnt to edit HTML to insert a link! what am I?!!!)

I had been trying to get through to the folksters after we zeroed in on Plaza, to check if all was well and we could go ahead with the advance payment. They weren't home and wouldn't answer the mobile. At about 8 pm last evening then, the mumster called and guess what?! we had a new high-drama situation on our hands! They have a special friend they would really like to be there for the Kochi ceremony, thinks a Thursday is not the best idea for a wedding day (it was to be on Thursday, December 29) and suggested Monday, December 26 instead, it being a feast of Mother Mary and a more propitious (gosh! this is fun!) day to bless a wedding. This left the folksters making frantic calls to the reception venue there, asking if our alternative date was available. A few more phonecalls back and forth later, it was confirmed that the place was indeed available. So the folksters called to check if it was okay with us to bring the wedding date forward to the 26th - I checked with my folks and they agreed (with much less ado compared to yesterday) and everything was all good (again). I let the mumster know it was cool so she could go ahead with the other arrangements.

But wait, all's not ending well just yet....one more little kahaani mein twist. Now, put your math cap on. If the Kochi wedding is brought forward by three or so days, it means the folksters have fly in that much earlier and in turn go back that much earlier. So eventually, even January 6 might be too late to push the Mumbai reception to. The redeeming grace here is that we still haven't paid Plaza the advance and when I go to do that this morning, I am going to check for earlier dates and everything else, in terms of the package they're putting together for us, will stay the same. The folksters are cool with whatever we can manage best and so we are eventually all good.

Another day, another dollar...more like another date...ah well...I know one person who's so excited by the date, it's more than hilarious! :)) and thinking about it, like we discussed, December 26 any year does have a lot going for it:
- it's just after Christmas so you cannot forget it even if you tried
- it's just after Christmas so you don't have to worry about cooking
- it's just after Christmas so you might get away with only one present
- it's just after Christmas and is usually a paid holiday the world over

With all this going for our wedding date, I'm worried about stealing JC's show! (he does have a sense of humour, so don't you fret now :))

So here's to December 26, 2006.....and I'm sorry about how long this post has been...and I even woke up early to write it undisturbed...sigh..the things I do for you....

No Grapes and I'm Still Smiling

As it turns out, January 9, 2006 is not as good as we would have liked...so no Joseph's.

So my mission for today was to check Avion's Lawns and talk to the talkshop Banquets Manager, Jehangir :) ...they have available all the dates in our preferred window.....so fingers and toes crossed again (I don't remember uncrossing them from the last time, but all the same).

A whole night of live anxiety and a morning full of online aggravation later (no, he doesn't fret about the details at all!), mommie and moi went to Avion in the afternoon....and oh my god can Jehangir talk?!!....upshot (can you call a not-so-good summary an upshot?) being, the place is pokey and basically a converted car park...looks okayish with the fairy lights, etc. but I can't take the car park picture out of my head...oh and the food is served in a basement in the superduper "I configuration", if you please ... This apparently was Jeh's brainchild and one that still hasn't left home! And yes, he's "conceptualizing" some "grape light clusters" for the "beautiful" trees (read some wayward shrubbery) around the place...sigh...I was almost sad and told him I'd pay him the advance tomorrow after I checked the dates were good with the family.

On the way back home from there, Mum had an idea and said we could go check Plaza Banquets again, which is so much closer to home and lovely on the inside....we went in and something fell into place in my head...the mac manager was more relaxed...took us through the place explained everything...and it now seems pretty good...we also managed to work out a good deal on the pricing and the stuff he could throw for it and it's all looking great again! yay! :) He's got 6th of January, Friday, available...so we recheck with home base and we're ready to go....i'm feeling much better than last night (no, and it's not thanks to you)

I will miss Jeh and his grapes but what the heck...Plaza it shall be.

More updates on a to-do list for tomorrow later....and merci for the comments...like I've said before...this is what we live for!

Oh and Aju, you'll find out the story behind the blog title someday...all in good time.

Where and When?

My visit to the Lee residence to source hotel contacts didn't work out because Mrs Lee was held up at work. Yesterday was disappointing because of the daggy-looking Rang Sharda banquet hall and the Willingdon Gymkhana thingies that are supposed to be function halls (yeah right!) and it's more than sprawling grounds. Also checked Plaza Banquets close to home. The sidey mac manager (Sebastian Something) was preoccupied and nonmotivated (didn't I already say mac?) - again, pretty on the inside but whatever on the outside (not as bad as Willingdon though - reference below). Called Sorab in the morning about Joseph's and guess what?!...it's booked from December 15 through to January 8th! What's with December and getting married anyways? One more day down and no venue and so no date yet. Mum doesn't like Joseph's - I wish I could see why she wants Willingdon - though it's nice inside, it's next to a busy railway line, it's approach road is a sewer-like subway and is fronted by a slum (but then again, which place in Mumbai isn't?). The dadster is too caught up with worrying about our housing society issues to care - the mumster cares too much for her own good. Would you please remind me why I didn't consider eloping?

The POA for tomorrow:
- Try to call Jude/Bosco about the Renaissance
- See if I can fix a Lee meeting again
- Check with folksters-in-law to see if Monday, January 9, 2006, sounds good (fingers and toes and everything crossable crossed!)

Building Blogs (yes that's Malayalam for "blocks")

I'm trying (and trying hard) to turn blog-savvy and this is a (technically) virgin attempt (all of the other times, I've given up halfway through signing up in Blogger). This time 'round, I have something to write about - our wedding! So here's to our special day and to my blogability....cheers!