A Monsoon Wedding
The past week has been totally hectic and I had no sleep for four days from Friday evening to Monday evening. I left for Tirunelveli to attend my cousin's marriage. I could not get train tickets, so I booked a ticket on a bus K.P.N. Travels. Koyambedu to Tirunelveli via Villupuram, Trichy and Madurai. It was raining throughout and to top it they put one sick comedy movie called Gusthi on the bus. It starred Karthik and Prabhu and had two women romping in skinny outfits provocating everyone and then saying-"Unakku Akka Thangachi Illaya"(Don't you have brothers and sisters?)The bus was comfortable and the seats were spacious, but somehow I just could not sleep. It was an awesome experience to view the change in the sky and the landscape from sunset to sunrise. Something that I will never forget. Another thing that I wanted to know is, aren't there any luxury buses in India which have toilets. I might sound a bit vulgar, but facts are facts. I took a leak at all the scheduled stops - Villupuram, Trichy, Madurai and an unscheduled place without a name somewhere on the highway.I finally reached Tirunelveli at around 7:30 A.M. It was drizzling continuously like the irritating rain at Lords which is not severe, but enough to stop a cricket match. I had breakfast at Nellai Saravana Bhavan, good food and decent service. I took an auto to the marriage hall-Rajmahal Thirumana Mandapam. One common factor in Tamil nadu is that everywhere the auto-drivers will fleece you. It was just about a kilometre and I had to pay 25 rupees.The ceremony(Nischidamboolam) was yet to start and only a few of our distant relatives had reached the hall. The bridegroom Dinesh was loking ill at ease, perhaps he was reliving his bachelor days as his bachelorhood was about to end. The customary rounds of "Namaskaram Mama and Mami" were completed andI entered my room. The hall was really huge and had lots of facilities. I had a room to myself, which I would have to share with other relatives when they would arrive. I had a refreshing bath, and contemplated on my course of action.By 9 A.M., the far-flung relatives started arriving by various modes of transport. The ceremonies had also begun. I was dog-tired but I looked at the ceremony for an hour. Then I went to my room and slept for a couple of hours. When I got up it was almost 1 P.M. I went to the dining hall, already the "Mudhal Pandhi" (First batch of diners) was in progress. I sat in the next batch of diners and dug into the sumptuous spread of the "Kalyana Sappadhu" (Wedding Feast)By now my cousins had arrived and then all of us decided to visit the various places in the town, as the marriage was to take place only on the next morning.To be continued......