Come 24th (and 25th), we were scouting for guesthouses, making trips to the jewellers (Lalchand Jewellers - a major jewellery house on the Janpath, right infront of the Ram Mandir), fixing the menu and hotel banquet halls for the groom's as well as for the bride's guests...what a pain, managing a marriage event is!!! I guess that made me stick to my resolution to not have kids . Also visited were places like Wood Art (written as "Ood Art" in Oriya). The stinkiest part of the day was getting grocery . There is a market managed by the Municipality corporation there that one needs to wade through to get to shops. I was reminded of my days as a kid going to Bhawanipatna and shop around - kids like Pablu were small and it usually was me, Reeti and Bonnie trudging to the shops...Reeti and Bonnie used to invariably get stuck at some trinket corner..gosh, some comparison. Anyhow, this was a trip made by dear old Bapa and me - and all through the way, Bapa was talking about how bad the idea was to go for our own pad instead of booking rooms at some guesthouse...
There were other problems around the house - the backyard had poor drainage and a lot of waterlogging...the shed had water logged in it, and no light or fan, and the cook and his apperentice were waiting at the verandah, grumbling away to glory. We had to fix Hotel New Marrion to provide us with some janitors and cleaners, and the day (or the next) was spent cleaning the place...Someone sent over a deep freezer to stock fish and meat for the meals planned for the next few days...the kitchen was eventually stocked...and various battles were being fought on various fronts...to think of it all now, the logistics involved was mindboggling...to ferry guests and relatives without getting them irate, providing a streaming supply of hot tea, jaljeera, snacks, etc or providing provisions for people to sleep...
The first among our relatives to come was Narayan mamu and maeen, early morning on the 25th..along with a girl who was his "jhiyaari" (niece). Looking at her, anyone could have written her off as a 7th or an 8th grad student - and she turned out to be a BA final year student!!! I guess Neutrogena and Oil of Olay should come and study our young town girls and try to learn the secrets behind their youthful looks...in our house, the ground-floor constitutes two rooms, a hall, a kitchen, the backyard, a loo, a living room and a stairway to the first floor. The guesthouse that has taken our place on rent had provided ACs in each room, and a TV with Tata Sky dish connection in the living room. That room, and the TV, were to become a centerpoint for the whole clan for the duration of stay....its amazing how people could watch TV during a marriage program but...guess anything can happen..
Nilu landed in the afternoon of the 25th and it was great to see him. Kumarmamu , maeen, Bonnie and Pablu also came that day, and we were also expecting Sangeeta "Baby" maeen , Pupul and Appu to come that day - the Howrah Puri express was 20 hours late due to flash floods and re-routing of trains..it was quite apparent that Kumarmamu and maeen had to parallely plan for Reeti's marriage - I guess all the girls are going to get married off between 2008 and 2010 - well, not all but the oldest 3. Pupul would be the endangered category person remaining in the clan.
Ahh..its 3 AM and I am still awake!!!...good nite, mates!!
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