A few weeks back I received a phone call from Shilpa. She seemed unusually excited and then she broke the news. She was going to get married on the 6th of February,2010 and expected me to be there on her special day. The formal invitation arrived a few days later. As the news spread, the “network” sprang to life. Kinshuk and I decided that we would be there. A few days before the wedding, Chatur and Kapil called up and confirmed their presence. Chatur even suggested a reunion. So it was all decided and we were all waiting for the day to arrive.
Since Kinshuk was arriving from Panipat, it was decided that I meet her at CP. I told her to give an hour’s worth of head start. And Kinshuk did that. I really don’t know why this happens but despite my best intentions, I generally get late when I go to meet her. I am generally a very punctual guy(blame it on school) and so is she. The problem is she reaches on time and I am a little late(get in touch with Kinshuk if you really need a definition for “little”). But she doesn’t mind much. Maybe she has gotten used to it.
By the time , I reached CP she had already made the best use of her time and bought a gift and had it wrapped. Since she had arrived directly from work she was a little hungry and we headed for Mc Donalds. Kinshuk is a very different girl from the other(s) I know. She knows when she is hungry and expresses it. A burger and french fries later we were again on the streets looking for a bouquet. Another great thing about Kinshuk is that with her one doesn’t need Google Maps to navigate through CP. She knows it really well. Very soon we were at a florist and we had a bouquet made. We then got an auto for Andrews Gunj(venue for the wedding) and were on our way.
The venue wasn’t hard to locate and we found it pretty soon. Kinshuk and I then went to see Shilpa. She looked resplendent in her bridal get up. And she looked really happy. I didn’t stay in the room for long as it was filled with ladies(the room was full of everything girly…makes me jittery). Kinshuk then went to change fir the wedding and asked me to wait. Probably this was her way of getting back at me. She had said she would be back in 20 minutes but she took the better part of an hour. Meanwhile, I tried to call Chatur and Kapil and inquire about them. They were stuck in traffic. I tried calling up a friend but she was busy too. And then I did what most guys do when there is no other option left. I called Mom. We spoke for about 40 mins but Kinshuk’s 20 minutes were still not over!
When she finally came out dressed in a saree she looked so different. It is amazing how a saree can transform a girl in to a lady. To say the least, she looked elegant(this sentence was sponsored by………!!! :P). No seriously she did look elegant. I was really happy to have some company now. My “busy friend” also became free at the same time and I explained to her the situation. It was almost as if God wanted to punish me for keeping Kinshuk waiting. Soon a senior from college arrived (and as I had suspected she did not recognize me. No one remembers the nice guys!). Kinshuk was really close to her so I let her be with Shreyashi(senior) and to my relief Kapil and Chatur arrived. The world suddenly seemed to be such a better place. By now we would see fireworks at some distance and hear the baraat band. Chatur soon left to buy a gift(guess he didn’t want to be the odd man out :P) while Kapil and I decided to go and take a closer look at the baraat. Dushyant looked every bit a dulha and he was perched atop a white mare smiling at anyone whom his eyes met. He seemed to be in a trance like state.
Kapil and I soon returned to the venue where we were joined by Kinshuk and Chatur. The baraat arrived soon after. Everyone assembled under the pandaal. Shilpa and Dushyant took their respective places on the stage smiling at everyone who went to wished them and for every photograph that was being clicked. After we wished (blessed :P) the couple , we focused our attention to the real reason for which we were there. Food (sorry Shilpa :P) and there was lots of it. Yummy and enticing. We went for it like a bull let lose in a bull fight. After we had gorged on all the delicacies,Chatur suggested that we have “night out” at his place. So we wished the couple again and took their leave.
Kinshuk, Chatur and I got into the cab while Kapil followed us on his bike. Chatur took on the role of the navigator as he guided the driver toward his home. However, a few minutes later he discovered it was taking unusually long to reach his place and he asked the driver where we actually were. the driver responded by saying Dhaula Kuan. It turned out Chatur’s place is near IIT and the first turn we took was wrong. The driver fired his navigator and sped towards IIT after taking a U turn. Kapil came up along side the car and his expression said it all. Once close to IIT the driver asked Chatur if he was really sure he lived near IIT. Chatur seemed a little embarassed (shameless Chatur is seldom embarassed :P) but he managed to locate his home. Soon we were at his place and he went to fetch water for us as there wasn’t enough at his place. It seemed Chatur arranges drinking water as per demand!
We discussed our lives for a while and then switched over to pics from college. Nostalgia took over. We remembered the moments and discussed the expressions in the pics. The pics made us miss our gang a lot. Chatur then played a few videos that used to air on Doordarshan when we were kids. Now we were also missing our childhood! To change the mood, we saw videos of Russel Peters and soon smiles were back on all faces. Before we knew it, it was 7 and we decided to leave.
Kinshuk and I headed for CP again to take our respective metro routes. However, we decided to have breakfast at Mc Donalds. We took about 2 hours to finish it! Kinshuk decided to bunk her visit to her site office. I guess when friends meet after a long time, you want the warm feeling to persist forever. When one starts working it doesn’t take long to miss friends and feel helpless about not being able to meet them. Kinshuk and I spoke about a lot of things. She told me about how her wedding with her someone special was about to materialize. She seemed really happy and I was happy for her. I told her about the current state of my affairs. It was after a long time that I was having a face to face conversation about my own life with someone I trust so much. It was very satisfying and heart warming to say the least.
After sometime, we decided to take a stroll on the streets and then head to the metro station. We strolled for a while and then fatigue took over. We headed for the metro station and said our good byes and went our own ways.
I guess the best thing about friends and friendship is the amount of warmth that is exchanged. It just made me realize that I have the best set of friends in the world. It makes me miss them even more.
@kins- everything is fine yaar. i just thought that there should be a post on some serious topic…there hadnt been one for a long time[:D]…and that is one thing that i have seen happen to a lots n lots of people…waise bhi empty mind[read notice period] is the devil's workshop [:)]
Q. why is this comment over here?
A. because i thought, i'd rather leave that comment book empty……………
just remember one thing, everything's gonna be alright.
@abhay-i think you should worry more about yourself right now…australia mei indians ki khoob pitai hoti hai…dont get beaten up black and blue [:P]
hahaha..na sudhrega ye..mai to kahunga sab log ise mil ke maarte hain aur purple kar dete hia..
GPL samaro ke baad pata chalega kya kya purple hua hia!!
@kins-you are such a credit-hungry girl[:D]
and well you guys are discounting some very important contributions made by some other people…anyways you wont understand [:P]…btw dont turn green with envy now [:D}
dont challenge our thinking capabilities…….it is abhay n i who made purple so PURPLE 😛
@abhay-yes it's a colour…unless you can think of something else? [:D]
hmm..”purple is just a colour”..de diya ladke ne paintra!!
@kins-yes i know where the PNB ATM is…but u know have an SBI card na…so not of much use to you [:D]
and the comments are don't give just me some fun…i am sure other readers are amused too…and don't tell you guys don't smile are you read them [:P]
and purple is just a colour…don't really know how much one can talk about it [:D]
“hence sudhar jao…………” it's really too late for this now [:P]
yeah, u even know where PNB ATM is………
btw a piece of advice………ur comments on abhay n me just gives u some fun………….but when we start talking abt purple purple, may be u wont be soooooooooo happy………
hence sudhar jao…………
@kins – you are getting very good at shifting the focus of attention in our discussions [:D]…and the chatur fiasco doesn't qualify as an example…its not surprising that the driver lost faith in him…even we don't have much faith in him[:D]
sorry chatur [:P]
and kd stop gloating over the fact that you know CP well [:P]…now even i know the place[:D]
dis post highlights one major issue which most people must have overlooked, coz it involves some reading between the lines 😀
“Girls can also have a good sense of direction & guys can also get lost (so much so that the driver looses faith over the navigator totally)” 😀
sorry chatur 😛
@abhay – “come back soon……….”. do u want me to read the dots for you? [:P]
dekh lunga beta tujhe to..maar maar ke purple kar dunga..
@abhay – ahem! now you have to come back man [:P]
@kins – didn't know you missed him so much [:P]
@abhay and kins – please don't kill me for this [:D]
@abhay- seriously, we missed u a lot n esp. during the breakfast bakar session……
n though we had a old style night out, but not much of bakar………….
come back soon……….
@abhay-really missed u at the wedding yaar and also next morning…return soon now…we need to have some college style sessions again
i can sense that you guys really had some great fun..and yes you are right -“i have the best set of friends in the world…”..missing u guys 🙁