Mannu (Rajesh) got married yesterday, i.e. 20th of August. His marriage was fixed so long back. He was so anxious to get married. His phone bill was climbing fast. He got wedded with Leema, who is presently doing M.Tech. I wish the couple a happy married life.

 

Though the date was known long back, only two from Bangalore could make it. Me and Manoj. Sujesh and Anoop had some work in office and Sunny went to U.S a month back. We could only leave on Saturday night, since Manoj didn't want to waste a leave on Saturday.

 

We took the Island Express (Bangalore - Kanyakumari Express) and left Bangalore at 10 PM. There is a thattukada in Majestic Railway station which serves Bread Omelet. Manoj used to have it every time he takes the train, but I don't take the train so often, so hasn't seen that before. It wasn't that good as he projected it to be and adding to that it was quite costly too. The price was twelve rupees (Four slices of bread and one egg would hardly cost 5 rupees) which was a little indigestive for me.

 

We reached Ottappalam an hour and a half late. We were supposed to reach there by seven, but the train reached by 8.30. We had a splendid view of the Kerala scenery on the way though. As usual Manoj was busy explaining the praising that part of Kerala (Palakkad) to which he belongs. Rajesh had informed us that they will leave by around 8.30. So our worst fear was that they would leave before even we reach there. But luckily they also got delayed.

 

We rushed to Manoj's home which was at a distance of a five minutes walk. Took a quick bath and a haste breakfast. Manoj was on his toes, so couldn't eat much. But I took my time and had it patiently until they started to walk. I hardly could eat three idlis by that time.

 

By the time everyone was ready to leave for the marriage, it was 9.30. The marriage was at Kecheri which was more than an hour drive from Ottappalam. To add to the misery, the amount of travel space seemed to be too little. My gang, which then included Manoj, Rijish, Abhilash, Rajani, a sub-junior at CUSAT, and three friends of Rajesh who came from Madurai, had no room in any of the cars or bus around. Fortunately, we saw a Toyota Innova taxi cab coming the way and we hired it on the spot.

 

By the time we reached the Keecheri, it was 10.40. The Muhurtham was between 10.30 and 11.30. Everything went on well. I could take a few good snaps (I believe they came out nice ). Had a good time with him at the dais as well. It was funny to see that Mannu was shivering. For the poor guy, the tension was too much to handle. But he did make that up nicely in the photo-session. God knows how I'm going to perform at a similar situation.

 

After that it was time for the feast. Every marriage is a crowd puller because of this phase of the ceremony. Manoj was literally crying for a lunch by that time as he missed his breakfast due to the unnecessary haste. Since Manoj got busy at that time, he couldn't join the first batch. So I thought I'll give him company. The rest of the people including Rijish and Abhilash joined the first sitting itself.

 

It was real rush when the second queue was getting formed. The pressure from behind was tremendous. I was getting scared of the condition of a few little kids who were standing right in front of us. It took good effort not to press upon them from the push behind. Finally when the door opened after a long time, the crowd gave a horrifying push from behind. I was also jammed between the wall and the crowd, but feared the worst thinking about the kids. Luckily I believe no one got hurt. But the poor chaps couldn't manage the seat because the oncoming traffic was too high for the kids to handle.

 

The feast was good, rather it was excellent. I saw pavakka kondattam served along the feast. This is the first time I'm seeing that as part of feast. Rest of the dishes was also good. Had two huge pappadams and two payasams. The ada pradaman was also excellent and I managed to have three glasses of it. So did Manoj.

 

But after that it was not good time for Abhilash or Manoj. They wanted to leave quickly. But the taxi drivers were told that every vehicle should leave only at the same time. They had more than an hour of restless wait before we could start our journey back.

 

There was a reception also in the evening. Since the venue was too close to his and Manoj's houses and did attend that as well. Ghee rice, Gopi Manchurian dry, Chicken curry, dosa and a few other dishes were served. Mannus other friends who couldn't attend the marriage were there as well. I did have a few new friendships made.

 

Finally by at around 8.30, we caught the same train back to Bangalore. It was a day full of journey. But the day was also filled with two huge feasts. So finally at the end of the day, it's a day well spent. Mannu, wishing you again for a wonderful life ahead. Hope you are enjoying your post marriage days.