Wedding bells

Now before u guys jump into any conclusions, lemme clarify...my wedding is still a long time away :D. This is about the wedding that I attended today. The background for attending this wedding is this. A few days back, Jijith sent me an invitation through mail and chat inviting me to his elder bro's marriage on dec 4th. So who is Jijith? He was my onsite coordinator when I was working in Infosys chennai. For those who don't know who an onsite coordinator is, he acts as an interface between the offshore guys and the client who is in the onsite (Usually an onsite is a synonym for USA for most of the projects in our account). Since Dec 4th happened to be the time when I would be at my hometown for vacations, I readily agreed because, though I had a very friendly and cordial relation with Jijith, I had never met him in person. All our contacts were through chats and/or phone. Though he had come to chennai office once, when he had come to India, I was at my hometown that day. So I was not able to meet him then. The marriage was to be held at a place near to where I was staying. So now here was a chance to meet him in person (at last!!!).

At around 10:45 am I reached the marriage hall. I looked around once, hoping against hope to meet someone whom I know.
Tough luck, no one.
Fine, no use fooling around. I went straight into the marriage hall. It was filled with people. Suddenly it struck me. How do I recognize Jijith in the first place? All I have seen of him is a pic that was about 3-4 years old. Well lemme try to think how he looks like...hmm thick moustache, little bulky, sort of long hair ( I think). Gr8 now all I need to do is to find the guy who matches this description. Now that should be simple right.
Aha there goes one a long hair thick mustached guy. He should be it. I was about to approach him when I saw a child and a lady along with him. Whoa he can't have a wife and a child when his elder bro is getting married today, can he? Only 1 explanation for this. This is NOT jijith. Atleast not the one I am seeking.
Aha there goes another one....Naa he's not bulky.
aah there another..and another...and yet another...oohhhh grrr @#$@!#&$%#$
looks like entire marriage hall is filled with long haired little bulky thick mustached guys!!!!
Then suddenly another terrifying thought stuck me....what if he has cut his hair short, cut his moustache and is no more bulky now. Oho, if so how will i ever find him in this "jungle". My dilemma was that I could not even go and ask anyone about this. What will I ask.."hello sir, I don't know either the groom or the bride...I am the groom's brother's friend. Could you tell me how the brother looks like?". People will think I have gone mad.

Then an idea stuck me ( whew, long time due ). The brother would be standing besides the groom once the marriage starts. So I just need to zero in on the thick mustached guy when the marriage starts. Soon I spotted a guy who was a bit bulky, but short hair, standing besides the groom. It should be jijith. Nevertheless I wanted to be certain. Since his back was turned to me, the "mustache clue" was still pending to be verified. Even after 5 minutes, no signs of him turning. I was in my mind shouting "Turn turn..". Guess he must have heard me "shout". He just about turned by around 10 degrees to the left. There....I could see the left end of his mustache. Thus by theory of induction, his mustache should also have a right edge. And since no person in his right mind will ever come to his brother's marriage with just left and right edges of his mustache, it means he should have the whole mustache "intact". Aha the 3rd clue verified. He shud be my man. Mission Accomplished. When he was free, I went over and talked to him. But, unlike me, he didn't have any difficulty recognizing me (wonder how???)

A wedding experience, especially the ones in Kerala, are never complete without a mention about the sadya ( lunch served during marriages). I was going to have one after a loooong time, especially after my torture for 4 months in the iit mess. Even the thought of having the sadhya was mouth watering. I just couldn't wait to get my hands on it (another reason was that I was damn hungry. But then I guess the first reason makes for a better reading rite :D ).

I was desperately waiting for the marriage ceremony to get over, I suddenly saw people rushing towards the food counter even before the ceremony got over. Whoa looks like there were more desperate people than me!!!!And from the looks of it they will not stop at anything before they lay their hands on the food.I guess I need to "suffer" for some more time and wait for the next batch. After 20 minutes or so, even before the previous batch was done with their food, the next batch was already ready at the doorstep of the food counter. This time I too took up my position. Enough of sufferings. Its time for action now. The time kept ticking. People waiting with bated breath on when the door will open.
Tick tock tick tock....
And then suddenly the door opens.
Whoaaaaa whoaaa don't push me..help!!!!
I was being pushed into the room by the crowd in their hurry to reach the counter and book their place. It was as if I was carried by them, instead of my feet, to my seat. And thus "thanks" to a little "help" from the crowd, I managed to get a seat.

Now I was ready to have my first sadya in a long time. I always had this problem, while eating the sadhya, that I could never control how much I eat since they are soo delicious. But this time I was determined to eat only what is needed. By the end of the meal I requested the 2 neighboring people to pull me up from the table, since I was finding it difficult to do it alone. So much for my eating control. Thus today I was at last able to meet Jijith and also have a delicious meal. good day's work :-).