Swati Tai's wedding

Swati Tai's wedding to Rajesh Joshi went off without a hitch yesterday. It was held at the Dadar-Matunga Cultural Center in Mahim. The muhurta was at 12:15 PM. Anoop and I left Pune by the Deccan Queen Express at 7:15 AM and reached Dadar Central at 10:15 AM. Mrunal's husband and in-laws were also on the same train, and we took a taxi to the wedding venue, reaching there around 11 AM. Kedar came in a short while later, having traveled by Neeta Volvo. The three of us changed into clothes appropriate for a wedding, and went to a nearby Udipi for a quick snack.

Coming back to the mandal, I said hi-hello to everyone assembled. Took a few snaps. The muhurta started on time, and I went on the stage to get real close-up photos. Rajesh is a professional photographer, and he had some of his pro buddies taking photos with their high-end equipment. At the rituals came to an end, 2 of his friends stepped up quickly behind him with the intention of lifting him off the ground. This is a custom popular in Punjabi weddings, and has become the latest craze in Mumbai due to all the Bollywood movies. The pandit sternly warned Rajesh and his buddies that if any of this stupid crap was committed, he would not go ahead with the rites. They thankfully gave up.

After the ceremony, the pangat were laid out and everybody had lunch. It was 3:30 PM when I had lunch with the last pangat. After lunch, Anoop left for Pune by the 4:15 PM bus since he had to study for his exam tomorrow. Kedar and I went to the nearby paan-wallah to get a dozen paans, and the guy took almost 45 minutes to make them! We went back to the pandal and had some snaps taken with the newly-wed couple. After that, I was damn exhausted and ready to drop. I went to one of the spare rooms and caught a nap. Shubhanan, Aai, Kedar and Mrunal did the same. I was up at 6:30 PM and got fresh. Aai, Purva and I were to leave by the 8 PM bus, so we had an early dinner.

We left for the bus station at 7:45 PM, and I was afraid we would be too late. As it turned out, the bus didn't leave until 8:20 PM after picking up as many passengers as possible. It took us almost another hour to get to the expressway, after which it was smooth sailing. A short stop at a food mall was the only break we took. Reached home at 11:30 PM. I watched TV for half an hour thinking that it was only 11 PM. I finally switched it off at 12:15 after I saw the clock. I conked out immediately.