Ok, a lot is happening around me. Its no more than 9 days to our wedding. I still need to send a lot of invites out. I havent done much wedding work until now and I am dreading the last week. Its going to be crazy. There is just so many things to be done.

Anyways, coming to the happenings of the last few days.
The bad news first. I had the worst shopping experience of my life this Tuesday. I just figured out early morning Tuesday that according to the BMI calculations, I am officially overweight and slowly falling towards the obese category. Ok, the part about being obese is not true. But I feel awfully heavy. And then this shopping trip. I just couldn't fit into any pant at all of the usual size that I buy. I just wanted to scream my heart out and run out of the shop. Be it Jeans, or formal wear or khakis or whatever shit, it just didnt go in. It was traumatic. But by principal I got trousers that used to fit me(in the hope that I would reduce once I get out of India). Now one of this is the one I am going to wear during the engagement ceremony. How I would manage to sit with it on the floor for an hour or so is unclear at the moment(Its the same concern I had about my reception pant a fortnight back. The concern has turned to complete worry at the moment). I have gained close to 10lbs in the last 40 odd days. Everyone's telling me that I have put on weight but I look healthy. Now thats a sign that frightens me the most cos' I know what my family's take on being fit means!! My cousin sis summed it all up. It seems I was slim when I came to India and now I look well built :( I am sure she meant to say I look well fed! Ok, lets leave me and my girth aside.

I got to watch the Playoffs between the Packers and the Seahawks sat night. That was a swell game. Before the game met up with Hari along with the usual suspects at Havana. Meeting Hari after almost 3 years was a good feeling. Since he is a denizen of New Jersey too, we would hopefully hangout a lot more in the future. There is just one game (vs the G unit) thats obstructing a Packer Patriot showdown at Arizona. Hope to see it and savor a Packer win at Lambeau.

I had been to this movie Taare Zameen Par with my sis. Man! what a movie! I always knew Aamir to be a perfectionist but with this movie he has proved even the most critical of critics wrong. It was such a feel good movie that kept me in high spirits during the movie, outside the theatre and even up until now. I am waiting for Meens to get to Chennai to take her to this one. This is one movie that no one should miss. But yea, be ready to get teary eyed at a lot of places.


So on the homefront, Meens is getting to Chennai along with her family on the 20th. I hope we get some time to hang out as good ol' bf-gf before we shed those titles forever . Husband-wife...that sounds awful. Scarier than that is the issue of little kiddos in the family who decide to call you uncle and aunt just cos' you are married. Now Uncle is a word I detest more than husband. That just makes me feel 40ish. Its going to be a mad house starting this saturday. With every passing day the strength in my house is going to double. I am not antisocial but the fact that people are coming makes me realize that this is something big for so many of them to come and be with us. Until now, Jan 27th seemed like just another day. Now as the days dwindle, I am beginning to sweat a bit. Of course knowing Meens, she probably needs some therapy lessons. God help us! Then again what the hell - Yo, 27th, here we come!!

Adios,
Prem

The Great Wall of Darmapuri

So we went on this super rushed trip to kerala..specifically to go to our family temple and seekthe blessings of the family diety of my moms side...a tiny little village called nemmarra which is about an hours drive from pallacaud (this is how i like to spell it:D)....it was fun to take a nine hr trip to kerala , although the same cannot be said of the return journey (too tiring and our entie compartment had kids of all age groups ..which was alright cause i do love babies n cute one yr olds..but seriously..9 hrs was all i could take of their cuteness..hail all mothers because i cant imagine how it must be to have them around 24/7 on a constant cycle of crying, laughing, eating,peeing/pooping, crying, laughing and more eating ...man..im seriously saturated....dnt wanna see another little rascal for a while thank you..so rest assured i aint having a baby in a very looonngggggggggggg time...)

the train journey actually reminded me of the good old days when , as kids, we went to trivandrum during the summers..the paddy fields, anorexic cows (are these the same cows that give us our daily milk..man they must milk a 100 of them to get one packet of milk...), chadiless kiddos waving at the passing train, coconut trees, monkeys, dams and small lakes...loved it..this trip for some reason i was acting like some NRI returning home after a very long time to her motherstate kerala ..i got very excited when i could see the train turning from my window seat..eating bajjis and cutlets that were deep fried in recycled oil , eating biriyani that tasted like pulao and watching a bunch of monkeys lined near the tracks standing on their hind legs and ofcourse the great wall of darmapuri ( it seemed to start from darmapuri and extended till another tiny village that you wont find in any map called i think ..umm i dnt rememeber:((..damn it)

so ya driving from pallacaud to nemmara was fun..man the air is so crisp and pure n clean...the whole place is clean ..i mean it is a true fact that kerala is a very hygenic state...your skin just glowsssss and you never get burnt in the sun....it was exhilirating to know your driving to a little town that was only a few kilometers long , which was where my mothers family lived generations ago...and at one point my great great great grandmom decided to move to trivandrum from where the family never went back to nemmara...and that must have been an amazing trip..dad was talking about how in those days obviously there were no trians n buses..just bulluck carts..so people walked or got on these carts and travelled..it would have taken atleast 9 months to a year for them to have tralvelled from the village to trivandrum..through forests n wht not..pretty cool and way bold..my dads ancestors also did the sam thng..cause his family comes from calicut and moved totrivandrum ions ago....we have a family temple there as well so yup going to calicut is for sure..but probably another day...im nt very religious but theres somethng peaceful abotu temples in kerala...awesome architecture..even the smallest of temples..and somehow the ambience is just great...and i noticed that most of the idols are abstract forms....not the anthropormophic figures we see in the city...interesting...well to me atleast..but kerala has always been more inclined towards tantric rituals and abstract forms are considered more powerful in hindu philosophy and religious iconography...(umm ok i shall stop art history 101 for now..hehe)

of course i can never live in kerala because everyone goes to slepp at 6..seriously theres noother state ive come across thats in a time warp!!!time stands still!!it cant get more conservative and gossipy than kerala..thts wht i hate most..evryone knows every one elses businesss and has an opinion about it..which is mostly negative...yikeess!!!but the place is just breathtakingly beautiful..so i love visiting it!!and the banana chips are to die for......man i ate1/2 kg of it in two days:((((...there goes my diet..but i did hit the gym..sigh..anyways ive lost weight unlike the ball of a man im going to marry in two weeks time!!hehe..aww so cute!!

but thts it..one more week before i head to chennai so am gonna relax..chill out..but ya these days im getting to be more n more nervous about the wedding...its a weird feeling..i think im going to be totally weirded out when i wear all tht jewelery and saree ..:S...i mean its all pretty n nice but i dnt dress up like tht usually..thank god!..theres way to much gold for my liking..i hate gold..really do..and mallus generally are crazy about gold and my moms worried im not wearing enough (i dnt think she'll be happy even if i was dipped in the metal)..im hoping to god i dont look like the ambassador for dubai's gold zouk..yikeesss:S...anyways..the only time ill feel like myself is the cocktail party..cause i'll be dressed simple..hmm

anyways im starting to get nervous..arghhh..

Prems 15 mins of fame - not good enough:D

Hehe..
The two duffers make it to some second last page of a regional paper for being jobless kedi's at a club that had only 4 other people including themselves..adhuku ivolo scene!!!

I realized I never put down my achievements with so much pride and gusto..and by the way mine are achivements as opposed to premkus tryst with 'fame' (which even a lingerie stealing pervert got as jayanth opened our eyes to in his comment..hehehehe)

I atleast featured in an article for being an artists muse..for belonging to a group that challenges ideas and is a platform for creative expression - Im refering to the Reluctant housekeeper art work that featured in an exhibition last year in new york titled sulatans dream..*meens adjusts shades and pats herself on back*..and ofcourse i also happened to win an award for art critical and historical development/writing which is a good thing. i get recognised for academic potential not my partying and kudi talents like my fiance..tch tch..(come to think of it UW apparently is number one party university with beer being served on campus..so prems featuring in a party whirl section of a paper makes sense...thts all hes good for..hehehehehe)

ok so ive gloated enough...wht to do im very proud of myself.hehe:D..i mean if im nt proud of myself who else will be..

So my make up trial was a disaster!!!women,,,sewriously watch youtube and learn to put your own make up..thsts wht im gonna do..infact before coming to india i watched like a 10000 youtube videos on how to do smokey eyes..which is wht i want..i tried it here on my sis and she looked stunning..i tried it on myself as well and i liked wht i saw...ofcourse i dnt knw if its a good idea to do it myself on the day of the wedding..but lets see..i mean i do need help with hair.,..man i wish i could leave it looe and just get on with the rest of the ceremony..i mean its so easy for men....as it is i have diana ross hair ..so ya im lost but my mom being my mom has two more make up trials all set up for me to go to as soon as i hit chennai 19th or 20th...ill just enjoy all the attention while it lasts..all this fussing over me and how i shld look and wht i shld wear..flutter..

its amazing wht all they hv in parlours for brides to be..i mean of the three thirukode women im the least bit interested in putting face packs or too much make up etc..i just put my kajal n lliner and im happy..been doing tht since i was in 9th std..:D:D..but i was researching all these bridal packages and they have some very interesting names..ones is a royal package..another was golden and the best was platinum..upon enquiring wht all of it entailed i was toild that platinum includes full body polishing..im like HUHHHHHH..hehehehehe it crcked me up...imagine all these women running 3 weeks before their big day..to get polished..hahahahahahaha...i mean they literally make sure they are all shiny and new for their grooms..hehehehe...thts crazyyyyy:D..why dont all these men go get polished or waxed or dipped in gold ....but ya i think ill just stick to good ol threading eyebrows and waxing and stuff like tht...my mom discovered tht a combination of olive oil and vinegar apprently adds a glow to your skin by removing tan..hehe..so ya if the light bounces of my skin on Dday you knw the secret..hehe

i also just realised ill be chaning nt 3 times but 4 times on my wedding day...mannnnnnn......im going to insist prem changes atleast 3 times..wht the hell..so ya all this changing means more saree blouses to stitch ..im loosing track and so is my mom ..i hope i wear the right blouse with the right saree in all tht commotion and chaos tht i forsee on jan 27th!!

ive been gymming..my cutey sis has been happily eating the chocolates i bought n cribbing tht shes putting on weigt..heheso sweeeett:)..

I HATE BANGALORE TRAFFIC!!!!

last but not least my mom's new found joy is going to the post office every morning and posting invites...it started two days back..she came back beaming..apparently she enjoyed sitting there and glueing the invite cover and then sticking stamps and sending it out..so since then she wakes up at 4 every morning and sits and figures out who else we have left out and has managed to find people to send invites to..just so she can go to the post office..so my job is to sit and write the addresses she discovers with her sleuth like skills and then she gets ready and goes to the post office :).....my moms such a silly billy:)

Update about the pic on DC(refer previous post for reference)

The link:
http://www.dc-epaper.com/deccanchronicle/Default.aspx

If the edition isn't Chennai, change it on the left pane to Chennai.
Change the date on top to Friday 4th Jan 2008
Expand the Supplements link on the left bottom and click on Party Whirl.

Vaishnavs comment after seeing the section:

heheh...hilarious look...You know what the title is "Youngsters show enthusiasm"

Ivan thalai paathaangalaa??

Prem

Meens in Chennai

Been a while since I wrote. But that doesnt mean there was a dearth of things to do. I was just being my lazy self. Before I forget, wish you all a great year ahead. The Thirukodes(all except the breadwinner) made a trip to Chennai in the last week of Dec. It predominantly was for some shopping, a make-up trial for the bride and of course some good old hanging out at the groom's place. The women in both families are all set with regard to cloth shopping. I am still waiting for some last minute pressure and adrenaline rush for my shopping to begin. Meens picked up her black saree for the cocktail event and another blue one from us to scare me once we are back in the States. Dev kind of finished hers at the same spot. I was kind of apprehensive about going around the city following these women from one store to the other. But God's great! It all got done in the very first place we went to. Of course a trip to Thanga maligai was inevitable as my mom was all set on getting something for Meens. Glad that got done quickly too. We didn't find too much alone time with the hectic schedule. We still managed to catch a movie, hit a pub and have dinner.

Our invitation cards have arrived. I am pretty satisfied with the way they turned out. I was initially worried because I had completely changed the look of the sample card that we had selected. And yes, due to lack of time, we aren't doing a separate card for friends. Its either going to be mine or Meens's. But no promises about when you guys might be getting them. Nevertheless, just get your asses over to the wedding arena on the said dates(Jan 26,27). For those not making it to the wedding, now, why would you need an invite??

The decor for the mandapam/hall has been fixed too. It was pretty hard to balance things out what with us wanting it to be simple and good and a bit contemporary and everything else. It became even harder to visualize what the decorator was trying to convey. At some point I gave up and asked him to manage with whatever little input we had thrown at him. Man! I wish we had some time/energy to do it on our own. Hope things shape out well on the D day.

My man Swaroop has come to Chennai, the only soul from UW who is going to be here(otherthan the few who have moved to India permanently). We decided to head out with Lenny and Vijaya. It was a good night out starting at Havana and ending with Dublin. Incidentally there was this Deccan Chronicle(DC) photographer who I believe was jobless enough to want to take a pic of us all. Lenny refused to join in for obvious reasons. It was left for the 2 of us to pose and so we did. It was pretty shocking the next day when Swoop called and told me that we had actually made it into the paper. I ran out got the paper( I know my mama buys the same paper and so had to make sure... you get the drift right). After making sure all was level, showed it at home. After all these years, we had to make it into a paper because we were in a pub. Check it out if you can. The paper is dated 4th jan. Will try to upload the pic if I can. I am not sure if this blog space has such provisions. It would have been a perfect pic but for Swoop's expression. Now, some things never change!

Work is getting hectic again. I am waiting to take off soon ;) Going to Banglore for a couple of days next week. 20 odd days for the wedding. I wish time moved a tad slowly to help us digest the fact that we are getting married in less than a month. I am sure before we know we would get hitched and would be fighting the feb cold together. So thats that.

Adios,
Prem

ps:Vishnu and Aarti - Happpppppy Anniversary kiddos. Keep the spice alive.