[ampere]

Originally Posted by MX6

Sad. So the next bit is not going to have Jagga, Karthic etc.

Jagga and Karthic will not like it. (Or they would not have liked it)

[SmartCat]

Hey not bad. Although my hint was extremely cryptic, you all figured out what my next travelogue is going to be about. I wonder what gave it away

Sad. So the next bit is not going to have Jagga, Karthic etc.

Jagga, Karthic, Binny etc along with their respective wives are there in one photo - sitting in the hall looking bored, sneaking glances at the watch and waiting for the lunch to be served. Man! Weddings are boring!

[ampere]

Originally Posted by smartcat

Man! Weddings are boring!

I picture you waiting for your dinner today.

[Ranjan Sharma]

Originally Posted by MX6

Guys. Don't let the mods pull you up for using such words like HOT chicks.
Please tone down your language. Just a humble request.

you kidding me? I just can't believe some people..!

Originally Posted by smartcat

[/b] roadtrip to Mangalore. A small hint -

Attachment 319953

One of the best pictures in the thread according to me. Just love it smartcat

[MX6]

Originally Posted by Ranjan Sharma

you kidding me? I just can't believe some people..!

Yeah. Better use terms like persons of the fairer gender who are above room temperature.

[SmartCat]

BIG FAT GEEK WEDDING

Pic 1: Date: 29th Aug 2008. But six months back, when Pallavi and her big troupe of relatives had come to see our house, I dragged her into the bedroom and asked her to choose her wardrobe - the one on the left or the one on the right. Since she chose the left one, I spend the whole day clearing it up, two days before the wedding. That taken care of, I start packing. Pagadi CHECK, dhoti CHECK..

Pic 2: You see that treadmill in the background? I bought it for Rs. 20,000 and I'm mostly using it as a clothes hanger. It has almost never been used for the way it was intended to be. I have tried selling it to Jagga for Rs. 25,000 - but he is not biting.

Pic 3, 4 & 5: We are supposed to gift sarees and shirts to our relatives. We thought for a moment if all these things will get into the 400 & 250 litre boot of the Optra & dad's Santro. Plus there would be 6 adults, 1 Pujari and 1 kid as passengers. Perhaps its a good idea to hire an Innova? Date: 30th Aug 2008, the day of our journey. Surprise! All our stuff goes into the boot of the 2 cars, with some proper packaging. Playing with LEGO toys when we were kids was not a waste of time after all.

Pic 6 & 7: My sister-in-law asked me to buy a litre of Gingely Oil (called Thill Oil in Hindi I think, mostly used to lighting Diyas/Lamps) and 100g packet of Mustard seeds. Apparently, if one gives away this stuff to those who need it, then it automatically ensures a safe journey to our destination and back. She gave away the Gingely oil/Mustard seeds to our maid.

Pic 8: We took the Bangalore - Mysore - Madikeri - Mangalore route, because we weren't sure about the road conditions on the usual Hassan route. Younger brother was driving the Optra and Dad (who loves to drive) was driving the Santro. For some strange reason, I'm not allowed to drive for the next few days.

At Mysore, a biker overtook the Santro from the left and took a right turn immediately! Dad had no time to brake, and he hit the biker. The bike suffered some damage (broken mirror, bent handle) after falling down. As expected, soon a big crowd rathered around the Santro and a cop came over to watch the fun. In the beginning, the biker started making a hue & a cry - he obviously wanted money and was pretty sure of extracting it from us.

Unfortunately for him, he was messing with the wrong person. When my dad gets angry, his eyes turn bloodshot red and he screams at 120 decibels. Soon the crowd vanishes as quickly as it appeared, and the poor biker begs our forgiveness and dad lets him go after getting an apology from the biker.

Don't have a picture of the scene, but have a pic of my Dad's Santro Xing - with a big dog inside.

[ampere]

MODS : Please Change title to :

100,000 kms on Indian Highways, 6 treks, a Couple of Flights & a Wedding !

[srikanthpotluri]

and whats the dog doing at the drivers seat ?

[SmartCat]

That's my cousin's dog - loves to go to the beach. So whenever it sees any car door open, it jumps in and expects you to drive it down to the beach.

a Couple of Flights & a Wedding !

..and a honeymoon too? Unfortunately, I have run into trouble with the censor board (my wife heads it). Almost all the interesting photos have been censored, so I'm currently negotiating with the board for leniency.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by smartcat

..and a honeymoon too? Unfortunately, I have run into trouble with the censor board (my wife heads it). Almost all the interesting photos have been censored, so I'm currently negotiating with the board for leniency.

Good that you were on your spell checker and did not say :

A couple of Fights and a Wedding.

Then I would have a asked : A Couple?

[SmartCat]

THE BIG FAT GEEK WEDDING CONTD:

Pic 1: My nephew - he is hyperactive, as you can see from this picture. On our trip to Mangalore, I was sitting next to him in the car, in the backseat. And boy, he was a handful.

Pic 2: My younger brother was sitting in the front passenger seat. I thought of a little game. My nephew and myself started hitting him with a car pillow. This game quickly backfired when my nephew got bored of hitting my brother, and started hitting me instead. Result? My spectacles frame broke. Note the pic closely - the spectacle frame is resting on my nose only, and not my ear (Gandhiji style).

Pic 3 & 4: We reached Madikeri and had lunch there. Madikeri was brilliant - cool and misty. We thought about looking for a new spectacle frame in towns on the way to Mangalore, like Sullia or Puttur.

Pic 5, 6, 7, 8 & 9: Why do we keep hitting the Karnataka coast all the time? What do we love driving to Mangalore, Udupi, Karwar - from Bangalore? The answers to all those questions -

Vid 1: Short video of Madikeri - Mangalore route. Optra in the front, Santro at the back. Note the brightness/visibility of the rear fog lamps of the Optra.

YouTube - Madikeri Mangalore Route

[SmartCat]

Pic 1: We couldn't find any spectacles shop in Sullia town. We found one in Puttur, but the owner had gone out for an hour. Why are glasses so important? Well, I'm blind as a bat without one. Without glasses, I would be a safety hazard to any girl in my vicinity during marriage ceremony!

By the time we reached Mangalore, it was too late in the evening, so we had to look for a spectacles shop the next day (31st Aug 2008). In the morning, my brother and myself set out looking for a shop selling spectacles. Being Sunday, everything in the vicinity was closed. My only hope was the "Bharath Mall", a relatively large mall in Mangalore. All the shops inside the mall were open, except for, you guessed it, the shop selling spectacle frames.

We asked the owner of a neigbouring shop inside the mall and explained my problem. That guy called up the owner of the spectacles shop who promised to get to the mall within an hour. When he opened the shop, I profusely thanked him, chose a frame for my glasses and invited him for the wedding.



Pic 2: Later in the evening, we had a get-together where we distributed shirts & sarees to our relatives. Meanwhile, Pallavi's house was decked up in lights and all their relatives started streaming in.



Pic 3 & 4: The womenfolk were inside the Puja Room, singing Bhajans.





Pic 5: While the men were outside discussing Politics. Pallavi's house is over 30 years old, and the whole place looks like a jungle resort (peacocks, langur, snake sightings are quite common). I had put forth a comprehensive proposal asking my Father-in-Law to accept me as a Ghar Jamaii - but unfortunately, the proposal was rejected outright. Will definitely put in a new improved proposal after a couple of years.



Pic 6, 7 & 8: I don't think this custom is common - the Tarakaari Muhurtha. Tarakaari in Kannada means Vegetables. Pallavi's aunts cut some vegetables on the night before the wedding, and these vegetables are used to make Saambar for the Wedding lunch!







Pic 9: Back in our hotel room, my younger brother was watching some adults wearing knickers swing their bats around on TV.



Pic 10: Meanwhile, I call up Pallavi and whispered (bro was in the same room, so not much privacy) sweet nothings into her ears. And yes MX6, I told her that night - "I'm lucky to have a person of fairer gender like you, and you are way above room temperature". She was quite confused by what I just said, and momentarily, she might have wondered if I was the right man.

[MX6]

Originally Posted by smartcat

I had put forth a comprehensive proposal asking my Father-in-Law to accept me as a Ghar Jamaii - but unfortunately, the proposal was rejected outright. Will definitely put in a new improved proposal after a couple of years.


Meanwhile, I call up Pallavi and whispered (bro was in the same room, so not much privacy) sweet nothings into her ears. And yes MX6, I told her that night - "I'm lucky to have a person of fairer gender like you, and you are way above room temperature". She was quite confused by what I just said, and momentarily, she might have wondered if I was the right man.
Attachment 321599

You try run over him. Then you want to be a ghar jamai. Interesting.


Women keep wondering. Let the baby arrive. If she gets in to what is called postpartum depression, you are dead. That is the deadly period where her wonderings will oscillate between the bizzare and the unthinkable! Unfortunately, these things go unnoticed in India and the women find an avenue in tv soaps to get over their blues.

[SmartCat]

Postpart what? God bless Wikipedia - will check out the meaning of that word after a few months.

BIG FAT GEEK'S WEDDING CONTD:

Pic 1: The wedding day, 1st Sept 2008. I had a visitor (probably sent by Pallavi to spy on me) who peeked into our hotel window, early in the morning.



Pic 2: Usually, I'm the last one to wake up at home. But on the wedding day, I was up and about, waiting in the hotel lobby, calling up everybody to make sure we get to the marriage hall on time.



Pic 3: A small tip to a boy, and both the cars are gleaming and ready to take us to the marriage hall.



Pic 4: We arrive at the marriage hall's parking lot, and I sent Pallavi an SMS. "We will be delayed by one hour. Tyre puncture". I immediately got a reply back "Haage Aagabeku (Serves you right)".



Pic 5: I was pretty excited to see my name on the top, but pretty upset to see Pallavi's name mentioned first. I guess they all know who's the real boss.



Pic 6: I'm immediately whisked into our room, where I wear some fancy dress. Note my "Kabaddi stance" in the mirror.



Pic 7 & 8: I sit with the Pujari, mom & dad on the "stage" - not quite sure what was going on, everything was in Sanskrit. Cool photographs though. My mind drifts away - like when I'm sitting in Bangalore's traffic waiting for vehicles to move.





Pic 9: We hired the best for the background score - a distant relative of Kenny G.



Pic 10: The Chairs are empty. Elder bro talking to our cousin. When will the show start? Doesn't he look dumber than usual in that attire? Do you think we'll have a housefull? Breakfast & Lunch at what time?

[pulsar56]

LOL! I hope you were not the one clicking those cool photographs on the stage!