Best of Both Worlds

A glance at the last couple of months that flew by.

It started off with the waiting... the waiting to meet my family & the cousins in Bombay. Tonio made the wait unbearable by coming up with lines like "Don't waste time packing, the tickets are not confirmed yet" or "I lost the air tickets, so you can forget about going to Bombay"... stuff like that. After reaching Bombay I went to a lot of places, met a lot of people but one incident 'bout the whole wedding activity that stands out the most is the time I spent with the bridesmaids, Sheena and Megha on the day of the wedding. We went to get our hair done and to pick up the bridal bouquet, en route we stoped at this place called Candies to pick up something to eat. There everything looked so good, we picked up quite a lot. I won't ever forget those sandwiches, brownies, cold salad and the rest of the stuff... they were perfect. If there is a banquet in heaven I am sure this is the kind of food they serve there. So anyway, the bride is at home in a frenzy... getting her makeup done & worrying 'bout everything a bride worries about while her breidesmaid's and me were munching on food like there was all the time in the world. I mean were were supposed to get ready, get our makeup done & pick up the bouquet... but at that moment, there was nobody more calmer and more at peace with the world, than we were with our food from Candies. Anyway, take a look at the bridal couple.....

It was the best wedding I had ever been to. There was a whole lot of dancing & good food & the usual dose of relatives who recognise you by the resemblance you bear to either of your parents. I have actually come to like all these "relative" moments, it's a comfort knowing some things never change. Here are the cousins... each one is a wonder.
The day after the wedding we flew back home to celebrate the most wonderful holiday of the year. My sister, Nameeta did a good job of decorating the house, she actually surpassed me. Christmas was a little crazy this time, there were too many events to attend, I hardly had time to spend at home. We landed on the 23rd and that evening was spent setting up the crib at home. This is the crib at Chennai home.

On the 24th we had choir practice and later we stayed back to set up the crib and the christmas tree in church. The midnight mass was nice, we sang "Zion's Daughter" and it felt great. After mass, we didn't feel like going home, so we sang more carols.....
On the 25th I had to go to school to finish up some year end reports. It was good to see the sisters, but the kids were on holiday. Its been 6 months now since I last saw them, I do hope to see them all again in March. The next day I went to the farm house with the guys and that's a pretty neat place to unwind.

My brother vinod.....
The guys decided to have beer while soaking in the sun... that's priyanka with her kingfisher pose.

On the 27th was Ferni's (one of my oldest friend's from school) wedding and

Sajeeve's (a notoriously smart cousin) engagement.

On the 28th was Sajeeve's wedding, and 29th I had to leave home and travel to Kerala to attend Arun's (Tonio's brother) engagement. We got back to Chenai on the 31st to celebrate new year's .....and thus ended a rather great year.

Rest in the next post.