Didi ki Shaadi

Inconveniences(especially caused by drunkard Mallya) neglected, the journey to Lucknow was completely different. May be I wouldn't yearn to go there again, but I don't regret going there. The place is not beautiful, but it's fun.

First, we went shopping. As we didn't have much time left, we had planned something very limited and had only one item in our list - Chikan. It is a simple, yet beautiful art on thin cloth, usually on kurtis and saris. We were a group of around around 5 ladies and 2 men(you know why :P ). We went to one store and finished our shopping in less than an hour. I selected 2 kurtis in less than 5 minutes. And I was as bored as my brother for the rest of the time. I couldn't help noticing my aunts' broken Urdu flavoured Hindi as they did their usual bit of haggling with the taxi driver and the shopkeeper.
Once you step into Lucknow, you should accustom yourself to the change in time and time sense. If they say "aadhe ghange mein pahunchenge", it means they'll take aadhaa din to reach. So I still remember my dad say "Aadhaa ghanta = Lucknow ka aadhaa ghanta!".(That was probably the only joke the driver understood - the rest were either in Kannada, or broken Hindi. :-D )


         Wedding, wherever it is-north or south or any other direction, is an exhibition of sizzling heavy sarees and dashing suits and sherwanis, array of smiles and bustling crowd all around, mouth watering, scrumptious food, and a gamut of emotions. The change is seen in the way they're done. For a person hailing from a small unnoticed corner of the western coasts, grown up witnessing quick marriages that start in the morning and end by the afternoon, this wedding, starting at dusk and ending at dawn next day, seemed a bit weird. But it was a whole new experience! If you read between the lines, they pretty much do what we do in weddings, but in a different manner. Here, I have listed out what I can recall:

• Timing: As I already mentioned, we end just after lunch, and they start just after dinner. Here, I'm only talking about the actual marriage and the rituals directly associated with it. More precisely, excluding the reception part. The muhurat is fixed sometime after breakfast and before lunch. Exactly at the time the guy ties the knot, "...pee pee pee dum dum dum..." , goes the Vaadya-band. There, the muhurat is sometime in the midnight(may be not in all cases..I'm not sure). Silence remains. We people clapped :P. 
• Similar, but different- "The change is seen in the way they're done":  The purpose of these conventional activities, anywhere in the world, are the same - lighten the atmosphere and bring the yo!-it's-a-wedding mood all alive. These activities start right from the entry of the Baaraat. There, the groom's cousins try stopping the guy from entering the premises while the bride's cousins try carrying him, despite the obstacles. [The guy came by car(not a horse -.-), btw]. Here, we do something called "eduru gummodu", where we throw hands-full of puffed rice on the groom's family and warmly welcome them. Also there's this event where the girl's behen steals the to-be-jeeju's shoes hides it, and gives it back, only after fetching money(if you're a younger sister, trust me, it's a LOT of pocket money!). Back here, at the time of Gruha Pravesha of the bride after wedding, the groom's cousins(here too, it's the girls :P) don't let them in, until he gives them the money.
• Venue, and others:  Here we shell out money on renting choultries and temples. There, to conduct a marriage, all you need is a huge lawn,where they put vast pandals and roofs and magnificently illuminate the place with sparkling lighting and vibrant colours.

Here's a description of what I saw, remember-from baaraat to bidaai:

The Baaraat is a procession led by the groom's family, announcing their arrival to the place, by loud songs and dance. Then, as described earlier, the groom and his family is welcomed. It was a long way from the gates to the stage. My cousins, with great effort, carried him for a short distance. They walked the rest, slowly, clicking photos after each step. Around 5 dulha- oriented songs would have already been played by this time. 

Somewhere near the stage, the bride's parents do what we call "Paada Puje"-washing the groom's legs and all. Remember, all this while, the bride's waiting inside. It's now that she makes her grand entry. It was a grand entry indeed. My pretty sister, clad in an elegant, red-green sequin-adorned lehenga, stepped in. Here too, she was carried by her brothers till the dias, and was followed by her sisters(including me me me) and friends. On stage, the hero and heroine exchanged garlands and posed for many a snap.

Meanwhile, more and more guests started streaming in. If you're a guest, it's like this - as you enter, you have a long row of desks to your right, with a wide variety of hot delicious dishes being served(I didn't eat half the dishes available, so ask me not to name them.). There was another food counter at the center, which, as far as I remember, served salads, rotis, and rice. It was designed to look like a dhaba. 

And as you move further from the food counter, you can see the stage and the seats in front. Greet the couple if you want to, but food first. ;-)

Most of the guests slowly started moving out. At around 10-30, the place was fairly empty. The hero and heroine are still on stage, starving. Finally, almost all guests leave, and only close ones from family and friends remain. The time is nearly 12 AM. It is now that the families sit together in a huge round table and dine. After the dinner, the preparation for the actual marriage starts. The wedding happened at a smaller part of the lawn behind the reception venue. A mantap is constructed, and beds are spead all around the mantap, for the audience. *yawn*. The wedding rituals started at around 1-30. The weather was chilled out, and damp. I insulated myself with like three layers of clothing. The youngest as I am in my family, everyone asked me to go sleep. Ha.

Again, they pretty much did what we would do in daytime. Dad handled the camera for quite a while. However, it had to come to the right hands :-P

As usual, the pandit-ji's lectures got boring by the minute. So I explored the situation, to make timepass out of boredom-

"I was bored..."

• The sleepier the couple were, the cute they looked.
• The groom's attire was heavier than him. So was the bride's. I wondered if the weight of the jewellery had her lose balance while walking!
• The groom wore a traditional rumal. It was beatuiful. He looked like a prince!
• My sister was no less captivating. She looked like a North Indian. Pwetty pwetty doll!!
• I looked back. Men on the chairs watched the proceedings with great effort containing their sleep.
• Laterally opposite to me was another row of chairs where old women sat  - sorry - slept. 
• To my immediate left sat ladies and gentlemen of the groom's famil. They wrapped themselves with a blanket they shared.
• My aunts who sat behind me cracked PJs. In Kannada. (Got my point? :P)

"I wondered if it had her lose balance.."

The royal rumal

Tiara?

   




































However, these things could keep me alive only momentarily. So I resorted back to listening to pandit-ji.

He spoke of istree's importance to a family, and hence, the society. And many more things I didn't even bother to listen. The couple nodded dramatically.

Then came Kanyadaan, Saptapadi and Sindoor. And I finally got a job. I hate it when the official photographers barge into the middle of my frame. Get away you idiot, I want the couple, not that thing hanging from your 

camera.  

The guy also applied Sindoor to the girl. 

After a few more events, the handsome guy from the heart of Lucknow tied the knot to the beautiful girl of the corner of the Western coasts. A loud applause broke the monotony of the situation. The guy and the girl are, at last, married :)

Here, I forgot to mention, a convention is followed-the mother should not witness the most significant events of the marriage - Sindoor and tying-the-knot.

After this, the couple was congratulated and blessed by seniors of the family.

Guess the time? It was around 4-30. And we all went to sleep. However, I actually slept for not more than 45 minutes and packed up to leave the city. The Bidaai was already over. And we left the city.

The driver surprisingly arrived on time to drop us back to the airport. His face shone with pride when he was asked "how come so early?" Is it that unusual to be punctual?

           So that was Lucknow. May be I should have spent more time there. 

Don't miss the Mayawatis posters in every street!!

              

Day4: Delhi

This was our last day in Delhi. Shunti didn't want to have us anymore :P So we dumped ourselves at Baba Inn! Well it was only one night stay there. The surroundings of the rather new hotel is conjested, but the hotel is good inside(Except for the lack of hot water). We had very few places left in Delhi. Jantar Mantar, Dilli Haat and Sarojini Market. Then, off to Shimla.

1.Jantar Mantar
Nothing much to say about it. It is supposedly an astronomical marvel. But we didn'l understand how it works. But we got good pitures. I got some of the best potraits of Jaychi! Then we moved on to Dilli Haat. We learnt the basics of bargaining here!

Jantar Mantar

Jantat Mantar -2

2.Dilli Haat
A traditional shopping complex. You get traditional goods of all kinds from all states here. There are a variety of restaurants too - Tamil Nadu Restaurant, Andhra Restaurant, Rajasthani, Gujarati and so on! We chose Rajasthani food. It was nice. I had never tasted Rajasthani before. Then we thought of resting a bit and then start shopping, but came to know that Sarojini Market is just a stone's throw from Dilli Haat. So went to the Market right away.

Welcome

Bangles

Gujarati Ghagras n Cholis

Rajasthani Restaurant

3.Sarojini Market
This reminds me of the Jaynagar shopping complex. This is much bigger than the Jaynagar one though. Bargaining didn't work much in 2 shops only. But in rest of the shops we saved a lot. When we came back to Baba, we tried on all the clothes we bought and CLICKED! It was exciting! We were quite satisfied with our selections and bargaining abilities! At least it will help us for the shopping we would do in Bangalore!

Typical Marketplace

Shopping!

So this is how we killed time in our room. Click, Click and FACEBOOK! The "Shopping Spree" photo is already profiled, and comments are already flooding! And SomeOne's so thrilled at the quick response, and is pouncing on me! :P But when the number of comments reduced, we said good night to Bangalore, and slept.

Day3: Agra

Our day3 also happened to be the day of World Cup Semifinals between India and Pakistan. All my friends met at Mani's place and watched the match together. But we only depended on the commentry we listened to on the radio. We left Shunti early at around 6:15 AM. On the way we had our breakfast at Sagar Ratna in a place called Kosi in Uttar Pradesh. We saw 2 limbed monkeys controlling 4 limbed monkeys and pitied the latter. Then we reached a place called Sikandra on the way to Agra. Akbar's tomb is located in Sikandra.

One monkey helping the other earn

1.Akbar's Tomb, Sikandra
Akbar, before his death, had built his tomb himself. In other words, can we say he dug his own grave? Anyway this tomb is also a silent place with not many tourists. His tomb, I guess, is not as popular as his granddaughter-in-law's. It is hardly crowded. As soon as you enter, you see intriguing designs etched on the wall and ceilings. Urdu writings are seen too. Then you are led to a passage which gets more and more darkened as you move forward. Now you actually reach the tomb. The chamber is half-lit by a bulb. A person says something and shouts "Allah-hu-Akbar", which echoes for a long time. Then we come out of it and move on to a wide pathway nearby, where, when you stand exactly below the tip of any of the domes and make a sound, you hear a distinct echo(reminded me of physics: Sound, the Unsound chapter!). Now we continue our journey towards Agra.

Akbar's tomb - Entrance

Interior designing?

Passage leading to the Tomb

Echoes!

2.Wah Taj!
You all know about this Wonder. I need not explain to you who built it for what joy, or how beautiful it is. You have seen evough photos. I will just describe the disgusting crowd which made me feel nauseatic. We get tickets from a place a bit far off the Taj. from there, no vehicles allowed. Eco friendly battery powered vehicles take us from there to the Taj. Now that we have got down, guys who call themselves guides ask if we want guides. Whether we say Yes or No, they will go on. We thought a government guide will be a good choice. So one guy brings another and starts pestering us. "No", we said. Two more guys came to us. We
rejected and went our way. Now that we have reached, it's checking time! They check our bags with great interest. Eatables are prohibited, and we had brought "obbattu" and some fruits. The lady asked us to keep it
in a shop. There was competition even for this. There was a row of numerous souveneir shops. They wanted us to keep our things there, and when we ruturn to get them back, they will obviously make us buy something in their shop. We kept it in some shop and returned. Now that we have come inside, it is the photograhers' turn. They want to take a photo of we holding the Taj in the tip, we jumping in front of Taj, and
many more weird poses. We were happy with our own cameras. It was freaking hot and sunny there! Our feet were burning when we had to walk on the marble floor without slippers. We get in. Photography is prohitibited inside. We could see the graves from a distance. When you shout, it echoes. Some youth found it amusing, as if he had never heard an echo. He kept on shouting and then got a punch from the person
who, I think, was supposed to maintain peace inside the monument. We went into other chambers, only to see families lying down on the floor and resting, as if it's their lawn. I saw a woman go to a corner, turn to a wall, and change her clothes! God help them! We went out of the hall and saw the Yamuna flowing. We could see the Agra Fort. So that was Taj. We went to the souveneir shop and bought miniature Taj Mahals. We returned to the ticket counter by the battery vehicle and got into our Innova. What next? Agra Fort.

Wah! Taj!

River Yamuna

Agra Fort from Taj Mahal

Battery powered vehicles

3.Agra Fort
Agra Fort is quite close the Taj Mahal. It is a replica of the Red Fort at Delhi. This is where Shah Jahan was imprisoned by Mr.Aurangzeb, his very son. He could view the Taj from his jail. We also viewed Taj Mahal from there. Here too, you find Diwan-e-Aam and Diwan-e-Khas. It seems to me like a world of marble!

Agra Fort

Close up

Tallness!

Diwan-e-Aam

Arcs

Taj from Agra fort

Arc-ictecture

Next we had lunch at an Udupi Krishna Bhavan. Jaychi and I had North Indian food there(:P), but after the South Indian lemon rice. Food was good there. It reminded me of my mom's lemon rice(yum!). Next we went to Krishna's birth place, Mathura. It was full of cows. It stinked! On the way we had glimpses of the cricket match in the televisions of the roadside shops. We went to the temple. There were not only wal paintings, but ceiling paintings too! Jaychi and I couldn't just imagine how the painters managed it. Right next to it is a mosque. And people are okay with it (And may they be okay with it forever!). And that was the end of it. We left Mathura to back to Delhi. We didn't have time to go to Brindavan. So back to Delhi. We reached Delhi at night. The next day was our last day in Delhi. I watched the remaining match and slept, while Jaychi dozed off before the end. And lo! India Won! YAY! Good night!

Day2: Delhi

Of course we had our breakfast and left Shunti for more sightseeing. Food there is so-so. Not too good, not too bad either. We went to Red Fort. Opposite to Red Fort are a Jain temple and a birds hospital.

1.Red Fort
Red Fort is a huge complex. It was once the Mughals' property, now a historic monument of national importance. As you enter, to the right, you can find a park called the August 15 Park. There are many more structures inside the complex - like the Diwan-e-aam, Diwan-e-Khaas, Moti Mahal, to name a few. There is Chatta Chowk, which is sort of a passage with numerous small shops. You get glistening purses, clay show items, stoles, shawls and artificial jewellery. Also, there is a museum where you can find paintings, murals and other objects related to the Indian Freedom Struggle. Like any other place in New Delhi, it is neatly maintained, and the lawns and flowers add to the beauty.

Laal Kila

Handbags, Chatta Chowk

Masks, Chatta Chowk

The Museum

2.Akshardham Temple
A temple with a golden shrine of Swaminarayan, Akshardham temple is an architectural marvel. It gives immense delight to the eyes, firstly because of its splendor, and secondly because cameras and mobiles are not allowed. Leave apart cameras, there is a lengthy list of prohibited things - Shampoo, marker pen, soap, to name a VERY few. So first you go through a long evaluation process. You are checked thrice in a row! Once you're declared harmless, you're let in. You're let in to see a humungous temple. Each entrance is highly decorated. One such entrtance has got hundreds peacock heads beautifully carved in it! (I am not sure of the number though.. I still feel it is around 280 but rounded it off to the vaguest possible number I could think of..). It's called the Mayur Dwaar. There is a huge hall meant for selling things like booklets, and promoting their activities such as boat ride. Mindblowing photographs are also hung on the wall. Then we come out of it and go straight to the temple. Its interior is entirely marble. Intricate designs are skillfully carved out of marble pillars. At the centre is the golden shrine of Swaminarayan. He's surrounded by his golden disciples. There are tall doors on all four sides, but only one is open, through which tourists like us enter and exit. Then there is a Bhojanalay. We decide to eat there. I thought it is like these "dharma chatras" here, so half heartedly followed my dear companion. But it was not a Bhojanalay, it was a Food Court. Yeah both mean the same, but the tone makes a difference. Like, you everything from plain rice-dal to pizza here. Here too, food was so-so, but we had enough. (We didn't have pizza). Jaychi ate a kulfi and I drank sugarcane juice. So lunch over. Bye Akshardham!

Akshardham Temple

3.Lotus Temple
Also known as the Bahai Temple it is a silent place meant for peple of all castes, creed and religion. It is a place to keep your mouth and eyes shut and listen to verses from The Gita, The Bible, The Quran, Teh Guru Granth Sahib. Volunteers read them out aloud, while we sit with eyes closed. Utter silence is maintained. Outside is a neatly kept lawn growing many flowers, with a pathway leading to the Temple. There is an open pool at the basement where I don't think people swim. People just sit near the pool and take snaps. This place is crowded too, but once you come inside and close your eyes, it seems like you are the only one there. At least that is expected to happen. So we have seen Lotus Temple. "Salaam wale qum" Qutb!

Lotus Temple

4.Qutb Minar
When we say Qutb Minar, we usually don't mention about the rather unpopular structures in its surrounding. There are many more structures around it, like the Alai Minar, Alaudin Khilji's Tomb and college, Iltutmish's tomb, Smith's Folly, etc. Jaychi and I got an audio guide. It would have been really helpful if we had followed it strictly. But it was an old map and a lot had changed. Some construction was still going on. It was very informative, however. As usual my camera towards the end of the day.

Qutb Minar

College and Tomb of Allaudin Khilji

Alai Minar

There was still time, and no idea how Mrs.Rashtrapatni, our friend, came to know of this. She called us for a second cup of tea! :P We went and took better photos, of course because it was not dark yet. We decided against revisiting India Gate, as we had got good photos and the lighting there was sufficient at night. We went to Connaught Place and ate at Saravana Bhavan(I liked the Dosa there!). Jayashree and I went to the nearby Pizza Hut at Connaught Place, and got a Pizza parceled. We went back to Shunti and freshed ourselves. It was decided that we are going to Agra the next day. We switched on the Idiot Screen(not Box in this case, as it is flat screen). We watched the last quarter of Titanic and simultaneously had pijja. Very touching movie. Should see the whole movie once... Yeah after all this we slept. Jaychi must have read Twilight for a while and then slept. I'm not sure. Good night Delhi!

I'm back!

Duh. Old news. I was back weeks ago. You even might have forgotten that I had been to a trip. Well I only might forget! But it was yesterday it flashed to me that I have a blog and I have got to update it. 9 days with
Jayashree and her father was an amazing experience. It was not just see places and click pictures. It was something beyond that. Here is a detailed report on all the days. Read it bit-by-bit. It will be too much for one
day!

Day1: Delhi
The flight journey was very good. But it was just a starter. I clicked quite a lot of photos in the flight itself. Car "journey" from the airport to our hotel, I thought, will be exhausting, due to slow moving traffic, high pitched horns, and lots of other disturbances. But it was not so. The city is full of trees and pigeons, and of course, important buildings. From inside the car itself we took numerous photos. That was because we knew we are going to charge the batteries as soon as we reach the hotel! And foolish me. I hadn't taken my charger with me. We got one in Connaught place however. Our hotel is right next to a railway station. We watched TV for an hour and left for sightseeing in Delhi:

1.Raj Ghat
It is a huge garden with Samadhis of great yesteryear politicians - Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi etc; It is the best spot for early morning or evening walks. A peaceful place. There is a small lake there with swans and lotuses. All in all, it is a silent, neatly maintained park where you don't feel the presence of a large noisy crowd, even if there is one - the place is so vast!

2.Birla Mandir
Also known as Lakshminarayan Temple, it is a huge temple built mainly of marble. It is a very old temple. Its calm and tranquil atmospehere gives you a break from the hustle and bustle of the hot city in which it is situated. Attractive chandeliers illuminate a few important parts of the temple. There is a drum kept there which was gifted by a Japanese monk sometime during World War 2(Am I right, Jayashree?). No cameras and mobiles allowed, so that, as Jayashree rightly said, you use your eyes to the fullest and admire whatever you have to. So that's it.

3.Rashtrapati Bhavan
(Shouldn't it be Rashtrapatni Bhavan? :P )
No idea why Mrs Rashtrapatni called us for a cup of tea at that time of the day(night, not day!) (:P). But how can we reject The President's invitation? We went and took photos. We didn't have much time. We saw the
Parliament and headed to the opposite end - The India Gate.

4.India Gate:
Things have changed a lot in 6 years(6 years! They are bound to!). When I had come 6 years ago, there were only a few tourists. Now the number has multiplied manifold. At every step towards the structure, you
find people selling all kinds of toys for kids. Some familied spread their carpets and have a picnic in front of India Gate. Most unfortunately, a chain is bound a few feet away from the structure so that no one can go near it, and who knows, add their name also! You must be knowing, it was built a memorial for British soldiers who lost their lives during the freedom struggle. The lighting was too good, so we got good photographs even at night. So that was India Gate. Then we went back to the hotel and slept. Day1 over. Good night!