Day 0
Ever since watching ‘Jab We Met’ (and a rather memorable incident about nine years ago) I have been slightly cautious about reaching the railway station on time. This time was no different – I had almost packed up everything and had a couple of hours to reach Mumbai Central for my 11.25pm Duronto Express to Ahmedabad Junction. The occasion of the weekend trip was the wedding of my classmate Apurvi’s brother. Stuffing whatever I could remember in my suitcase I rushed to finish the upma that my mother had served at the table. Although I suggested otherwise, my parents insisted on dropping me at the terminus themselves. My friends Sree and Kriti had reached almost an hour before I did and were already waiting for me in the coach with their parents. We chatted with their parents for a bit before the beginning of the journey. The journey was more of a mini-sleepover for us – we sat chatting about our college experiences, reminiscing the funniest and the lamest moments we have had yet. Our discussion about the kleptomaniac (on whom we based our own fictional version of Dhoom 4 😛 ) and a certain Gujarati classmate whose very name is enough to cause a laugh riot was enough to set the ball rolling. We finally decided to hit the sack at 3.30am, in order to have a little energy left in the morning.
Day 1
As the train slowed down before reaching Ahmedabad station, I was woken up by Kriti. We were warmly greeted by Apurvi and her dad as we alighted. After dragging our bags to the end of the station and packing them in the car. I surprised myself quite a bit – I had packed 2 extra sets of dresses (in case the need arose…) but had conveniently misread the weather report on google and not carried any warm clothes. I was practically shivering – what was I even thinking while wearing a sleeveless top anyway! It was really sweet of Kriti to lend me a shawl – I will never forget how contrastingly nice and warm it felt in comparison to the chilly Ahmedabad mornings. After picking up Apurvi’s brother we headed to Hotel Shrimad at Chandkheda, where we would be staying for the next couple of days. Our friend Krupa had flown in as well and joined us there.
The hotel stay was one of a kind – it was IN a mall! The very check-in process at the hotel was funny – after submitting our ID proofs we were asked to sign in to the register and provide a thumb print (god knows why!) With the luggage placed in the rooms, the five of us chatted a bit before deciding to rest for a while. In the process we (Apurvi included) missed out on the Haldi ceremony (It was only later in the evening that we got to know about the substitution of turmeric with Vicco Turmeric cream. It was certainly the most creative jugaad one could ever come up with!).
The elevators leading to the hotel were one of a kind as well – never before had I heard (or even imagined) of an elevator chiming “Thank You. Visit Again. You’re Welcome” with a slight Gujarati accent. Sree and I ended up taking the elevator almost every single time just for the heck of it. We finally went to Apurvi’s place for a rather late breakfast, and were greeted by her mom. I was left mesmerized by the environment and their hospitality – we practically felt at home. Apurvi’s mom is hands-down one of the coolest moms I have ever met – her knowledge of all the happenings in college is pretty much up-to-date, and I absolutely love her ability to make anybody laugh within seconds of meeting them. We were soon greeted by Anshul (Apurvi’s brother – the groom), who jokingly mentioned that he had heard *just a little* about us. Apurvi showed us around and told us about her childhood memories of her pets as we chatted in the balcony. Apurvi’s cousin Prerna also chatted with us for a while. After a rather awesome breakfast of Chhole Bhature, we headed back to our hotel rooms to freshen up and catch up on our sleep. We faced a rather intriguing event as we returned to our room – although I distinctly remembered switching off all the lights and taking the keys with me, the lights were somehow on. This made Sree and me wonder if there was some ghost lurking around waiting for us to leave.
The evening turned out to be eventful – Sree, Apurvi and I ended up wearing almost the same shade of pine green for the Sangeet ceremony. The function was arranged at the Sun and Step Club. Apurvi looked stunning in the mini-photoshoot we had before everyone else arrived (our group had been the first to reach there). It was a bit funny, as we had to go outside again so that we could be formally welcomed by the bride’s side. The bride Bharvi looked picture perfect in her navy blue dress.
The highlight of the evening – the beautiful couple 😀
We all chatted a bit before the event actually began. The Sangeet ceremony was definitely a treat – in addition to the live orchestra, there were a number of dazzling dance performances put together by the relatives of the couple.
Apurvi’s Mum dancing to Sawaar Loon
Apurvi’s mom stole the show – the grace and finesse with which she danced to the slow and the fast beats, coupled with the choreography, simply blew our minds away. Even now when I listen to the song ‘Sawaar Loon’ I am instantly reminded of her performance.
The rest of the evening was pretty lively – people danced to the Garba tunes that the orchestra played. I shied away from Garba as I couldn’t really match up to the tempo or get the steps right. Krupa really seemed to enjoy the dance though – I guess Garba just runs in her veins. We all took to the dance floor after dinner in the last part of the evening, when Bollywood tunes were being played – that was definitely our turf! The air had suddenly become so charged – more than a hundred people dancing their heart out.
We danced till our legs were sore…we then waited a bit and danced some more. This was one dance event we all thoroughly enjoyed – we must have danced for almost a couple of hours. I kept dancing even though my leg was sprained a bit, and interestingly enough the pain just went away. Sree surprised us with her amazing Bollywood moves – we had no idea she danced so well! The funniest memories of the evening included being almost knocked over by Kriti and Apurvi as they played Phugadi, and dancing to the Marathi song Jhingaat – the expressions on our faces were just phenomenal! We chatted a bit with Apurvi’s mom before we left for our hotel rooms – the Sangeet definitely was a roaring success. We finally retired to our rooms at 12.30am, and drifted to slumberland in a matter of minutes.
Here is the link to the next part – the Shaadi blog post
A Roller Coaster called Life 