today I would be going for a mallu wedding in LA. This wud be my second mallu wedding I attanded besides my USC senior, Philip's.Difference being Philips wedding all of us pitched in and helped in organizing but i didnt know the ppl getting married and these ppl were friends of my uncle and aunt's and since they wanted to see us had invited us for the wedding too. Jisha gave me a call at 7am to wake me up.However I continued sleeping till 9.After brushing my teeth stuffing my suit into a bag, putting on a hawaiian shirt I pushed off to San Diego. I am trying out all I know to max the mileage.avoiding using brakes as much as possible without fatal consequences, driving on cruise control, no a/c usage and keeping windows closed(a friend said sometime back the air coming in requires the engine to push harder!!!),controlling my instinct to go above 75 and any other stupid ideas i get.on the way as usual i listen to swapnakoode, runway, chronic bachelor, kaakha kaakha and indi popper, shaan's hit collection.the drive to LA is pretty good on a weekend...the traffic out of san diego is lite and only after i reach irvine does it get crazy.i am relieved to hear my uncle and aunt who have come from chicago for the wedding will pick up jisha...that saved me 30 miles of crawling thru LA but her next demand floors me.They need a camera to take pics of the wedding for my aunt in baltimore. angane i head to usc where i get one from my old mallu dosths there...they are shocked and ask me inganeyaano kalyaanthine pokunne...hawaii, unshaven, unshowered,etc,etc.
we were introduced to a young couple whith whom my uncle and aunt were staying, simon and bindhu.both are mallus who grew up in north india but very nice folks. they fell in love in muscait, married and came over to the states.neways we became really friendly with them in those few hours...they are also avid movie buffs and wanted my collection of films next time i met them.neways i shower and get ready at their place. the water was ice-cold and heater didnt work. i have rarely had a chance to take a cold-shower since leaving kerala and mixing the hot water and cold water doesnt always get me the desired effect.neways the marriage service at church was one of the best i have ever been to. the very young priest explained for the benefit of the non-mallus present the meaning of the certain customs we follow like exchange of rings, minnu kettu(i am sure none of u knew there is a sexual symbolism in that), giving the bride the mantrakodi...he was saying all these were borrowed from hindu traditions...i must admit i didnt know why most of these things were done. the service was in english with only the songs sung in malayalam. i must admit the bride and groom looked great together.most of the gals at the wedding were the born-again( pentecost) kind and some where very pretty but they didnt have any gold on them and somehow i have this feeling of revulsion for gals who dont wear jewellery if they can afford it. after the wedding we headed for the reception at hotel hilton and it was a very novel one.the newly weds had made a slide show showing pics from their young days uptill now, a video where they talked abt how they first met and how things happened from then on - all projected onto a big screen, speeches by close friends and family and then to wind all that up we had a 4-course dinner. i must say abcd's despite all their faults are a very smart, capable and eloquent race. i was scared there wud be a ball following the wedding and my lead-foot wud give way but neways i made a quick escape from there saying i had to be in san diego next day for some urgent work(orakkam) thanne and after dropping jisha off at her palatial house at santa monica i started my sleepy drive back to SD at midnight and got back by 2.
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