The last few days were quite busy. It was raining weddings in the scorching heat and I had to attend all weddings possible; the first being the most insignificant, and the last, the most important.

  I have been awarded a certificate of appreciation by my mom for not being able to pack my bags in time.(har baar gaali khana padta hain).This time,t’was my sisters turn.Despite her timely reminders,I was surrounded by heaps of clothes,when she arrived home to collect me.I managed to cram in as much as I could in two bags.She gave me a long lecture in a short time, undid the mess and packed it in one bag! (Space management is one thing we men ought to learn from women)

After a tiresome travel,we finally reached our destination…45 degrees! It was the last place on earth I’d wanna be in summer.The first wedding was a morning affair and frankly a waste of time…neither quality,nor quantity(some of my friends use the phrase to describe the evening scenario around shivaji park.N yes,its not about food please!).The second wedding, being one within the family, I played host.Naah, a lazy man like me can’t really do that.Infact, I offered to cook a few dishes but found no takers. There was nothing else I could do, so they put me up at the gate. And that’s a pretty bad position when you don’t know more than half the guests. But then you can use the corner of your eyes to spot the ‘good things’ around. And then you get transferred to ‘handling the kids’ department.At the end of the day one is too tired to think whether there was any quality.Nevermind the quantity!!

 The third weddings a cool affair.The temperatures dropped by half a degree,and I play the grooms (my cousins)driver-cum-best man-cum-wardrobe handler –cum– phone attendant –cum what may,don’t try this at home… Coz you gotta do all this along with the hour long dancing in the scorching heat.(wanna thank my uncle,who’s very particular about the mahurat time, coz I’d have certainly died of dehydration had the procession been extended any further).So,lots of ooh’s n aah’s for the best man there,but still no luck.All the ‘best women’ were on a vacation to notting hill.Either God’s corrupted coz there’s no quality/quantity control,or we’re still not doing enough for the girl child.

 Finally,I reached my best friends wedding.Most of my other best friends had already arrived and the bar was open.We sang,we danced,we remembered the unforgettable moments and we got drunk… a night of a lifetime.Since the wedding was scheduled for the next evening,the afternoon was spent in trying to recover from the hangover.By evening everyone was fit n fine,looking modest n handsome.But then,we had to dance,n dance we did… for a full two n a half hours! It was absolute mayhem.No inhibitions.I’ve never ever done that in my life.And at the end of it, we couldn’t believe it ourselves.N then nobody cared how one looked or smelt or whether the shoe had torn or the watch fell off… we just wanted water,chilled water.N then everything seemed so beautiful… the stage… the bride…the bride’s friends…the groom…the wedding…its gonna occupy my half a GB memory for a long time.  

If u;re wondering where the funeral was,t’was when we friends returned from the wedding.Everyone was sitting as though it was the last day on earth.Blank faces, eyes staring at the ceiling, pin drop silence,a feeling of desolation…  we had lost our friend to a girl !!!