Engaged!

Engaged!

Yes. On January 25th Suman Kumar and Chitra.S were engaged in a function attended by over 100 people. When I put the ring on the finger I said 'This is it baby!' That's not it. The wedding is on June 27th 2004. It is in Bangalore. I don't know why I am so -um- not-emotional about it... I don't think it has sunk it yet. But I know my life's changed for better. After four years of long-distance courtship - with just about every other person telling me it wont work- I had the last laugh. And I know the laugher will sustain. For all you people that have followed this blog, a big thanks! I mean it feels amazing to receive blessings from people from far-away lands. The subsequent posts on this blog would deal with the wedding preparation... and I am thinking of webcasting the wedding... through Yahoo or something? I am open to ideas (inexpensive ideas please ;-) )
Pictures of Engagement @ http://photos.yahoo.com/sumanphotos2004/

Write to me: suman (at) sumankumar(dot)com

The visit to the dentist

The visit to the dentist

Last evening I visited the dentist. Mission: Clean teeth. Years of abuse (tobacco) left little of White on my teeth. The dentist, unleashed her tools on me and after 30 minutes I felt as if I had lost a Kg of weight. I have another sitting this evening. She promised me sparkling teeth for my engagement on 25th January. Let's see!
And yea, it feels good to have clean teeth. Does some good to your confidence. I was flashing my teeth all day today, much to the surprise of my colleagues.
Write to me: suman (at) sumankumar(dot)com

Testing archives

Testing archives
Write to me: suman (at) sumankumar(dot)com

The logistics of an Indian wedding

It is never simple. Never easy. You don't control it. You become a mere player. The strings are pulled by a council of family members headed by the parents, the grand parents and the rest.
Take for example my engagement:
We (she and I) wanted it to be a simple affair. We just wanted to get engaged for the kick of it; she wanted to go around telling people and showing off her ring, and I wanted her to be happy. Now, it has boomeranged into a major ceremony. It is like almost conducting a wedding mind you. Her parents are doing the running around, fixing the menu for the engagement lunch etc. The last estimate revealed that there could 100+ people at the engagement. No, don't get me wrong, I am happy, I am thrilled, I am just telling you how your plans could go haywire.
Now, if you are a Hindu brahmin boy marrying a hindu non-brahmin girl; things just become complex. There's always communication between the two families: 'wedding ceremony, your type or ours?' 'mangal suthr, your type or ours or both?' and so on. We are lucky in that sense; both families are very broadminded and accommodate each other very well.
Coming back to logistics check this out:
1) Accommodation for outstation guests
2) Food for outstation guests
3) Pick-up and drop for outstation guests
4) Lunch menu
5) Hall booking
6) Hiring a priest
7) Buy engagement clothes for the groom (to be) and bride (to be)
Well that's only for the engagement. If you are not from India and you are wondering what the heck is going on around here... Well, that's how we do our weddings here. Even our simplest wedding would grand in your eyes.
Ok, now her folks wanted to book the wedding hall for the marriage. Guess how much you got to pay for a decent place in Bangalore? Nothing less then 80-90 thousand rupees. I was stunned. Well, ok more on this as it unfolds. In the meantime, if you want to be notified through e-mail about the happenings in the run-up to the wedding and the wedding itself, subscribe to this blog. Look top-right. Do you see a subscribe form? yea, that's it. I am gonna get my fiance to blog on this site as well.
Ok, If you are in Bangalore do drop by the engagement hall. I will be posting the location, timing information here very soon.
Write to me: suman (at) sumankumar(dot)com